一期一会, Once-In-A-Lifetime-Meeting

一期一会

Once-In-A-Lifetime-Meeting

October 1 , 2010.

Mystic Surfer, Master of Solitude.　

In the Prologue, I wrote that I had finally discovered my own final destination but it doesn’t mean that I’m already determined to settle there.

Come to think about it, I have been excited every day, and I always ask myself why am I excited?  It’s not just because Philippines  has an abundance of waves but I also think it’s because of the diverse  people and culture, which is very hard to comprehend if I only use the logic acquired from the environment where in I grew up.  

Would you consider it exciting or painful?  It all depends on your capacity to accept and adapt changes. As for me, I will always stay here to cherish exciting moments every single day.

I believe that a traveler at heart is a person who is able to engrave such blissful moments in his mind, and to discover and experience such moments is a real travel.

We travel moment by moment and to my opinion, the instance of meeting this moment is the essence of travel.

For this reason, I set out to travel every day.

When I think about the travel (encounter) moments, I was able to come up with the word “Ichigo Ichie” which means “Once-In-A-Lifetime-Meeting”.

Originally, this word is being used during a Tea Ceremony in Japan. It means that when we meet in the tea room, you should have a mindset that every meeting is a Treasure  for it will never recur. This moment only occurs once in a life time, a very brief meeting and yet the final one; it will never happen again. You must be determined with this kind of resolution.

If you can perceive the usual scenery with this kind of vision, your mind will be opened and will be able to see things in different perspectives; hence the awakening of unlimited passion for moments.

Now, at this point which I am here and the wave that I would ride today is different from the wave that I had ridden yesterday and still will vary from tomorrow’s  wave. Moreover, the wave of today is individually unique from each other in its own way.

When I reached this kind of though, my surfing style became different. We cannot see same wave gain and this moment has never come again, hence the awakening of unlimited passion for moments

Even so, an encounter with you today is different with yesterday and tomorrow’s encounter. These moments will never recur, it’s only for now and only at this moment.

In addition, the relationship that we have with God at this moment is at its highest level, not yesterday(past) or tomorrow(future). This level is called Mystic.

From the encounters of “Ichigo Ichie” (Once-In-A-Lifetime-Meeting), my articles such as Soul Surfing, Moonlight Surfer, Blue Heaven, For the Expert of Solitude, and the like were born.

I might go out today also and travel in search of a new encounter of “Ichigo Ichie” in my ordinary life.

Mystic Traveler,

Hiroshi

Moon light surfer

Moon light surfer.

At Monaliza Point, La Union. 

January 1, 2010.

Happy New Year!

At the start of a new year, I want to paddle out the point first thing in the morning by all means…This has been my desire for great surfing of this year; I also want to go ahead of anyone else.  With this in mind, I got more fired up today and went to the point, because today is the day of the start of year.

While checking for a surf point at past 5:00 AM, I was overwhelmed by a mysterious and fantastic scene. The sea was lit by the full moon’s light and it glittered so dazzling and bright.

What’s more, the waves kept on getting bigger; I can see sets of waves clearly.

Kanta and I went into the sea immediately. Mara was still sleeping in the car because she didn’t get any sleep at all due to last night’s party.

In a span of more than 40 minutes, Kanta and I were the only ones who enjoyed surfing in the beautiful moonlight.

As I began surfing, I immediately noticed that this surfing was particularly different from the one that I always do.

It was bright because of the moonlight but still it was dark. Upon take off, as expected it was still like taking a plunge into darkness.

Thus, we always come into a realization that we are surfing based on what our vision feeds us.

I look at the open sea and continuously evaluate the waves to determine if it is rideable or not, and catch the wave. 

After take-off, how much do surfers enjoy the scene in front of our eyes?

“Only a surfer knows the feeling,” this is the only phrase that can describe a surfer’s feelings very well.

However, this time is really different from my usual surfing.

Without depending on my sense of sight, I surf using my intuition… I can feel that my intuition is being honed more and more.

The take off in particular, felt like being pulled by someone like never before; I also notice the force of gravity pulling me.

In this darkness, I was there as a surfer, on the other hand, the pulling force of the earth was also existent.

To feel the earth and surf was really an amazing experience.,

By the way, I cooked and ate mushrooms last night but I wonder, by any chance, would　 it be a magic mushroom?

By the way, I cooked and ate mushrooms last night but I wonder, by any chance, would it be a magic mushroom?    

Soul surfing, For the Expert of Solitude.

Soul Surfer, Master of Solitude. 

August 22 , 2010. 

