Fishing is My Church

 I just got back from a nearly two-week Florida vacation with my youngest son - lots of fishing, a great bonding experience.  I go there a lot now, and I fish there a lot.  It's become my spiritual sanctuary, the place where I do my best spiritual work, find the deepest connection to God and discover the deepest insights.  

Some of this is because it's my home - I have a house here, that I've talked about before.  Some is because, even when I'm working here (this is my first vacation here in over a year), I'm much more relaxed and available for spiritual practice.  And for a while I thought the fishing was a distraction, but it isn't.  Fishing is an integral part of this spiritual practice, it is the pathway to my spiritual practice. 

When I was a little kid and first getting good at fishing, my dad would say that this was when I was fully myself, where I'd let go of whatever stress, fears or negative thoughts that were getting in the way and fully be myself.  Much later in life I learned to cultivate a connection to my spiritual core through meditative practice and breathwork, and I found it felt similar.  

Consciously combining the two energies elevates my vibration and spiritual connection to the highest levels.  I can accomplish this without fishing, but with fishing it's effortless.  It's where I find presence, peace and a connection to the source of life.  It connects me to a primal, ancestral energy that is deep and profound and reminds me that life does not begin or end in this lifetime and this life is a small piece of an infinite timeline and we are each a small but essential piece of the universal energy, God energy.

If you look at the picture you can see very strong crown chakra energy in both of us and I'm fully grounded and present.  In this moment I'm not consciously practicing spirituality, but I'm living in it, I'm in my "church." 

In my Florida home, fishing is a critical part of my meditative practice.  I meditate and pray for a fruitful fishing experience, ask for guidance on when and where, fillet fish as a meditative practice, and bring the feelings and experience back into my nightly meditation and prayer.  

Fish are a key part of the Buddhist spiritual practice, and a key part of my altar spaces. I have carefully-chosen fish statues, carefully placed on each altar space.  I require regular presence with water - lakes, streams and especially the ocean - for spiritual cleansing and renewal. Water itself is a critical part of Buddhism and my spiritual practice.  Fish are a critical element of the New Testament and a symbol of Christ.  

It took me a while to fully realize the deep personal spiritual importance of fishing.  It's more than something I do or a hobby, it is a part of me.  It's my gateway to God and to my own path.