Cycling into the heights of ecstasy

Mandelwitz is due to be released from the mental asylum. He goes for an interview with Professor Potts, the chief psychiatrist, who tells him that he has to answer a simple question, sanely, before he can be released.
"What would be your first action," asks Potts, "when you get released from this asylum?"
"I would start a rock collection," says Mandelwitz, "and throw one through every window of this building!"
Mandelwitz is taken back to his room and another six months pass before he is interviewed again.
"What will you do first when you are released from here?" asks the head shrink.
"Well," replies Mandelwitz, "I will buy myself a new suit."
"Good," says Potts, "and then what will you do?"
"I will call up a gorgeous blonde girlfriend," says Mandelwitz.
"And then?" asks Potts.
"I will take her to a motel," replies Mandelwitz.
"That's fine," says Potts, "and then?"
"Then," replies Mandelwitz, "I will lock the door, sit her on the bed, run my hand up her stockings, rip off her garter, make a catapult, and break every window in this building!"

Every one of us is like the mad man. It is just a degree of difference. If any of you think you are any different from the mad man, put your hand on your heart and be true to yourself. Do you do what you want to do and what you like to do? And in the best possible way. And the answer would be a definite 'no'. Our worry, our restlessness, our insomnia, our nervousness are a result of a mismatch between what we want to do and what we are doing. This friction in our goals, in our aspirations, in our lives is the reason why there is so much unhappiness around the world. But don't worry, it just takes a couple of minutes every day to understand how you can get out of it. And when you know the trick, you let out a loud laugh.

One of the reasons why westerners go ga ga over meditation when they visit the eastern countries like India or Japan is that Zen masters and eastern gurus have taken them on a tour of their inner life and made them stay there for a while. It's like a miracle of sorts, for the peace, the joy, the bliss that they have witnessed cannot be compared to anything in the world. The only thing that comes near to it is the orgasmic ecstasy that one derives after sex. And that is why Osho has equated meditation with orgasmic ecstasy. And the more one goes into meditation, the more one reaches the heights of ecstasy. I have done it. I have achieved it with cycling, with running, with dancing, with walking, and with silent sitting.

It is such a wonderful feeling to be in an orgasmic high. Which explains why masters become celibates and don't get turned on by women once they taste the nectar of meditation.

It's been a long time, more than 10 days, since I've gone into cycling ecstasy. And I've done it today. And that is why the inner joy comes forth dancing in the form of this post. Biking, especially speed biking, stops the mind, throws the carbon dioxide out of the body, infuses it with a flush of oxygen and tires the body so much that when we settle down after an hour of biking, the whole body becomes an instrument of tranquility. We don't need to do meditation, it happens automatically. You keep wondering, after sitting for an hour, where all your restlessness has disappeared.

Went on a long 20 mile ride today after work and loved every cadence of it. Of course, I haven't stopped the dynamic meditation in the mornings which gives me a new high to take on the day. And when I complete it with a round of cycling in the evening my day is made. And I can't ask for more.

Now you are talking!!

Moskowitz met Finklestein on the street one day and said, "Finkelstein, have I got a bargain for you! An elephant! A whole living elephant for just one hundred dollars."
Finklestein said, "Are you crazy? What do I want with an elephant?"
"It's a beautiful elephant," continues Moskowitz, "all grey, ten feet tall, complete with a trunk."
"But I have nothing to feed it on," cried Finkelstein. "I live in a three-room apartment. I have no place to put it in."
But Moskowitz went on: "Two beautiful tusks, maybe two feet long. It is a magnificent beast. They don't make them like that anymore."
"Moskowitz," said Finkelstein, almost screaming, "I have a three-room walk-up apartment on the fifth floor. Where will I keep an elephant?"
"You are a hard man, Finkelstein," said Moskowitz. "I will tell you what, I will throw in a second whole elephant for only $50 extra."
Finkelstein smiled and said, "Now you are talking!"

Life, the way we are living, is about how smart we are in outwitting the other person. Never mind it ain't make a difference to our life or our outlook towards life. It gives that momentary massage to the ego. And we get a mighty kick out of it. If only we realise that a greater and grander thrill can be had from elsewhere, especially dancing, we wouldn't want to impress the other person. Isn't it? Ask any dancer and he will vouch for it. Because in dance, or cycling, or running for that matter, you have a feeling that your body is melting and that you are just a pillar of energy. The lightness gives an ultrahigh that can't be equated with anything else in the world. That is why great sages all over the world, especially the Sufis have been advocating dance as a form of meditation.

To take a detour from the usual running and biking, I danced away the whole morning. And what a wonderful relief it was. I occasionally dance away my blues and there is nothing like a solid one hour dance. The Shamans claim that dancing you fall into ecstasy. The more you dance, they say, the more on gets merged with the godliness. And as I occasionally dance away to glory in the middle of the night, I can say with pride that I have reached such ecstatic heights.

In the evening I went on a regular bike ride inside city on my way back home. The heat and the pollution, however, are playing havoc and I've been sweating profusely getting drenched in the sweat by the time I reach home. But what to do I love it.