Wind Over Water draft

8/8/2019 Wind Over Water draft

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Preface

if i were to gamble to accept nothing or the cosmic Tao in the endrather than one of the vapor planets or Svetavipa that Krishna might

grant the entire universe

caught waves at low tide at the inlet right to the shoreline

the great awakening was paddling out to catch a wave at the pier at

sunset

we might do all sorts of far out things catching waves

we still walk off drenched or shivering

a dhoti might look like a paint smock once we out of the water

what planet was i on?

surfing out of a crest

the sun rising over the horizon

what happens to a drop of water when it hits the ocean?

it becomes a part of the ocean

the same as we become one with the absolute


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Part OneWind Over Water

Frozen Winter

The rink had its own architectural plan. The roof was slanted. Themain beams for the roof were massive wooden planks. The wood hadaged from the cold humid atmosphere of the rink. The aura of the rinkwas like Ontario. Upstate New York right on the Canadien border. Thelevel of competition right up there among the best in the region. Thepractices were intense. The coaching staff tested our skating skillsfirst. Being quick was a big factor in drills. 4 mile jogs in the morningbefore each practice. Our coaches wanted us going as fast as we

could all of the time on the ice. We approached each practice like agame. Developing good puck handing and learning to work togetheras a team was next. We split off into lines as forwards ordefensemen. In drills our coach asked the wingers to practice asdefensemen or had defensemen lining up as wingers or even takingface offs. In the morning the rink had fog hovering throughout theair. The condensation made it tough to see through the plexiglass.

The ice felt good under our feet, it was perfect. In practice weworked until we thought we were going to fall over. After practice wegot to practice our shooting. I tried out as a walk on. Coach Rollrecruited the three leading goal scorers in the Metro League allmembers of the New York Junior Apple Core team in Long Island. Afterpracticing in Oswego I got into Junior B games, the Baltimore Banditshad a spot open. For most of the season I practiced or scrimaged inLancaster or got in Central Penn Panthers games. That winter theBoston Breakers coach invited me to go to Ontario for games againstthe Canadien Junior A teams. I left Philadelphia on the train toBoston. Traveling is great, I got in games against teams in LongIsland, New England, Quebec, also in games against the Czech

Republic, Sweden, got to practice against one of the Soviet teams andso on. The last season in the Metro League on the Junior B Rangers.


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Foothills

The bus stopped in Orlando so north bound travelers could get on the

next bus. After that we changed over in Savanna Georgia. It wentnorth to Washington DC.I hopped on a bus to Baltimore from there. I found a cool TibetianBook Store. It was March, it was cold. I bought japa or mala beads.

The next morning I got on a bus to Pittsburg. I ended up travelingthrough the northern cooler climate states. Pittsburg was cold thatmorning.

The next bus stopped in Indianapolis. It arrived at night. There was alow fog. The next morning we arrived in Missouri. The terrain

changed after leaving the Great Lakes region. Missouri has lowfoothills. The Great Plains are desolate, more so than the desert. It isso flat, plus it is so far from the ocean. I bought the local newspaperin most of the cities we stopped in. As the bus went crusing throughColorado there was an all out blizzard. Colorado has almost the exactterrain as Utah, except it has its own look. The last bus for Arose leftLos Angelos as the sun was coming up. I noticed the orange groveson both sides of the road. Acres of rows of grapevines.

The so called Hare Krishnas who picked me up seemed alright. As faras I knew there was a temple out there in the wild. The roads were all

gravel. The roads meander up big foothills in the most secludedregion in the Sierra Nevadas. The aparant devotees turned out to besomething else. There was no temple out there nor was there a farmlike I was told. There were all sorts of abondoned cars somethingwasnt right. I got into an altercation over the question of me goingback to Arose. The altercation turned into a fight. Although I won thefight, I had to run into the wilderness to avoid being shot. I leapeddown a bank as someone shot at me twice with a 30-30 rifle.

Below me was a stream. I ended up barefootsince I was wearing flip

flops that were of no use to me. I followed the stream at first figuringit went somewhere. I climbed up a small foothill. At the time Ithought it was best to move on out of sight,and to calm down. Irested on the ridge, then lined up on two mountain peaks out in thedistance. One to the northwest of me the other was almost right inline of where the sun was setting on the horizon. One of the reasonsfor going out there was to go climbing. It just turned into the wrong


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5/96

Cold Water Springs

The SusquehannaRick made a long cast into the main river current. Rick had gotten outof the boat then waded onto the shallows where there was vegetationfull of minnows in the warmer surface column amist the late springsunshine. Rick jigged up a big smallmouth on his ultra light rod. Hehailed the boat as he fought the fish to get the attention of Jim and

Patrick. Rick had a competitive nature that made him want to catchthe most.RICK "someone work this edge with me"Rick landed his smallie

JIM "good going Ritchie, keep it up man"

Patrick looked through his lures getting out mepps spinners for castingin the shallows. Jim waded over to the current edge where Rick was.Rick was standing on a shallow outcropping. The outcropping was ariver flat of small stones. On the edge it got deeper so the currentwas racing more than it was in the shallows. The shallows were on thedownriver side of a big island several miles north of the Bloomsburgbridge. Patrick went to the eastern side of the island to make somecasts in the race between the two adjacent islands. Patrick sightedseveral small largemouth that were taking shots at his spinner. Asmallmouth came striking after his lure in sight. The hooked fishcame right out of the water, then turned into the current. The fishleaped again. Patrick kept his rod light as the bass jumped thenbegan to wind fast pulling the bass across the surface easing the fishright into his hand. He raised the smallie in the bright afternoon sunshouting, "I caught one." After a quick release Patrick went back tocasting. Again Pat set the hook on a smallie on his spinner. The basswent into the race then was taking line jumping in intervals farther


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downriver each time. The bass then went deep using the current.Patrick worked the fish up a little at a time lifting then winding tightuntil the smallie was tired. Pat walked to the edge of the islandcatching his fish. Pat measured the smallmouth quick then let it go. Agreat fish of over 20 inches.

