Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - fixed gear and zen

so ya always read about people riding fixed and describing it as a "zen-like" experience, and in recent other threads there have been allusions made to buddhism, so i was just curious if anyone here was actually buddhist or practiced meditation.

i got into buddhism and fixed gear around the same time and it made an interesting coupling. I think riding can be a form of meditation, as it helps you focus on the here and now. It's not much different than walking medication really, especially if you're doing laps in prospect park or something.

Anyway, just curious. If you do practice meditation, do you go to any temples or meditation groups? I was going to the Fire Lotus temple on State St in Brooklyn which was nice, but perhaps a bit to formalized and religiousy for me. Plus I was living in Inwood at the time, so I stopped, but now that I'm in Broolyn I might start up again. I contemplated going to Noah Levine's groups (guy that wrote Dharma Punx) but I wasn't too into the book and heard his groups got a little too new-agey/self-helpish.

Zen is a religion.... fixed gear is a bike.
You wanna "zen" experience? Go to a Zen buddhist temple at 5am and sit quietly an still for an hour in a dark room an dthen get up and chant with the rest of the sangha.


---former "monk"

i've considered myself buddhist for a few years now, although i don't go to any temples around here in boston. "life" seems to take up all my time while at the same time i "know" i should be going... as far as the fixed gear connection, i can see a couple parallels. the simplicity of the bike, stripped down to the essentials with no extraneous parts or bling. the connection of the rider to the bike. the required forethought when riding. and so forth...

as for the 'noah levine' thing.. i liked the book, but didn't find it to be totally revolutionary. it was more autobiography than i was looking for i suppose. 'hardcore zen (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/086171380X/qid=1138292148/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1068530-9936737?n=507846&s=books&v=glance)' was a great book in my opinion. the right mix of autobiography and practical information about buddhism.


p.s. - when're you guys playing a show in boston!? (=

i've done that, and it bears a striking similarity to when i do early morning rides... counting breaths, counting pedal strokes...

the chanting is part of what i can't really get into.

i want to do a weekend of shows up to boston and providence soon, so maybe in march!

and yeah, I enjoyed Hardcore Zen a lot more, partially because I think it was far more cynical and critical of Buddhism and it's institutions

i've done that, and it bears a striking similarity to when i do early morning rides... counting breaths, counting pedal strokes...

the chanting is part of what i can't really get into.

The chanting is the best part... I find myself doing it on the way to work.. very mind clearing. I used to argue that riding a bike is a meditation, but the preists just weren't having any of it. They didn't ride bikes.

Man, all of a sudden this mix of music and religion brought Shelter to my mind. Cappos and krishna-core!

f you do practice meditation, do you go to any temples or meditation groups?.

my friend ethan holds meditation and dharma classes throughout the week at a couple locations throughout the city: www.BeTheRigDen.com -- it's based in tibetan buddhism, however, not zen. here's a rough schedule:


Monday Drop-in Classes and Gathering w/ Ethan Nichtern
Monday, Jan 9, 2006 - Topic: The Truth of Interdependence
Mondays, 8:00-9:40 pm. $10 or any yoga class card
@ OM Yoga Center: 826 Broadway 6th Fl. & 12th street
http://www.omyoga.com/workshops/dharmasched.html#omega

Complete Beginners Meditation Course - Turning the Mind into an Ally w/ Ethan Nichtern
Six Tuesdays sessions (begins Jan 17), 12:30 - 2 pm. $100
@ Shambhala Meditation Center: 118 West 22nd Street, 6th Floor
http://ny.shambhala.org/program_detail.php?id=122
Call 212.675.6544 to register

Wednesday Drop-in Classes and Gathering w/ Ethan Nichtern
Wednesday Jan 4 - Topic: The Four Noble Truths.
Everyone welcome regardless of experience. Guided meditation instruction is part of each class.
Wednesdays, 7:00 – 9:00 pm. Donation
@ Lila Dharma Center : 302 Bowery & Houston, Buzzer #2
www.BeTheRigden.com

Lunchtime Classes - Foundations of the Buddhist Path - The Six Transcendent Actions w/ Ethan Nichtern
Thursdays (begins Jan 19), 12noon - 1:40 pm
@ OM Yoga Center: 826 Broadway 6th Fl. & 12th street
http://www.omyoga.com/workshops/buddhist_foundations.htm
Call 212.254.9642 to register

