While I was roaming in and out of the small shops in San Francisco’s historical Haight-Ashbury district I came across a little surf shop. Having some time to kill and nowhere in particular to be I decided to pop in and look around.

After checking out their wares I was about to leave when I spotted a few small shelves with books and DVDs dedicated to the sport and culture of surfing.

I perused these for a while when I stumbled upon a book that caught my eye. “Saltwater Buddha” by Jaimal Yogis.

Spoiler alert: in the course of explaining what makes this book such a good read I may intentionally give away some of the plot details, amusing stories, and inspired insights. If you’d rather wait to make your own judgements than I suggest you stop reading now (but come back in a day or two when I have something else up).

This book is easily described as the story of a boy becoming a man despite a difficult relationship with his father. But it’s also an introduction to the Zen Buddhist philosophy. And the underlying current that moves the story along is the pursuit of the perfect wave.

Finding the joy in surfing, even when the waves are small.

What’s harder to explain is the pull that the ocean has on the author and on many of the rest of us. The author suggests that because we evolved from single-celled organisms floating in water and ourselves being two-thirds water we are “hardwired to connect to the sea.” No matter the reason, there is an indisputable draw to the ocean and the waves that reach our shores.

The heart of Jaimal’s story isn’t anything new. A boy trying to find his identity as he grows into manhood without what he feels is an adequate male role-model. It’s also the story of someone trying to find their spiritual and emotional center; trying to find peace with their inner turmoil.

What separates Jaimal is the lengths that he went to to explore his various whims and half thought out inclinations.

While living in suburban California at the age of 16 he decides to run away to Hawaii. He buys a used surf board, rents a room with a bunch of Australian surf bums, and sets out on a daily quest to become master of the waves.

For those of you who have surfed you know that in the beginning it can be an incredibly humbling experience. If you don’t really know what you’re doing then the paddle out past the break can be almost impossible. Jaimal was humbled, but he stuck with it and started to figure things out.

Before too long, his father manages to track him down and comes to Hawaii. Jamail agrees to return home  and in exchange he’s allowed to spend his senior year abroad. He decides to go to France.

While in France he visits Plum Village, a Zen Buddhist monastery. He’s hooked and decides to become a monk. His mother convinces him to at least finish his last two months of high school and return to California.

After graduating he joins a monastery in Berkeley, California. For almost a year he lives the life of a Buddhist monk. He wakes up everyday at 3:30 am, meditates for hours on end, practices tai chi and kung fu, tries to learn Mandarin, and recites prayers endlessly.

Eventually, the abbot of the monastery suggests that he spend some time at college to see if this is really the life he has in mind. So Jaimal leaves the monastery and although he knew he wasn’t cut out for the monastic life he also struggled outside of the protective walls of the monastery. So he went to Hawaii.

Jaimal spends 6 months working at an eco resort and surfing. He ends up finding an unlikely guru that helps him inadvertently combine the lessons of Buddhism and surfing.

From here on out, you’re on your own.  If I went further there’d be no reason to read the book and it’s an phenomenal book, so, off you go. You won’t be disappointed.

Oh, and if it sounds like I just quit mid-post it’s because I did.  For once I ran out of ways to describe what I was thinking and, quite frankly, I believe that it’s best if you follow this path on your own.

Happy surfing.

~Kbshea