Jim worked the current off of the shallows where Rick caught his twofish. His lure selection was a small chartreuse spinner bait. He cast45 degrees up current letting the lure sink then used an alternatingretrieve winding fast then slow. His first strike was where the edge ofthe backwater met the current just below the river flat.

JIM "man these fish sure fight good in the current"RICK "sure got that right"

JIM "check out these minnows"RICK "far out, cool"

JIM "the fish must be right on the edge of the shallows chasing them"RICK "for sure"

A rock shoal is similar to a sandbar. Some rock shoals are the result ofsprings. Cold water in the shallow spots is something an angler canlook for to find a spring.Using the same technique Jim hooked another smallmouth.

JIM "this is a bigger fish"Wading downriver, Jim gained a little bit at a time. He was almostwaist deep wading when he caught the fish. Rick was upstream. Afterlanding his fish Jim began treking to the boat. The air got colder asthe sun was setting.PAT "primo, we all caught fish"

JIM "mine were on a chartreuse spinner bait, man were the fishaggressive"


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PAT "this mepps #2 spinner caught me two"RICK "the ones I caught were on eighth once jigs, one was on apowershad, the other was on a twister tail power grub"

PAT "lets fish the channel for awhile"RICK "sounds good to me"

JIM "jig slow the water is cold"RICK "man is it getting cold"PAT "there is a fish"

JIM "what is it?"PAT "the fish was along the bank over there towards the island"

The channel that flows between the islands is deep. It is narrowmaking the water flowing through it fast. Rick cast his silverpowershad.

PAT "a walleye"

JIM "awesome"RICK "there is one"

JIM "alright, good going, the fish must be on the move?"RICK "well it is colder plus it is almost dark now"

JIM "need a net on that fish Pat?"PAT "yeah"

JIM "one in the boat, good going Junior"RICK "Jim there is mine, quick get a net on it"


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PAT "look the fish are all in the same size range"RICK "what a cool fish, distinct spot on the tail, look at the eyeglowing, awesome"

The fish caught were all over 15 inches. Jim started casting a jig.RICK "look at the pintails"

JIM "cool"

JIM got the next strike.

JIM "alright!"

After Jim landed his fish it had almost gotten dark.RICK "well we all caught fish"

JIM "great trip"

The sun set over the horizon on the back to the boat ramp. It was alittle cold except it was a real nice night.


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Natives

Scotch Run

Patrick had a small ultra light spinning rod with a micro shimano reel.

Whenever fishing a trout stream he used 2 lb. test. When wading hewore a vest to keep his hooks, jigs or spinners.On one spring morning on Scotch Run he worked a small area of thecreek from a boulder on the bank at the base of a hill. In that spotthere is a current race that flows into deeper water turning back intorapids a little farther downstream. At the base of the boulder is abackwater. At first he drifted a meal worm on a #4 hook. The fishwere right on the edge of where the race met the backwater. Hecaught several brookies that were 10 or 11 inches making the same

natural drift. The trout were holding in the same place on the edge ofthe race. He landed a small rainbow in the same size range as thebrook trout catching five fish drift after drift. He freelined the fish for asecond or two before hooking up. The fast current made landing thefish more challenging. Pat saw this as a good chance to land fish onan artificial. He had small white foxee-jigs. He made his cast into thesame part of the current race jigging as his lure drifted downstream.It worked on the first cast. An aggressive brookie darted up out of therapids into the backwater to strike. Pat had the drag set on real light

pressure at first until he could work them into the backwater at thebase of the big boulder he was standing on. He landed on morerainbow on the foxee-jig after several casts. The rainbow was in therapids downstream of the deeper water. Rainbow trout hold in fastwater. Pat caught one more small brook trout after that making iteight fish in that one part of the stream. Patrick noticed his fatherwalking over. He said he caught three rainbows above there wadingin slow moving shallow water.


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JIM "man this is a great looking spot, I caught three rainbows wadingupstream of here, I let them go"PAT "I caught two rainbows, I caught eight fish right on the edge of

this race, most of them were brookies, I released all of them"JIM "good going man, what a great morning"PAT "I thought about walking farther upstream to see if I can findnatives"

JIM "how far?"PAT "farther than I ever went before"

JIM "alright man, go exploring"Pat climbed up to the top of the hill above where he was fishing untilhe got as high as he could go. He hiked over a mile walking along theridge until he came to the edge overlooking the creek. In his sightwas a bend in the creek that looked good. The creek meanderedthrough the mountains. The get to the part of the creek that hewanted to fish Pat had to climb down the rock ledges below. Pat

fished below the bend in the creek he noticed first. It was fast waterflowing through small boulders. He waded upstream as he worked thecurrent with his foxee-jig. When he got to the narrow bend he found ashallow outcropping to cast from. The current cut into the bankforming a deep edge. Pat was almost nervous as he drifted his jigalong the deep bend anticipating a fish. After several casts he hookeda fish. To his amazement it was the native brook trout he was lookingfor. He measured it before he let it go. The fish was 14 inches, big fora native. Pat kept on casting. He landed two more natives beforewalking back to find his father.

