Zen and the Art of Sailing: My Excellent Zen Experience in California 1978

To: boatbums; V K Lee; tinyowl; daniel1212; meowmeow; moovova

Wow, what a lovely and personal story about realizing God! Thank you for posting. For many, apparently, a frightful experience at sea becomes a channel to the safe harbor of God's grace.

Gustave Dore

Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony.

The many men, so beautiful!
And they all dead did lie:
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.

I looked to Heaven, and tried to pray:
But or ever a prayer had gusht,
A wicked whisper came, and made
my heart as dry as dust.

Beyond the shadow of the ship,
I watched the water-snakes:
They moved in tracks of shining white,
And when they reared, the elfish light
Fell off in hoary flakes.

Within the shadow of the ship
I watched their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.

O happy living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware.

The self same moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.

Rime of the Ancient Mariner

61 posted on 06/22/2018 4:22:54 AM PDT by poconopundit (MAGA... Get the Spirit. Grow your community. Focus on your Life's Work. Empower the Young.)

To: poconopundit

I see the “you will know they are Christians by their love” crowd has shown up on your previously enjoyable thread :)

62 posted on 06/22/2018 5:00:17 AM PDT by meowmeow (In Loving Memory of Our Dear Viking Kitty (1987-2006))

Yes, it’s an open forum. Anyone can post.

63 posted on 06/22/2018 5:16:00 AM PDT by Mark17 (Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning GOD....And the rest, as they say, is HIS-story)

If they find 'peace'; even fleeting, they'll probably not be looking for Jesus; but PEACE.

Well any peace that people find in eastern religions, IS fleeting, since no REAL peace is found out side the Nazarene. 😁 If some don’t care about that, it’s entirely on them. 👎

64 posted on 06/22/2018 5:22:28 AM PDT by Mark17 (Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning GOD....And the rest, as they say, is HIS-story)

Yes, the consciousness, or heart, of each person is covered, how much depending on the individual, with illusion, darkness, etc.

But that covering of wickedness (and so on) is not the eternal nature of the soul. The eternal nature of the soul is, as a part of the Supreme Soul, God - is to be full of wisdom and happiness.

When the covering (or sometimes compared to a disease) is gradually removed or cured, the natural light of the soul can shine. God is in the heart of every living being. We just have to open up to His presence, and then His light shones in our hearts.

65 posted on 06/22/2018 9:34:00 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)

That is a very beautiful story. Thank you.

66 posted on 06/22/2018 10:14:12 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)

To: little jeremiah

Same old stuff; packaged as New Age metaphysics.

67 posted on 06/23/2018 4:11:31 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

You are a narrow minded hateful person.

I will not respond to you again.

68 posted on 06/23/2018 7:07:29 AM PDT by little jeremiah (Half the truth is often a great lie. B. Franklin)

To: little jeremiah

You are a narrow minded hateful person.

'Tis true.

I used to be open minded; but my brain kept falling out.

69 posted on 06/23/2018 12:10:07 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)

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