Thursday Drop-in Classes and Gathering w/ David Nichtern aka "Big Poppa" & Ethan Nichtern
Thurs Jan 19: Find Out For Yourself (The Example of the Buddha) with David Nichtern
Thursdays (begins Jan 19), 8:00-9:40 pm. $10 or any yoga class card
@ OM Yoga Center: 826 Broadway 6th Fl. & 12th street
http://www.omyoga.com/workshops/workshopTemplate_10.htm

i've considered myself buddhist for a few years now, although i don't go to any temples around here in boston. "life" seems to take up all my time while at the same time i "know" i should be going... as far as the fixed gear connection, i can see a couple parallels. the simplicity of the bike, stripped down to the essentials with no extraneous parts or bling. the connection of the rider to the bike. the required forethought when riding. and so forth...

as for the 'noah levine' thing.. i liked the book, but didn't find it to be totally revolutionary. it was more autobiography than i was looking for i suppose. 'hardcore zen (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/086171380X/qid=1138292148/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-1068530-9936737?n=507846&s=books&v=glance)' was a great book in my opinion. the right mix of autobiography and practical information about buddhism.


p.s. - when're you guys playing a show in boston!? (=


Stripped down to the bare essentials maybe, but no bling? Fixed gear bikes are all about bling! In S.F. they are a bloody fashion statement.

Noah is a nice enough guy and I really like what he is doing for kids. He sure likes to talk about himself a lot.

I've been wondering a lot about non-religious meditation groups and maybe even dharma study groups a lot. Don't think one can study dharma without the religion. After all, the books were written or translated by one sect or another of buddhISM

ISM doesn't automatically make it a religion. most philosophies have ISMs and i personally see buddhism more as a philisophy than a religion. however, it has been turned into a religion by some, with the deification of The Buddha... which it seems to me is very against the original intentions... i dunno. like i said, i'm not deep into the stuff and if you were a monk you have far more insight into it that i do, but for me personally, it's not a religion and i try to avoid that approach to it.

Stripped down to the bare essentials maybe, but no bling? Fixed gear bikes are all about bling! In S.F. they are a bloody fashion statement.

mmmm, yeah, the ideal meets reality. i should talk after what showed up from ups today....

trudy - thanks for the tip! i might check some of those out... daytime sessions work nicely for my unemployed evening school self. $20 a session though doesn't! hehe

I don't know if I'd count it as Zen, but I've recently been having these rides where I'll go 50 blocks at a time without really being fully aware of what happened afterwards. I mean, I'll know that I was riding, but I get soo focused that everything else dissapears and my mind is kinda of blank, which is really nice.

i got in to buddhism way before i was ever in to fixed gears, about 3 years ago, but i can see some of the connections with meditation like qualitys of riding fixed.

The chanting is the best part... I find myself doing it on the way to work.. very mind clearing. I used to argue that riding a bike is a meditation, but the preists just weren't having any of it. They didn't ride bikes.

I'm nt really a very educated student of Zen Buddism, but isn't "walking meditation" a part of the practice? Bringing meditiation into physical activities. Doing physical repetitive work, like raking leaves, and digging holes? The cyclical repetitive movement of cycling can easily be that sort of meditation if you practice it as such.

I thought this was going to be a thread on bicycle maintenance or the art thereof.

Zen is a religion....
---former "monk"

no zen monk would call zen a "religion".

there's the book: 'Zen and Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'

i started reading alot of buddhism texts for the past two years now and i consider riding a form of meditation for me, its where i let alot of **** go. and like evanyc said - i find myself counting alot, there's alot of flow involved. if i didnt have my bike, i'd prolly be pretty ****ing depressed around this time of year.

and i just found an audio book on amazon: 'Zen and the Surveillance of Bicycle Messengering' <- wtf?

I've been meditating every morning for around the same amount of time that I've been riding fixed. I can't stomach the religious aspect of anything, I get this sorta Woody Allen moment whenever they start chanting in yoga class, I can't help but think about that scene in Anne Hall where he walks by Jeff Goldblum who's on the phone frantically screaming "I forgot my mantra!". I like a coupla OM's here and there as they are very calming and unifying in a group but once they started speaking in Sanskrit, I'm pulled out. Too much reverence for "ancient" things just cause they are ancient.

Really it's all just awareness. Fixed gears make you more aware of your bike and your surroundings (particularly if you are brakeless) but I think you could have the same experience on a million gear bike with brakes if you learn to focus and pay attention. Fixed gears are sort of a crutch as they force you to do this. Remember when you first started riding fixed and you tried to coast or stop peddling for a moment? The bike gave you the equivalent of a zen teachers whack with a stick and you probably didn't do it again.