Jim was casting in the shallower water where he caught the rainbowsearlier in the morning.

JIM "I walked about a mile downstream, I caught two brookiescasting a small spinner"


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PAT "I found natives, I caught three over a mile upstream"

JIM "awesome man, lets call it a morning"

saltwater footnotes

At lobster walk the dock looked like an aquaculture farm as a result of

Dave Curls who became a commercial diver collecting tropical fish.There were lookdowns, lobsters, sea urchins, hermit crabs, angelfish,rock beauties, clownfish, mangrove snapper, small lemon sharks,bonnetheads and so on...

One evening using ultra light rods and bright micro jigs we filled ourlive wells full of lookdowns for the outdoor tanks.

Dave is as skilled as an amphibian in the water. Sometimes we wentwith Hawaiian slings. One of our best adventures was to a series ofrock caverns on the ocean floor in the Gulf where we ended up scoringbig on lobsters.

One evening I went out to one of the mangrove islands in MatecumbeHarbor with Cain and Victor in a small Carolina skiff. We crushed themangrove snapper. There were pilchards all over.

Most of the diving we did for lobster was legit. One evening Vic toldme and Cain to raid a trap line on the outside edge of Long Key Bight.We broke open 20 traps filling the skiff full of large lobster.

One time in a cut in a flat where redfish were mudding in chaos I

landed two reds, one about eight lbs. another one about four or so,releasing the fish. I just kept jigging. I had a millies bucktail tippedwith a live shrimp.

At Oyster Bank on the edge of the Gulf we saw two small tarpontailing along. I made a cast then hooked up. The permit took off like abullet. It made a big first run. After I got line back on the fish it madeanother run. We went after it with the engine running. Again the fish


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ran. It was a 20 lb. permit. At the time there were Oceanic White Tipsas well as medium sized Tiger Sharks fining on the bank. We landedan eight foot Tiger Shark that we estimated at 250 lbs in the samearea on another trip.

There is a hidden lake adjacent to Madeira Bay. There is a narrow cut

that leads to it. When we discovered it I began casting a buck tailtipped with a chartreuse split tail grub. I got snagged on a mangroveroot, to our disbelief a snook came out of the cut to take the jig off ofthe mangrove root. We landed the fish, then released it, the fish was30 some odd inches. One time poling the eastern shoreline of MadeiraBay looking for redfish muds. We came up on a sawfish up realshallow on the flat. For a shot in the dark I cast the buck tail I had ona light tackle rod at the sawfish never expecting it to even give a lookat all. For some reason the sawfish went right after the jig, taking in

an instant. The freakin thing ran then looked like a sailfish making allsorts of far out jumps. The sawfish was real erratic as it ran. The factthat it got up in the air several times was something else. Eventhough we had it on real light tackle we landed it. For a sawfish it wassmall, 5 feet. We caught it on 10 lb. test with about a 4 foot 20 lb.test leader.

I went on three trips to Cay Sal Bank. The first was in a 22 foot Makowith Bro. It was flat calm. We had to fill a 40 gallon drum full of gasfor extra fuel. On the run over we spotted a mix of Yellowfins and

Skipjacks. When we ran up on the tuna we saw three giant WhaleSharks. What an amazing sight! We got to Elbow Key alright. Ourfocus was on grouper. We caught several scamp as well as a numberof rock hinds. It was great to see the rock islands and the oldlighthouse on Elbow Key. We had no trolling gear on us or we wouldhave taken on the Yellowfins. Even before we left to return back toIslamorada we found a fuel drum that had several big slammerdolphin on it. Bro said it was getting dark so we had no time to catchthose fish. On the trip back the seas were made up of the most subtleflat calm swells I ever noticed. It was a tranquil night. We arrived

back in Lower Matecumbe in the dark.

Some of the hardest work I ever did was on lobster boats for traps in.I worked for Ken Teeple and for Bill Greenwall out of LowerMatecumbe. We set traps in the harbor, the Gulf, and alsoOceanside. One of the mates was from Columbia, several were fromCuba. I learned about their native countries and also began to graspSpanish.


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waterspout

There is one morning of Tarpon fishing I will never forget. The horizonhad an orange hue to it. There were all sorts of dark clouds formingaround us. Our location was Matecumbe Harbor at the time. We wererunning due east towards Lignumvite Key. On the far side of theharbor is a well known bonefish flat. There are several unmarked cuts

in the flat there. On the eastern side of the flat is a well markedchannel. To the right is the marked channel to go past Lignumvite Keyto get to the bridge whenever running Oceanside.

Our plan was to veir north in Lignumvite Channel towards the flats weplanned on fishing. As we came across the bonefish flat we watched adark nimbo cumulus cloud form into a waterspout. The wind pickedup first. We were running so fast in the Action Craft we had to takeour hats off. Had we been wearing hats the sudden gusts of windwould have taken them off for sure. The wind gusts were sudden and

abrupt. The cloud started spiraling downward. There was noquestioning it, this waterspout was going to form. Sometimes a cloudwill hint like it is going to turn into a waterspout then fade out likenothing or amount to some serious wind gusting. The clouds weresome of the darkest I ever noticed. As we came across MatecumbeHarbor the sun was coming up. It was just getting light out. The nextthing we knew it got real dark. The skies were black. The wind wasgusting hard, plus it was pouring rain. The rain pelted us bad as we


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ran even faster than normal to get out of the storm clouds where thetornado was forming. The waterspout was more like a tornado in size.

