Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Effortless Skydive


The Effortless Skydive


We’re all in the plane and our seat belts are buckled and our helmets are secured and we are taking off in this fabulous wonder of the atmosphere. As we climb up, there is the beauty of the views below as we leave the world behind. We climb higher and higher and as I look out over the earth below I observe the lakes and mountains in the distance, with the puffy clouds like soft cotton hanging in the sky with the sun glistening down among them.

The joy of this can only be observed by a mind that is silent, a mind that is not full of itself and full of animosity toward anything or anyone. This is the true joy of a skydive--In this the mind is effortless in its observation and has a love and respect for the student that is making his or her way into the marvelous wonders of skydiving. To be full of psychological knowledge is a hindrance to this joy and it is this knowledge that prevents us from ever flying through the skies without a single movement of thought. There is absolute silence and a stillness in the mind, and in a strange way you are gone.

This does not mean that we no longer remember how to spot the plane, or how to perform any necessary emergency procedures, or how to fly, but an ending to thought in the sense of the psychological, and any effort to overcome this only adds flame to the fire. To try is to add oil to the repetitive mechanism, not to put an end to it. It is only when this effort ceases with all its anxiety that we come upon the beauty of effortless flight, and then we see how well we can fly.

We all know the ability to fly in a skydive depends upon our ability to relax. We see this in students and we see this in ourselves, especially when practicing different disciplines or working on ratings. How many people have been denied their AFF rating, only because they could not relax, and could not fly when under the pressure of a course director. This phenomenon is even more obvious when we get into freeflying, especially head-down and the transitions that go along with it.

The only way to come upon this freedom from effort is by not skydiving as an escape from anything. It is sad how many of us in this sport are escaping through drug or alcohol abuse, and then skydiving is just another drug, just another form of escape. Or skydiving may be our only escape, and then it is the opposite side of the same coin. Then the skydive only builds the self-centered character and creates another individual that is full of themselves and has little respect or love for anything or anyone.

I wish everyone could enjoy the awesome beauty of an effortless skydive!


Kerry Craig Walker
Canton,Georgia
D-25092/AFFI/PRO

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Just Relax Duuuuuuude....Ready, Set, Sit-Fly!