I have started a religion, because already-existing religions weren’t quite the right fit.
Yes, yes, I know… “religion” is such a dirty word these days that I wouldn’t be surprised if it starts getting censored during my lifetime. But that’s a pity; a proper religion is just a way for you to relate to the universe. A method of connection.
That’s what the bike does. Buddhists talk about being one with Nature. The bike makes it happen.
When you’re riding along the open road, you are one. As in, one person.
At the same time, you are One. With a capital “O.”
This is the state of being where, to paraphrase Robert Pirsig, the world stops being “just another TV show” and becomes a part of, not apart from, you. There’s nothing between you and an indescribably beautiful day, because nothing can come between One thing.
THIS knife-edge where “one” and “One” are one, isn’t the “meaning” of life, it is life, it’s the thing you’ve been looking for, consciously or not.
It is the main reason that we refer to rides as “wind therapy.”
There are others. When you first learn to ride, there comes a Moment where you cross the threshold between “what am I doing?” to “I can do this!” Then there’s the fact that it’s dangerous. Hell, so is waking up in the morning. To properly ride a motorcycle, you have to respect the risk, but not let it control you. There’s the related fact that your tiniest whim, the slightest pressure of one of your hands, commands a rip-snorting, fire-breathing metal behemoth powered by explosions. The fundamental Truth that you can do this is a real shot in the arm, bucko.
The list goes on, and everything on it is applicable to everything in your life. Applicable to your life. Connection, not separation.
The Zen part of “Zen Bikerism” comes from a conscious awareness of all this, rather than it just happening below your radar.
The “Biker” part doesn’t just come from the machine. Bikers, on the whole, are a people who know better than any others how to celebrate life. And “a celebration of life” is the other thing that a religion properly is. A lot of people, including allegedly religious people, tend to forget that.
There’s more, but that’s the core: Be aware, celebrate life. Have a little faith in yourself and the forces of Nature. Be a part of, not apart from. Always seek the Truth.
It’s what I do. So can you, if you like.
That is the truth, and the
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