The thing came out of the clouds quick then it meandered west righttowards where we were running in the boat.

We turned north towards the Petersen Keys then ran out around those

islands to the north turning to run northwest to where we wereplanning on fishing on the edge of a flat near Barnes. The waterspoutwent past the island then across the flat into Matecumbe Harbor. Itwas tough to see since it was raining so hard. We lost sight of thewaterspout in the rain, except it must have dissipated as itdisappeared into the Gulf.

Believe it or not after the weather event it got real still as the suncame out. We went first thing in the morning so we would be the firstboat on the flat. There were tarpon all over the deep area on the

edge of the flat that morning. The number of tarpon we sighted wasamazing. After our scare with the waterspout we had a goodmorning. It was the ideal scenario to fly-fish. The tarpon were laid upor rolling. We spooked our share of fish as we polled. I thought wewere quiet as a ghost except some fish were responsive when otherswere almost asleep. Several fish turned on his lure almost taking aswe polled along until Chuck hooked one. I noticed it was an awkwardfish since its reactions as it jumped were abnormal for a fish that size.We had to put our time in that morning. After landing our one tarpon,

we called it a morning then headed back to Lower Matecumbe.


15/96

shoals

The Everglades can also be thought of as the Florida River. In fact theEverglades is somewhat of a tidal river.

Light Tackle fishing for Big Jack-Crevalle is so often overlooked in theshadows of more coveted game fish. The winter migration of large

jacks has been exceptional so far. Locating a school of jacks has beenexceptional so far. Locating a school of jacks has been exceptional sofar. Locating a school of jacks on the feed can be the source of somegreat action. Working birds are a good indicator most of the time.

The inshore fish can be the source of some great action. Workingbirds are a good indicator most of the time. The inshore fish can becaught one after another if sought out. Aggressive spin fishing with

artificial lures like a DOA minnow or a bucktail with a twister tail wormare almost a sure thing. Jack-Crevalle in the 5 to 15 lb. range areabundant from Flamingo to the Islamorada bridges right now. Thebrackish channels that hold seatrout are good. The classic techniquesof jigging for trout never fail if fish are in the area. It is important tomaintain a constant retrieve to prevent losing fish. Artificial luresmust be moving to look alive. A constant retrieve means constanthook-ups. A ten plus lb. jack on 8 lb. test is great. It is rewarding


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when a fish makes several runs during a fight.

At times there are colossal fish on the reef line in numbers difficult toimagine. The ocean side fish have been observed in numbers as greatas four or five hundred 15 to 40 lb. jacks moving as one unit. Thosefish are smarter than the ones found near the flats. Freespooling alive Bluerunner on sailfish gear is a prime tactic. Be prepared for longdeep powerful runs. The bigger fish have above average endurance.A reel with lots of backing along with a precision drag setting isimportant. A spool of 200 plus meters of 12 lb. test will get the jobdone most of the time. Fishing a bimimi twist to a 40 to 50 lb. testleader increases line strength as well as provides an abrasive proofleader if a sailfish strikes. It is a great feeling letting a big one go aftera long battle.

sails at Sun up

dialog based on Capt. Richard Quirk

JACK "Ritchie where are we going this morning"

RITCHIE "up to Conch"

JACK "look at the frigate bird, it is all worked up"

RITCHIE "sailfish, there is our sailfish kiddo, this is critical get on thedeck, let me get in front of the fish"

Ritchie lined up on a set of birds working in the same area as thefrigate. The sailfish were feeding right near the edge of the dropoff.

The wind was gusting as it was, along with intense seas, it made it


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awesome to be going after a fish throttled up.

RITCHIE "get the lines out"

JACK "right man"

RITCHIE "fast kid"

JACK "no worries"

RITCHIE "now watch, look at those seagulls milling around, now look at

that frigate bird, it is looking right at a fish"

JACK "right, got it, go after it"

In a short time...

RITCHIE "there goes the right rigger kid, hook that fish man"

Jack dropped back to the fish fast giving it several jabs on thehookup. As the fish went into the first run Jack gave the rod to theangler. The fish went up in the air right after it made the first run.

The angler kept his cool just letting the fish go off.

RITCHIE "good work on the deck"

Ritchie hooked a fish on the center rod up on the bridge as that wasgoing on. Now there were two anglers on the deck fighting fish.

JACK "man those fish are freakin', this is wild man awesome"

RITCHIE "watch it now backing up, now one is going off to the


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starboard side, back the drag off on that reel"

JACK "so let the fish run right man"

RITCHIE "focus on the fish on the transom kiddo, make sure to gainback line as we go after the fish"

JACK "got it, man the drag is screaming on the fish running tostarboard"

RITCHIE "the drag goes screaming alright, that fish has a sore jaw,now there is the leader on our first fish, light, light, slow on the leader

kid, wait till the fish pops itself out of the water"

JACK "got the bill, right on"

RITCHIE "nice fish, now get it back in the water, tighten up on thedrag, lets go get the next one"

The sailfish was throwing water all over. Out in the elements at sunup.