Lots of good books on Zen. DT Suzuki's are particularly good. But the best thing about it is that really it's the practice. Getting up every day and sitting quietly and/or riding. Different aspects of the same thing.

Sounds like y'all are doing more of the Thich Nhat Hanh style Engaged Buddhism. Props.

Buddhism can be whatever you want it to be. Skillful Means (upaya) is the Mahayana idea that; if it works, it is right. That there is flexibility in the teachings, and if you find a way to make them work towards the cessation of suffering, that is buddhism (if only for you).

The Tathagata said: "...whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide."

Word.

thich nhat hanh is the don.

btw a good book i read that was w/o a biased and was a good intro to buddhism was 'The Naked Buddha' by Adrienne Howley

thich nhat hanh is the don.

Mother****ingRight.

Mother****ingRight.

Seconded.

Check out Lama Surya Das as well. His writing gave me the impetus to look into Buddhism, and see it more from a "Western" perspective.

Beautiful and flowing.

Anything can be meditation. Washing dishes, taking a shower, typing on the computer, including riding. I think fixed riding allows you to be more mindful, since it's very repetitive and responsive.

But you could just as well sit quietly in a room.

You don't need to go to clinics or temples to properly meditate...
just learn to breath relaxed and deep in your stomach and you'll get it.
People have got to realize.. meditation is a very VERY natural thing and well, getting accustomed to being in groups or going to clinics or temples or whatever is just building a dependancy on those things to bring about your "dormant" meditative state. Maybe it's good for you, but singular meditation is where it's at, if you ask me.

Im not knocking where or how any of you do your meditations.. I just am not a big fan of groups for this particular type of thing.. meditation.
Martial arts, bikes, guitars.. those groups could and usually are productive.. but meditation is a self study and exploration... I've never understood the need for social, if you will, gatherings and events for it. I know someone will have an explanation, and it's fine, I personally like it that yeah, it's positive.. but, I stick to my guns and say that it's not as productive as meditating alone, or atleast around things you wont begin to rely on.
end of rant.

i kinda feel out of place if i meditate w/ a group, so i agree that practicing alone is where its at, but thats just me - whatever works for you, works :s

Evanyc,
thanks for bringing this up. i don't see a direct connection between zen and fixed gear, but certainly the skills that you practice in both - close attention to the moment, deep awareness of your surroundings, and an appreciation of "just enough" are pretty similar.

i've been studying at Village Zendo (villagezendo.org) for about a year now, and attended Fire Lotus off and on for a couple years before that. VZ is a much smaller and more intimate zendo the Fire Lotus, and I've found that the atmosphere is less regimented. It manages to be disciplined and focused, but not harsh. Enkyo Roshi is a wonderful teacher, really honest and funny.

I've been reading "Infinite Zen: Teachings in Zen" by Bernie Glassman. Its great, and really digs into the reasons behind a lot of the form involved in Zen practice. He also explores the connection between buddhism and working for social justice & transformation.

I could see how there's something about a fixed bicycle that someone who's into buddhism could appreciate. Riding one is definitely more meditative than other forms of recration.

I was into buddhism long before my love of fixed bikes when a group of Tibetan monks spend a week at my college meditating, eating pizza, and making the most amazing sand mandala. I would just sit and watch them for hours each day. Skipped class just to watch. It was just like this (http://www.artnetwork.com/Mandala/gallery.html)

Watching them spend 5 days transform a blank piece of wood into an intricate design with nothing but funnels and sand and then destroying it in 20 seconds was inspiring.

I am not a buddhist, but I find the practice more philosophical than religious and I definitely apply it. But check out that link above, amazing stuff.

There is a positive benefit on depression and a release from stress from any form of exercise. The same thing can be said for meditation. That is how they are alike.

Also, riding a bicycle in traffic makes you take responsibility for everything, to live in the now, not to blame others but to accept what they do or flow around it. That outlook is zen.

So yeah, physcially and mentally they are very alike.

Anyway, just curious. If you do practice meditation, do you go to any temples or meditation groups? I was going to the Fire Lotus temple on State St in Brooklyn which was nice, but perhaps a bit to formalized and religiousy for me. Plus I was living in Inwood at the time, so I stopped, but now that I'm in Broolyn I might start up again. I contemplated going to Noah Levine's groups (guy that wrote Dharma Punx) but I wasn't too into the book and heard his groups got a little too new-agey/self-helpish.



