Mountaineering Is Meditation

Mountaineering Is Meditation

Picture this. A perpendicular ice-wall. The wind is howling like a banshee. The body is at its last ebb. The ears hear nothing. The tired muscles feel nothing. The eyes see nothing except the ice-wall. The mind is still, free of thoughts. Nothing exists in the universe except your fingers gripping the rock-face and the toes firmly anchored to solid ice. The only single minded effort is to find the next hold. Inch by Inch, the three-point-climb progresses to the summit. Only aim is to move up. Nothing else in life matters. The mind, body and soul are in unison. Complete harmony. Absolute bliss!

Every mountaineer has experienced this moment of nirvana.

All sages, seers and spiritual gurus spend years in penance to experience this. This is the ultimate spiritual goal of yogis. It is a hard won moment of self actualisation, that is achieved by severe austerity in the path of experiencing the seminal force of nature by awakening the chakras and kundalini.

What the yogis yearn to achieve after years of practice, the mountaineer achieves by sheer technical expertise and endurance, both physical and mental.

Mountaineering and meditation are nothing but two paths that lead to the same destination. While climbing a mountain, nothing exists for the climber, except the mountain and the summit. The fleeting mind is still. Natural antidepressants and pain-killers in the form of endorphins are released by the body, which takes the climber to a state of unmixed euphoria. This can be defined as a ‘mind-over-body-phenomenon'. The body is depleted of all its energy, but the mind gives it additional reserves, that the climber never knew that it existed. The pleasure experienced is orgasmic.  This euphoric sensation is called the mountaineer's high.

This is the very reason that old mountaineers can never say good-bye to mountaineering. The call of the mountain is like a lover's croon which pulls the person who has tasted this pleasure, over and over again. It is said that the ultimate state that a climber reaches during climbs is a multi-sensational orgasm of the mind and soul.  They want to experience this nirvana, this enlightenment, where the mind, body and soul are in complete harmony with the cosmos.

To experience bliss climbers do not need to go to a spiritual guru. Mountaineering is meditation. The mountain is the spiritual guru for the climber. If the climber accepts the mountain with all humility, the mountain will accept him as her sishya, chela, pupil or student. She always rejects the arrogant student and teaches him a lesson, by entombing him in her icy grave. Therefore humility is the key. Respect the mountain and the mountain will respect you.

Mountaineering is a religion in itself, and only a climber can understand the profoundness of this statement. Every religion's ultimate goal is to reach the perfect state of mind-body harmony. This harmony can he achieved only when the individual achieves the capability to be immune to the extraneous stimuli. Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism guides man to reach God by endeavouring to reach the state of ‘spiritual equilibrium'. A climber, without following straight-jacket religious diktats, achieves this state of equilibrium when he attempts a climb. During the climb, everything ceases to exist- God, wife, career, conflicts and frustrations- except the rock, fingers and toes. Why search for a religion to reach God, when a mountain can give you the original ecstasy.    

Why meditate? Why search for a guru?  

Climb a mountain, instead, with all humility to achieve nirvana and spiritual rapturous bliss

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