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Bubba Louie

dialog based on the Bubba Louie, a 33 foot Crusader

DAVE "we are all fueled up, lets get going"

BRO "alright"

JACK "primo man"

BRO "how far out are we going"

DAVE "far"

The wind was out of the east. Dave went right into it. The Crusaderhandled well in most weather. It was a run of over 30 miles to thecurrent rip Dave wanted to fish.


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BRO "look gulls working"

JACK "where"

BRO "look over there man"

DAVE "I got the birds, the gulls are working on fish, let me get up onthem"

Bro let out two flat lines as Dave caught up to the birds. Jack got a rod

for a pitch bait to cast under the birds.

DAVE "cast a bait under the gull low on the water"

BRO "there goes a bull after it"

JACK "the fish is all over it"

Jack had his timing right on the hookup.

DAVE "man look at that fish"

As the bull began to make a run a big cow came charging in on theright flat, Bro hooked up on it. The bull took off fast charging throughthe waves taking line in mid air. Bro had his fish on trolling gear, it got

up in the air except it made smaller runs. The bull Jack was fightingwent deep after it got tired. Jack had a 40 lb. fish on a Penn 850.

BRO "work that fish in slow Jack"

JACK "there the bugger goes running again, man is it taking drag fast


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again"

DAVE "just keep on him"

BRO "Dave get the gaff, the cow is up"

JACK "nice gaff Dave, good going Bro"

DAVE "there goes the bull leaping out of the water again, Bro catchsome of those smaller fish"

JACK "bailing gaffers man, awesome, Dave the big bull is tired, get thegaff Dave"

Dave being an ace with the gaff handled the big fish well.

BRO "nice work"

DAVE "the gaffers, the birds are still over those gaffers, we'll get onthe fish again"

Dave ran the boat up current of the feeding fish.

BRO "hooked up again"

DAVE "awe we can fill the box"

JACK "man look at all the blood"

DAVE "keep going"

BRO "man it is awesome catching fish like this"


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DAVE "we've got over four hundred pounds"

JACK "enough right?"

DAVE "lets run inshore"

JACK "now lets chill out"

BRO "look how awesome our catch is bro, lets smoke a joint eh"

JACK "sounds good to me"

DAVE "right"

After setting course back towards Tennessee Light. Dave noticed awooden board floating. He gave Jack a 40 lb spinner with a Penn 950reel, set up with a Yozuri lure. Jack ran the lure out as Dave made apass on the drifting board. Out of the blue came a 20 lb. wahoo.

BRO "man did that fish take some drag fast"

Dave gaffed the wahoo then went back to the helm to find the debrisagain. Bro let the Yozuri out the same distance.

JACK "amazing we just hooked into another wahoo.

DAVE "run the lure out once more Jack"

BRO "far out bro, we just hooked into our third wahoo"


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The wahoo were all in the same size range. After gaffing the fish Daveset course back to shore as the sun was setting.

the bluewater

Steve on the Linda D IV found me walking along the dock in 2004. Heasked if I was the kid looking for a job. I mentioned the boats that Ihad worked on before to give him an idea of what sort of experience Ihad. Steve gave me the job. The Linda D IV is a 40 foot #1 hull with apair of twin Detroit engines. It ran 22 to 23 knots top end, except mostof the time we would cruise at 17 or 18 knots. Steve liked to fish thebluewater. In most cases we worked two rigger baits, two flats, abridge rod, and one deep troll. We ran mono on the flats, wirealbrights in the riggers, and also a wire albright on the bridge rod, andwire on the deep troll. Our rigs were tipped with pink squids. We ran apink seawitch on the deep troll since it is a good wahoo color.Whenever we fished the reef we just ran two wire albright rigs in theoutriggers, the clark spoon on the flat, plus the deep troll. For themost part the reef was all baracudas or ceros. Out in the bluewater we

caught our dolphin, and wahoo. The sailfish were tough that season.We might have raised one sail a week. Steve spent the fall, winter,and spring in Florida, then went up to Maine for the bluefin tunaseason. Out of all of the boats at Charterboat Row, the Linda D IV hadthe longest range. We fished from Pelican Shoal up to the east goingout to the Marquesas to the west. Our boss Bill Wickers let us gowhere the fish were. Fuel was never a problem.


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In March the king mackeral were stacked up at the outer edge ofWestern Dry Rocks for two weeks. We managed to catch threadfins, sowe anchored. On one of our charters we caught a limit of big kings,plus three 20 lb. Black grouper. We worked that area for those twoweeks until the fishing slowed down. We limited out several times. The

rigs are #2 treble hooks on 4 wire albrighted to the 50 lb. test leader.

When April came around we did most of our fishing in the bluewater.We did some live bait fishing for sails that month. We were a little saloon sails though. There were free jumpers all over the place out in 300feet except those fish were not responding to dead bait trolling. Wecaught two sailfish offshore of Middle Sambo on threadfins on one trip.

