No Ordinary Enllightenment
So there I was, when it all hit me;
glancing down at the tach, watching the speedo steadily rotate clockwise and feeling the hum of the motor between my legs as I tucked behind the fairing. I was in some kind of trance. I felt no fear, and was nothing entering my mind except the reaction of the motorcycle as a result of my input. This subconscious enlightenment became clear to me as the straightaway came to an end and the road disappeared and the sweeping left guardrail grew larger and larger as I let go of the throttle and reached for the clutch.
The next few moments could be pivotal in my survival on this earth. For an escaping moment, the quintessential question entered my mind and just as quickly as it had come, it was gone; what do I need to do to survive?
Instantly I had re-entered this proverbial trance, and instincts regained control. I don't need to describe my actions for the following few seconds; obviously I executed the turn successfully, and the point here is not the turn anyway, it's the meditation.
It's the level of pure concentration and ultimate focus that interests me. Now, I won't pretend to have studied any form of meditation, or Tai Chi or Zen practices, but I do know that this has been discussed before; the level of focus acheived by anyone involved in anything intense. From my perspective, it's what naturally occurs when you are passionate about something, and when performance is everything. All thought leaves our brains and our bodies are perfectly aligned with our minds; this is the point at which meditation happens. This is the point at which we realize, in retrospect, that we were completely and solely dedicated at that particular moment in time, and to one specific function. It's an enlightenment that only happens in retrospect, and at times can even be frightening. It's not just the vernacular type of enlightenment, not the kind of enlightenment that happens when you first realize that the green stuff next to your sushi isn't avacado, and not even the kind of enlightenment that happens when you realize after twenty years of marriage that you're no longer in love. The experience of, and enlightenment from riding motorcycles is one like no other, and it's certainly not ordinary.
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By the way.. for all of you Sunday riders, it has been decided by the cinematographers, that the recent video footage will be making its debut in the form of a feature film at season's close.. so just keep your boots on ...
oh, the suspense!.........
glancing down at the tach, watching the speedo steadily rotate clockwise and feeling the hum of the motor between my legs as I tucked behind the fairing. I was in some kind of trance. I felt no fear, and was nothing entering my mind except the reaction of the motorcycle as a result of my input. This subconscious enlightenment became clear to me as the straightaway came to an end and the road disappeared and the sweeping left guardrail grew larger and larger as I let go of the throttle and reached for the clutch.
The next few moments could be pivotal in my survival on this earth. For an escaping moment, the quintessential question entered my mind and just as quickly as it had come, it was gone; what do I need to do to survive?
Instantly I had re-entered this proverbial trance, and instincts regained control. I don't need to describe my actions for the following few seconds; obviously I executed the turn successfully, and the point here is not the turn anyway, it's the meditation.
It's the level of pure concentration and ultimate focus that interests me. Now, I won't pretend to have studied any form of meditation, or Tai Chi or Zen practices, but I do know that this has been discussed before; the level of focus acheived by anyone involved in anything intense. From my perspective, it's what naturally occurs when you are passionate about something, and when performance is everything. All thought leaves our brains and our bodies are perfectly aligned with our minds; this is the point at which meditation happens. This is the point at which we realize, in retrospect, that we were completely and solely dedicated at that particular moment in time, and to one specific function. It's an enlightenment that only happens in retrospect, and at times can even be frightening. It's not just the vernacular type of enlightenment, not the kind of enlightenment that happens when you first realize that the green stuff next to your sushi isn't avacado, and not even the kind of enlightenment that happens when you realize after twenty years of marriage that you're no longer in love. The experience of, and enlightenment from riding motorcycles is one like no other, and it's certainly not ordinary.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
===========================================================
By the way.. for all of you Sunday riders, it has been decided by the cinematographers, that the recent video footage will be making its debut in the form of a feature film at season's close.. so just keep your boots on ...
oh, the suspense!.........
posted by Dude at 8:46 PM
1 Comments:
Dude! Great pics, particularly the moto-self portrait & "the waves of the Amish" (did we ride that?).
This meditation and it's attendant enlightenment of which you speak, I think I've been taking it for granted. I have come to expect it every time I/we go out in search of curves.
I compare it to chopping wood, literally - not figuratively. When splitting a log, it's not really how hard you swing the axe, but how "right" you swing it. Get it right and the stroke is effortless, the head of the axe falls through the log as if through air and one peice of firewood has magically become two!
Taking a turn properly feels alot like that and it is a beautiful thing. Turn after turn after turn.
Sorry we won't be seeing you this Sunday at Matty's, maybe we'll catch you on the next.
-Mark (motomark32)
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