I practice Ba Gua Zhang. I work with a small group of people in places like gyms and dance studios. (think moving / standing meditation.)

On my own or with a partner, I've done walking meditation down in Chinatown (great place to do it) or off the West Side path. Nice little nooks and crannies there.

as far as the effects on riding, I don't think about it too much, but I am aware that something's happening down there! ;)

this is a pretty good thread.

i concur, whats weird is i was trying to explain this very exact topic to a girl i recently met. how riding is a form of meditation for me, glad to know there's more people out there w/ the same feelings.

i'm also kinda interested in the anarchist/punk/hc - buddhist overlap. i've met a bunch of kids who came up in the scene and have gotten really into buddhist practice.

i really like the comparison someone made earlier between walking mediation and riding - guess i'm not the only one who feels like the manhattan bridge is part of my daily practice ...

I have been interested in Buddhism since I was about 14, I think, and riding fixed since I was about 21 (am currently 24). I got more serious about both of them about the same time, though. I don't take them to be the same thing, but I do think that they have the capacity to complement each other well. Sometimes I'll go on a ride after a crazy double shift at the restaurant and just spin silently through deserted residential streets for a while. The effect can be similar to sitting Shikantaza for me. Rolling Shikantaza?

I have heard rumors that there is a house somewhere in this town where people meet regularly to sit in meditation together. I haven't found it yet, but if I do I think I'll likely join in with them.

If anything, I think riding fixed complements that state of mind for me in large part because of the simplicity of the machine. I ride brakeless and that simplifies it even more. If I want to go faster, I pedal faster. Slow down, I resist and pedal slower. Once you've internalized it, it just happens automatically. This aspect of it is, I think, what helps to allow me to empty my mind while riding. When I rode singlespeed for a few weeks at the end of last year, I found myself feeling ten times as distracted while on the bike. I almost resented having to bring additional mechanical devices into the equation in order to slow down. The difference was pronounced and really caught my attention.

It's good to hear the voices of others on the board who practice or have an active interest in Buddhism. Thanks for starting this thread.

stevie - yeah, i actually got into buddhism through hardcore kinda. i had studied it before in college, but the first text that really got me into it was Hardcore Zen. It all kind of lined up for me: veganism, social justice, buddhism, riding bikes...

btw: are you the stevie from long island that's friends with Brendan, Karen, Ryler, et al?

and yeah, like i said before, riding and walking meditation was the first real connection i made between the two. the focus on the act of the body and the present... gave me a lot more meditation time than i had otherwise and really made me experience the ride a lot more.

i'm also kinda interested in the anarchist/punk/hc - buddhist overlap. i've met a bunch of kids who came up in the scene and have gotten really into buddhist practice.

.... dovetailing with the vegan / straightedge / environmentalist philosophies

.... dovetailing with the vegan / straightedge / environmentalist philosophies

as i mentioned above ;)

man, i'm such a cliche

i've been planning to ride out to staten island sometime to revisit the jacques marchais museum (http://www.tibetanmuseum.org/) if anyone else is interested..


Sunday, February 26th from 1 - 5 pm
EXHIBIT OPENING Teapots and Butter Tubs: Tibetan Vessels. Rare and historic containers from the Museum's collection will be exhibited to highlight the food and drink of traditional Tibetan Culture. Free Admission. This exhibition sponsored in part by public funds from the NY City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Saturday, March 18th at 2pm
Women's History Month Lecture: "Jacques Marchais and the Tibetan Museum." The Museum's curator, Dr. Sarah Johnson will present a lecture on the life and collection of the Museum's founder, Jacques Marchais. Born Edna Coblenz in 1887, this remarkable woman developed an interest in Tibetan art and culture in the 1920s and by the 1930s opened her own art gallery and began building a collection that would form the basis of the Museum's collection. The program begins at 2pm. Admission $10 for adults and $5 for students. This program is sponsored in part by public funds from the NY City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Saturday, March 26th at 2pm
STATEN ISLAND OUT LOUD will present a reading from "LIVING BUDDHA, LIVING CHRIST." The program begins at 2pm and is free with regular Museum Admission. This program is sponsored in part by public funds from the NY City Department of Cultural Affairs.

i've never ridden around SI before so I'd be up for visit. i'd also like to check out the tugboat graveyard, although i hear it's underwhelming.

have you been to the Rubin Museum?

yep -- i'm a RMA member :D in fact, i have the calendar in front of me.. let's see..