The first fish was about average weighing 50 lbs.. The second fish wasbig. It was a real dinosaur. It took us about 20 minutes to get theleader, then it went deep again and again as we backed up on it,

taking another 20 minutes to land. That fish was over 70 lbs..For several weeks in the spring of 2005 the waters off of theMarquesas were the place to be. At first there were big numbers ofkings in the Gulf north of the Marquesas. Live threadfins on thesurface had the kings at our will to some extent. We were casting twolivies on spinning rods at a time getting the fish right up in plain sighton the take. We had a great time watching the threadfins get nervousas the kings came up to the surface. We got to see the bite. Later on

trolling on the Atlantic side was intense.The Reef Runner is one of the older boats at Charterboat Row. It is a40 foot Defender. Captain Soldano did his own custom fiberglass workon his deck. The boat has a long cockpit, making the cabin smaller.

The bridge is up forward almost on the bow. It kind of lags through thewater. It goes ten knots. A single engine boat. Single engine boats arecommon at the old Marina.On the Reef Runner we fished all wire. The rigs 8 feet of wire, to

regular mustads, using a 200 pound barrel swivel. We trolled tworiggers, two flats, plus the deep troll. In December of 2003 the kingswere thick as theives. Eastern was the most productive. One morningwe put ten big kings in the box, all around 20 pounds. The fish weregetting airborne on the hook ups. Trolling up kingfish is awesomewhen it gets like that. When dead bait trolling for those fish the speedof the boat makes for a quick hook up. All of the sudden one is up onthe right rigger, then the left goes, then a third fish on the flat. The


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surface bite turns on, then just stops like it never even happened.Under normal conditions, whenever dead bait trolling, far morekingfish are caught on the deep troll than on the surface. Kingfish holdat mid depths most of the time.

The cero mackeral were abundant that December also. The birds werefound working on the inshore perimeter of the reef. When targetingthem, we trolled clark spoons on the flats, and pink squid in theriggers. Expect fast action. Sometimes there are spanish mackeralmixed in with the ceros. One morning we took two dozen fish.

The Lighthouse at Sand Key makes it the centerpoint of the reeflineoffshore of Key West. The Light is in shallow water on the highpoint ofthe reef. Adjacent to it is a sandbar. There is a NOAA weather beaconthere also. On the outer perimeter of the high rocks is a 30 to 40 foot

area.It is a good place to catch cero mackeral. The 30 to 40 foot zone madeup of sea fans, sponges, or coral holds grouper and mutton snapper.

The depth goes to 90 feet then rises back up to 40 or 50 feet. The baris an outcropping of the reef. Past the bar is another dropoff. Thebluewater offshore of there is great. The current rip there is in about300 feet.

The 40 foot zone to the west of the Light is a great yellowtail spot.Scot ran out there with me one morning in his 18 foot Edgewater.Using glassminnows as scatter chum and silversides on #1 hooks wecaught 30 keepers.

The seagulls are sometimes found working over cero mackeral orspanish mackeral on the inshore side of the reef as well as on theoutside or deeper offshore side of the reef.

Western Sambo is one of the coolest sections of the reef in southFlorida. There is a steep dropoff on the outer edge of the reef there. In

April of 2005 Scot took the Edgewater out there with me one evening.I got in the water to take a look around. When it is clear there are allsorts of caverns, and outcroppings of dead coral visible from thesurface. There are gorges between the rock formations there. Thereare several spots where I was 20 feet deep in the middle of two cliffsthat are no more than three feet below the surface. The yellowtails arescattered all throughout the gorges. On the dropoff on the outer edgethere were cero mackeral. The tropical fish are abundant at Western


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Sambo. I found rock beauties were hiding on sponges or in smallcaverns. One of the motivating reasons for going there was to look forlobster, or to find grouper in the caves near the bottom. For somereason neither the grouper nor the lobster were in the area on thatdive. On the inshore side of the reef I had an encounter with an 8 foot

bull shark.Before seeing the shark small cero mackeral went racing past me. Theshark looked right at me then turned off into the darker water out ofsight. The bull shark came up to me as I surfaced after diving on thedeep edge on that side of the reef. The top of the reef is shallow. Ifroze, then turned backwards looking back to where the shark wasuntil I got to the shallow high rocks.

overhaulsIn October of 2003 I got a job at the commercial fishing dock on StockIsland. Ed Blasce had a cargo container on site for fiberglass supplies.

The Charterboat Row captains brought boats to Ed for offseasonoverhauls. There were two 40 foot #1 hulls being worked on plus two34 foot Crusaders. The Captain Conch was one of the #1 hulls. It is an

open cabin boat that was being rebuilt. We put in new engine hatches,tackle cabinets, a new deck, along with a new fish box. I spent threeweeks working there before Ed told me to hit the docks.Ritchie Gomez gave me a job that November on his 34 foot Crusaderthe Conch Too. I got a new look at trolling. Ritchie gave me the firstlook at dead bait trolling for sails. I had to strike out to learn. This wasa new challenge for me. Ritchie had me trolling spinning rods on the


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flat lines. We had a Penn 50 International on the downrigger, Penn 30conventionals in the riggers, plus a bridge rod. We also pulled a squidchain teaser out of the right rigger. That first fish on the troll was oneof the most exciting hookups I ever had. The fish was up on the teaserthen Ritchie took the squid chain from the fish, it turned on the right

flat that I dragged past its chin. I gave it a quick five seconds on thedropback. The fish came jumping on the first run it made. We clearedour lines then worked our fish. We got the touch on the leader, thenlet the fish tire itself out. I billed it, we got a quick picture then wedragged the fish a little to revive it.

