So for Christmas I got the book West of Jesus by Steven Kotler. (For those of you who don't know me, I am a big surfing geek. Mostly because I think surfing is awesome, but I myself, don't actually surf.) Anyways, West of Jesus is a memoir of a man who gets lyme disease, a debilitating illness that leaves his life in some what of a mess. Surfing becomes his saving grace and he goes on a quest to understand faith and belief and its relationship to surfing. While this may seem like a stretch, of all the sports that exist, many who surf seem to find a spiritual revelation in the act. Kotler searches for both surfers of faith and a mythological story he stumbles upon one of his trips.
I found this book to be fascinating. While learning more about the sport of surfing, the book also looks at the psychological and physical aspects of how and why people believe. There is so much, that it will probably take two sessions.
One concept that seemed to be a central theme is what I would call the Mountain Top Experience.
"As we were paddling out, the wind died, the ocean got glassy and the waves began pouring in, clean and rideable. Bigger sets started to arrive. I watched one of the Johns spin his board and pick off a perfect, shoulder-high, left peeler, dropping beneath the curl, a slowly vanishing shadow sailing gleefully down the beach. I paddled fast to my left, angling, toward the next wave, stroked and stood and felt the board accelerate and pumped once and into my bottom turn, and then the world vanished. There was no self, no other. For an instant, I didn't know where I ended and the wave began. This was an instant beyond the redemption I had hoped to find." Steven Kotler, West of Jesus
The book then goes on to to explain the different psychological aspects of this experience . Psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentimihalyi, describes this moment as a flow state - "being so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter. The ego falls away. Time flies."
The following paragraphs of West of Jesus go on to describe a type of personality described as self-transcendence, based from the psychologist, Dean Hammer, author of The God Gene. Self-transcendence is composed of three aspects: transpersonal identification, mysticism, and self-forgetfulness. The last aspect being what was described above, complete absorption in one's actions. Transpersonal identification is the ability to relate to the world and to others and mysticism is ability to believe in the unprovable.
Then the story goes on to say that people who have these traits tend to live healthier and longer lives than those who don't.
Incredible.
The Mountain Top expression comes from the Christian New Testament story, found in Luke 9:28-36.
About eight days after saying this, he climbed the mountain to pray, taking Peter, John and James along. While he was in prayer, the appearance of his faced changed and his clothes became blinding white. At once, two men were talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah - and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Peter and those with him were slumped over in sleep. When they came to, rubbing their eyes, they saw Jesus in his glory and the two men standing with him. When Moses and Elijah had left, Peter said to Jesus, 'Master, this is great moment! Let's build three memorials: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.' He blurted this out without thinking.
While he was babbling on like this, a light-radiant cloud enveloped them. As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God. Then there was a voice out of the cloud: 'This is my son, the Chosen! Listen to him.'
When the sound of the voice died away, they saw Jesus there alone. They were speechless. And they continued speechless, said not one thing to anyone during those days of what they had seen.
I was trying to think of the time that I have had a mountain top experience. Coincidentally, the first one I could think of occurred on top of a mountain. I thought I was going to be going on a nice hike through the woods along the Appalachian Trail only to discover that we would actually be climbing up the mountain. I was fairly terrified due to the fact that I had never actually been mountain climbing before and wasn't sure that I could actually do it. But I did and it was amazing. We sat to have our dinner at a flat point and I could see out over the Valley. It was so solitary and beautiful. It felt like such a privilege to be in the moment and see what I could see. I was aware of the little spiders crawling on the rocks, the warmth of the sun on my face, the shadows of the clouds as they passed along the fields, the fact that I was this little tiny person sitting on this huge, ancient structure.
I think last night too, I had a mountain top experience. A concert of local gospel choirs and the PA Symphony entitled 'Clash of the Choirs' performed at Symphony Hall. The place was packed. Gospel music is so all encompassing, I think even if you were not a person of faith, you would have been in that moment. The concert went on to 10 p.m., but I had no idea. I was so engrossed, that although I am usually I very reserved person, I was clapping and shouting out when a soloist or the choir hit a high note or was showing off their percision. It was fun and I was happy to be in the presence of this great diversity of people. As the hostess said, surely the presence of the spirit had been there.
Have you had a mountain top experience? How did it affect your life?
Kolter, Steven. (2006). West of Jesus: surfing, science and the origin of belief. New York: Bloombury. pp. 138-142.
Larson, Mark. (June 6, 2007). View from Pulpit Rock. Flickr.
Peterson, Eugene H. (1993). The message: the new testament in contemporary language. Colorado Springs: Navpress. pp. 141-142