there's a talk by an ethnographer about "buddhist nuns in ladakh" on sunday, 29

Anyway, just curious. If you do practice meditation, do you go to any temples or meditation groups?

i've gone to the village zendo located near broadway and houston a number of times and find it very pleasant. they do a good job of blending the japanese tradition with the fact that we're in nyc. i believe they have public meditation sessions 3 times a day.

i'd be up for a ride to SI. Too bad IRO moved, we coulda made a pilgrimage... :)

the Rubin museum is great. i saw a performance of Tuvan throat singing a while back.
the whole museum is set up really well - they give you magnifying glasses to see the details on some of the paintings etc.

and nope - thats a different Stevie. I actually go by Steve, but people always call me StevieT cause of my last name.

i saw a performance of Tuvan throat singing a while back.


Tuvan throat singing is unbelievable. and not just for the gimmickry; the music itself is intensely beautiful. i find the lyrics amusing, as many of them tend to be about their horses, or yaks. :D

it was incredible. totally f-in amazing. the group was called Chirgilchin, and they performed with a few other Central Asian musicians. i got really into the instrumentation, which was fantastic one of the vocalists did a whole set of songs (most about hunting and herding, and yes - their horses) that combined singing with dead-on animal and bird sounds.

ok - derail over.

The Tathagata said: "...whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings -- that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide."

Word.

This sounds like what a wise man said to me one difficult time, "Is kind. is it true, is it neccessary".

I've tried to remember this through the years.

And this too, "chop wood, carry water".

"Sometimes it all depends on a walk around the lake" - Cummings

~jg

Some years ago I interviewed for a job as a helicopter pilot with Rocky Mountain Helicopters, back in the days when Rocky Mountain Helicopters actually flew in the Rocky Mountains.

They had me talk to a shrink, who asked my why I liked flying helicopters.
I told him it made such a demand on my attention that the internal dialogue stopped.

I find the same thing with riding fixed gear.
If you ride fixed gear you've flown a helicopter.

My physical therapist taught me a form meditation he learned from his teacher.

Sit on a chair in a room.
Listen.

Hear the room.
See the room.

Feel the room under your feet.
Experience the room as the environment.

Feel the interface between your foot and the floor.
Experience the interface as the enviornment.

Feel the layer of skin between your foot and the floor.
Experience the layer of skin as the environment.

Feel the foot between your ankle and the skin in contact with the floor.
Experience your foot and the skin and the floor as the environment.

Feel your calf, then your knee, then your hip, then your guts, then your chest, then your face, then your thoughts.
Experience all of these as layers in the environment.

Feel the sense of hearing.
Experience the sense of hearing as part of the environment.

Feel the sense of seeing.
Experience the sense of seeing as part of the environment.

What can you observe?
Experience all that you observe, whether outside your body or inside your body, and even inside your senses, as the environment.

Experience your thoughts as the environment.
"See" your thoughts as busy little bees flying around inside your skull.

Who observes the environment?

I do this while riding my fixed gear bike.
It comes naturally; almost unavoidably.

Yeah

I thought this was going to be a thread on bicycle maintenance or the art thereof.
Ha, see what comment I got at
one of my pbase galleries (http://www.pbase.com/wojtek_burkot/biking) :)

ya'll probably are familiar with this book, but i thought i'd mention it as everyone seems to be talkin' mostly about zen and tibetan forms of buddhism. the basis for all the various forms (as most of ya'll know) is the theravada (or hinayana) (as distinct from mahayana (of which zen is part), and vajrayana (tibetan forms of buddhism)). the best book on this (in my opinion) is walpola rahula's "what the buddha taught". this explicates and unpacks the earliest teaching of the buddha according to the pali texts (which are the earliest texts). theravada is the buddhism of thailand and sri lanka. a lot of ya'll most likely already knew all this. just thought i'd mention a good book though. :) :)

Many accounts of Siddhartha Gautama's life exist, varying from sect to sect.

http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/BUDDHISM/SIDD.HTM

I especially like the version as told by Joseph Campbell in his PBS lecture series THE POWER OF MYTH, and based, I think, on his book HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES.

In another forum I use the following signature line:

There is only one hero. He has a thousand faces. One of them is yours. J.R.R. Tolkien

I wonder if Campbell borrowed the title of his book from Tolkien.

In any event, I agree with Tolkien: the hero of the story rides a fixed gear bike. :)

For those in Cleveland:

http://samsara.cwru.edu/~cbt/

Enjoy