The End of the Bar is where the blackfins are most of the time. Wewere catching blackfins in 150 to 300 feet all over the reefline. Oneafternoon on the Captain Conch we caught eight big blackfins on thetroll. It was going off. The frigate birds were out in 300 feet on the fish.

The fleet worked the fish for about a week.

rabbit out of his hatOn one old commercial fishing boat converted into a charterboat wefished four rods all out of the gunwhales. The old slow boat did about10 knots, except it got us to the fishing grounds.

Whenever fishing for baracuda or cero mackeral we trolled two bare

baits in the outriggers on wire, a clark spoon on the flat, and a riggedhoo with a black and red feather on the downrigger. The baracudaaction was so good we were hooking up triple headers on a regularbasis. We were getting multiple triple headers in a single trip. The ceromackeral were elusive that fall. We caught all sorts of ceros excepttheir pattern followed the king mackeral that never showed up untilwinter was almost over.


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The idea of trolling for sailfish is to cover more water. The sails willsometimes shadow a bait, thrashing at it with their bill beforecharging in on the feed. Most of the fish do not hook themselves. Thefish require a little coaxing to initiate the dropback. In December thefleet did most of its trolling outside the Main Ship Channel. The sails

were thick as theives. Mitch Nowak pulled a rabbit out of his hat oneafternoon when he got shallower than the rest of the fleet getttingright up on top of the reef. There were small sails in there feeding. Weraised five fish in the short time we were there landing two. The firstfish came up on the left rigger. I gave it a short dropback then hookedit up. As that was going on another fish snagged itself on thedownrigger as a third fish charged in on the right flat. Ignoring the fishon the right flat I set the hook on the one that took the downriggeralthough the fish managed to get off. We shrugged our shoulders aswe backed up on our sail. This little sail never got far, it might have

weighed 20 lbs. Once we released that fish we got our baits right backin the water. We raised another pair of fish on our rigger baits. We gotthe one on the left rigger. That fish came back on the bait three timesbefore I got the hook into it. This one did not require much backingdown either. It weighed about 15 lbs.

the TortugasThe run to the Tortugas took us through the lakes first. At the end ofthe lakes is a cut past Boca Grande. The shoreline of that island is apristine natural sand bank. After clearing the shallow waters of thelakes we took the offshore pass past the Marquesas. From there it is

another 50 miles due west. Our first stop was on the 30 foot patchreefs where the red grouper are. The rods we used were 30 lb. class.

The old Penn Senators were spooled with 40 lb. test. The rigsconsisted of a 2 ounce lead in front of a barrel swivel to 5 feet of 50 lb.mono to a 7/0 short shank mustad. John Potter had eight of those onthe boat. On those patch reefs, all we did was grouper fish. Each riggot a medium hoo, and a whole squid. The grouper bite was almost


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instantaneous. Whenever it slowed down we would move about 150 to200 feet from where we were last. As the sun started setting wedecided to run to Fort Jefferson. That afternoon we put about 30keeper red grouper in the box. The Fort is something else. It is a civilwar era Fort built in the mid 1800's. In the center of the Fort is a field.

There are scattered trees, there is an old cactus, it is a unique place.There is a rustic lighthouse that served as a watchtower. The Fort itselfis built out of red brick. It is two levels high. On the perimeter is abrick wall that creates a moat. There are mangrove snapper inside thewall. There is some live rock within the perimeter also. The islandforms an outcropping that creates the sheltered harbor. That night weanchored in the harbor. Captain Potter worked on his grouperchowded, as I cooked shrimp and lobster on the skillet. Our guestswere elated to escape to such a remote location. We went on a 50 footsportfisherman called the Cha Cha. The cabin was set up for overnight

trips. It served as our seafood bar. The ship was in an uproar thatnight. Being so close to Cuba is was nice having Cuban cigars fromback at port. I smoked one on the bridge late that night. Capt. Potterput a shark rod out with the clicker on. It woke us up at about 2o'clock. It was a 120 lb. hammerhead.

The next morning the wind picked up, it got rough. We met up with ashrimp boat in a seven foot sea to barter for several burlap sacs full ofcrabs, shrimp, and moharas. We traded them several cases of beer.

We backed up stern to stern in that sea, it was hectic. The fleet ofshrimpers look like ghost ships out there. It is a tight nit group of someof the most rugged individuals in the commercial fishing business. Theboats go out for weeks at a time, roughing it in the harshest ofweather. We went back to the patch reefs. We managed to catchanother 40 legal red grouper. We also landed two jewfish. One was200 lbs., the other was about 150 or so. The crabs, and the moharaswere our scatter chum.

That night we went back to the harbor for shelter, although we did not

go ahore. We landed a 150 lb. bull shark in the dark. Once the suncame up we started back to port. Rather than just run back, we wentoffshore, then trolled back. It was rough offshore, about an eight footsea. We caught dolphin as we trolled back in 500 feet.


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the weedlineBeing introduced to offshore permit was one of the coolestexperiences I have had as a charterboat mate. Shallow water permitso often spook on the flats never allowing a chance to get a bait tothem. The deeper water seems to give the fish more confidence.