I love those times when I paddle out to the point and surf alone early in the morning when it is still dark and nobody is there yet.

In the big ocean of silence, the only thing that faces me is the wave.

I am alone in this sea.

How silent it is.

How solitary it is.

Nothing to think of, just waiting for the wave and concentrating on the takeoff.

After the take off, I try to keep going towards the inside section, and focus on the tube so that I can get into the deep barrel.

Outside of the barrel are wild and strong waves, but inside is the world of absolute silence without any distractions.

The world of nothing.

The world of Zen.

And the only thing that I can see from inside the tube is the wall which is reflecting the golden color of the morning sun.

This moment might be only for a second.

But I feel like time stands still forever.

And this moment becomes one of my classic moments in my mind, forever eternalized in my memory.

I surf alone far from anyone else at my secret spot.

Nobody can see me.

Even if I have a great ride, no one is there to give me praise.

I don’t expect any of that.

I only expect highly spiritual things.

Which is connected to the method of Zen.

Nothing to think of.

Just concentrating on catching the wave.

Then comes the harmony created by the waves and nature.

At this very moment, I feel like I am stronger than I’ve ever been, like I am one with the universe.

And this is the moment where I feel that God is really near me.

The world of nothingness.

Only me and nature, the universe and God.

This is the surfing which I aim for.

And I call this "Soul Surfing".

The person who always searches for the ultimate high goes his own way and it cannot be coexistent with anyone else’s search. The person who wants to be happy should be solitary first of all.

Prorogue of Soul Surfer's Journey.

Soul Surfer's Journey.

Prologue

I have been living in this foreign country for more than 20 years since I had left Japan.

I remember when I just started surfing in my homeland. I used to read many surfing magazines and watched many surfing videos. Because I wanted to know more about surfing, which had always caught my eye and never left my mind.

Some articles were very impressive. For example, the article of Gerry Lopez’s surfing trip to G-Land of Indonesia, or the piece on ultimate cut back at Nias Island, the set of the film Storm Riders, written by Thornton Falender. I started to dream. I also wanted to go on one of these surfing trips to the southern islands some day, and I wanted to surf the ultimate waves of the most remote points, alone. I think all surfers have this kind of dream.

After 35 years of my surfing journey, I had finally discovered my own final destination of ultimate surfing, and I have had the greatest surfing life. More than I had ever dreamed of at a young age.

Now, I want the public to take notice, and to spread my new philosophies of life, in the form of South Winds as Soul Surfer's Journey.

Surfing, me, and The Philippines.

After 35 years of my surfing journey I discovered my final destination, the Philippines.

I used to live in California and Hawaii and I often surfed their great points. The likes of Steamer lane, Rincon, Malibu, Point Dume, etc. But now, I am not driven to surf at those spots anymore because I have better surfing circumstances here in the Philippines. Surfing here is very relaxing because there are not so much people. Plus, Filipino surfers are very friendly and not aggressive. The water is warm and there is no need to wear wetsuits. Best of all, the waves are nicer than those points in California. Can you believe that we have nicer waves than Rincon? We call this point the 1 kilometer point. The wave has a better shape and is longer than Rincon, and I have never seen it close out in this point.

Yes, Hawaii has warm waters and good waves too but it is not the place to surf in a relaxing manner anymore as many of you surfers now know.

For these reasons, I now only surf in the Philippines and I find contentment in that.

I have been living here in Philippines for over 20 years.

My dream 35 years ago has become real. I surf at many points here and I also got involved with the surfing scene in the Philippines: Local surfers, government people, surf industries, events, etc.

I was the first man to put up a surfing school in the Philippines, Yokohama Surfing School (YSS). I was also the first one to put up a surf shop, Yokohama Surfing Café.

We started the La Union Long board contests. At the first event, only 10 surfers joined and now this event has become very big and there are more than 200 participants every year coming from everywhere across the globe.

I was one of the pioneers of surfing here in the Philippines.

I was able to experience so many exciting things and pleasures as a pioneer. Some have called me a Surfing Guru.

I also went through a lot of sorrow and disappointment.

The struggles I encountered made me lose my passion for the surfing business and the surfing community. Then I made the decision to forget about those struggles and go back to soul surfing – no more events, no more contests, no more surfing businesses, just surfing for myself as a soul surfer.

And the Philippines is the best place for that.

I love surfing alone and it is not difficult here. The Philippines has more than 7,000 islands and there are so many surf spots. To my surprise, I have found 4 new surf spots since last year, even though I though I already knew of all the surf spots around the country.

The potential of surfing in the Philippines is really amazing.