My respected meditation teacher Goenkaji tells us a story, "Swimology", during the 10 day Vipassana course. The story goes like this: There was once a very learned, erudite Professor who was travelling by sea. Learned as he was, every evening he lectured to his co-voyagers extensively on many of the curious things of life, demonstrating his wide, in-depth knowledge and expertise. An old sailor who worked on the ship was very impressed with the Professor and would attend his daily lectures regularly. One evening the Professor chanced upon him as he was leaving, and called out to him asking if he knows anything about Geology? The old man replied in the negative, nervously. The Professor said, "What? You know nothing about the earth you live on? Old man, you have wasted a quarter of your life!" The old man shook his head sadly and left.
The next day, after the lecture, as the old man was cleaning up the place, the Professor called out to him and asked: "Old man, do you know anything about Meteorology? " Again the old man sadly shook his head, and asked "What is that sir?" The Professor replied, "Oh it is the science of the weather. Old man, you do not know anything about Geology, the science of the earth you live on; you do not know anything about the weather your ship is subjected to, you have wasted half of your life." The old man was indeed sad: the learned Professor says he has lost half his life, it must be true, what has he done that is worthwhile?
The third day dawned, and again after an enlightening lecture, the Professor called the old man and asked: "Old man, do you know anything about Oceanology, the science of the oceans?" The old man again replied, "No sir, I do not know anything, I never went to school at all!" Surprised, the Professor told him with a laugh: "You useless old man, you do not know anything about Geology, the earth you live on, you do not know Meteorology, the science of the weather you are subjected to, you do not know anything about Oceanology, the science of the sea you are travelling on, you have lost three quarters of your life!" The old man left sadly.
The next day, the old man came running to the Professor and asked, "Professor sir! Professor sir! Do you know Swimology, sir?" Surprised, the Professor asked "Swimology? What is that? I have never heard of it!" The old man exclaimed: "Oh no sir! Then your whole life is wasted. The ship has just hit a rock and is sinking; those who can swim, can reach the shore, I am so sorry sir, your life is wasted!"
We may learn all the "logies" of the world, but if we do not know to swim the ocean of life, our lives are truly wasted.
I love this story, for its deep philosophical meaning and the more I listened to it course after course, I pondered over the idea of learning to swim. I thought I could never learn it. I hadn't come across any adult learning to swim and mastering it.
With age, I developed age-related medical issues and suffered from Chronic Venous Insufficiency. This means that I had varicose veins which prevented the smooth return of the blood from the legs to the heart during circulation. I resumed anti-gravity yoga exercises, and came to know that swimming would be a good exercise for this condition. So when I heard there were swimming classes for adults in the place I live, I joined them with a great deal of hesitation & fear.
Barely had I gotten over my initial fear of water when I developed severe ulcers on my feet, forcing me to abandon my grand plans to learn swimming. It took me two years to recover, more yoga and a long 30 day course in meditation and I was now again ready to resume my classes.
So it was on the 9th of February 2021, with some hesitation and mild fears again, I resumed my swimming lessons. I practised diligently. My first milestone was being able to put my head in water and blow bubbles--basically breathing out in water. That helped me glide smoothly for a certain distance. Besides learning from the coach once a week, I would go to the pool on my own on other days just to practice what I knew to do, getting a feel of the water and becoming comfortable in it. Resting my head on the edge of the pool, face upward towards the sky and floating was the most relaxing activity I would do.
Then came learning the breaststroke. After being introduced to it I watched countless videos on youtube to reinforce my learning on how to best time myself, how to kick, how to synchronize the pull-bubbles-kick-glide routine. The videos helped in developing my muscle memory. The coaches were excellent. And finally, today, the 13th of April, two months after my first class, I could swim without the tube, board or any kind of support from one end of the pool to the other.
An incredible achievement for me!
Swimology at last!
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