the beginner's mind

 I was talking about matting with a friend the other day.

He had mentioned that mat riding was harder that it looked.
He is a master surfer with decades of experience in the water and has traveled extensively.
My advise was along the lines of letting go and rediscovering
a new way to surf.
My words, as always fell far short of the mark...
Let me explain...

Here is a pic of a couple of my mats.

And these are some of the boards I was riding the most before I got a mat.

The materials, shapes, volumes, edges and fins are all completely different.

Why would anyone expect that you would ride these vehicles
in a similar fashion?

But I did anyway,
and it was was a source
of considerable frustration
until I gave up
trying to force a square peg
into a round hole.

No more
three waves to the beach
to maximize scoring potential.

No leaving the wave face entirely
only using the wave as a launch pad
in order to perform some
gymnastics in the air

Only eye ball to eyeball
nose to nose
belly to belly
time spent
with Mother Nature
just having a blast.

Shunryu Suzuki famously said,
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities,
but in the expert's there are few”

In the end
I suggested that my friend
just give his young daughter the mat
and let her be his teacher.

I like to think that the Suzuki-san would be pleased with that advice