There is a wreck up to the east of Alligator Light in Islamorada. In thespringtime permit move offshore to wrecks or rock piles on the reef.Sometimes 40 or 50 fish would be visible on the surface. I'd go up onthe bow with a live crab to get the best casts at the fish. Sometimesthe permit would ignore the crab, but persistence paid off all of the


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time. The permit would gather up in groups. Casting a crab into themiddle of 25 fish is fine most of the time, except sometimes the fishrequire a little coaxing. In that case, finding the lead fish is critical. Ifthere are 40 permit there then there must be several lead fish sincethe fish a broken up in packs. Sometimes we would hook up on the

first cast. Other times it could take multiple casts until I would hit oneon the head. Some fish go right up to the surface, right up on top totake a crab. Other fish would pick it up while it was sinking.Dirrk Reich brought me on his 43' Hatteras at Whale Harbor Marina inUpper Matecumbe Florida in the spring of 2005. Being springtime ourfocus was on dorado. Our routine consisted of anchoring in the darkon the bait patch, throwing the castnet on cigar minnows or goggleeyes, racing offshore in search of birds, setting out our spread, thenwe run and gun after fish pitching live baits. Our success allowed us to

fool around on the wreck in the afternoon. The wind is unpredictable,that spring the east winds were late. In the recent past the east windsarived at the end of March. The weather pattern was two months late.

The fish migration followed the weather pattern. At the beginning ofthe season fish were scattered in groups of eight or ten schoolie sizefish. The beginning of June was our most productive part of theseason. We wandered around looking for the fish feeding into thecurrent, those are the aggressive bigger fish, the slammers as we callthem. The birds on those fish are moving southwest in the gulfstream.

Captain Dirrk Riech or Dirrko is an ace at spotting fish from the tower.Once we were able to get to the fish we would either troll past the fishor pitch a live bait. Sometimes we would hook our first fish on the troll,then pitch baits to the rest of the pack. Slammers travel is pairs or inpacks of 3 or 5 in most cases. The size range of these fish is 15 lbs. toover 50 lbs.. The larger bull dolphin is in most cases the lead fish. Oneof our better catches of the season consisted of 4 cows weighing 17 to23 lbs. and two bulls, one weighing 18 lbs. with the other weighing 21lbs.. Our largest bull dolphin of the season weighed 54 lbs.. As theschoolies began to run through our catches consisted of 40 to 50small fish per trip. Some of our slammers showed up while we werecatching schoolies. One morning we caught five bulls averaging 20lbs. each. We were working a weedline on a current break 25 milesout. The first set of gulls we found meandering southwest camethrough. We hooked up one fish trolling plus made a cast to the fishthat was to some extent a shadow to the first fish. Right after we wereable to land those fish then organize our trolling rods quick we found


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another set of birs working. The next set produced a triple. The firstfish charged in on the squid chain on the right flat. We fought that fishthen landed it keeping our focus on a frigate bird that was right on thewater. On our next move we idled to the war bird. After casting over toit, a bull came charging in, our angler hooked up. To our good fortune

there was a second bull racing around. What a blast we had fightingthose big dolphin. It was business as usual.

the rainstorm

The skies grew dark as we headed for shore. We were in a full blownrainstorm before we knew it. Waterspouts were almost forming up.As the rain dissipated we spotted several sailor gulls circling over fish.

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was somewhat calm is the fact that the rain flattened the seas out. Inthe downpour it was as tough to see as it is in the fog. The captainran up on the birds then got upwind of them to make it easier for meto cast to them. Using two 30 lb. spinners then one of our 20 lb. rodswe got takes on three fish in a quick flash of action. The wind made

for real long casts into the fish the birds were on. On the first cast Igave the fish a short drop back with a flying fish. The fish were not inour sight we just knew the dolphin were under the birds. Afterhooking into the first fish I took a deboned hoo on another 30 lb. rodto cast. Again it is how it is sometimes. When dorado are on thesurface in a pack of 4 or 5, the feeding fish never hesitate to take ifthe presentation is right. The third fish was shadowing the fish wehad on so I cast another deboned hoo to it. After our navigatingthrough the rainstorm we had a triple header on. To our good fortunewe landed the fish. As we worked in our third fish two more dorado

moved in. Sometimes things just flow right. The first was a bull thenext was a cow. What a blessing to catch five dolphin in the 20 lb.range after we got skunked in the harsh weather that morning.

threadfins on the reef

The morning was dead still. There was a low fog lifting off of thehorizon. The first thing we did on the Kalex was catch Threadfinsusing our 14 ft. net. Alex got us on the pilchards that were racing ingreat numbers on the patch. George was also just as onto the


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Threadfins as Adler that morning. Dave alternated turns on the netwith me. We used our scatter chum to cloud the water to cover thenet since most of the time Threadfins aren't ever caught in thecastnet. The scenario was something else that morning as we werescoring two to three hundred Pilchards or Threadfins at a time the

numbers were so great. We had real fine sand chum.

The Yellowtails were all over the edge of the reef at Alligator. It was agreat time catching big Yellowtails on the Threadfins. What made iteven more awesome was the fact that we were catching big Mangroveand Mutton snapper in the cloud of Yellowtails at the same time. Thefish were right on top of the water column. Imagine a flash or red as abig Mutton snapper takes a Pilchard right on the surface. Our bigPilchards or Threadfins are what made things happen for us.

sailfish

December is a cold month in Stuart Florida. I got held up one morningon A1A driving to the dock because a train was blocking the road. Thefog was beginning to lift as the train rolled past. What a hastle man.Charlie flipped on me, telling me I should have left for work earlier.


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Well, I would have made it to the boat on time if the train wasn'tblocking the road. I still got there 15 minutes before our one anglerfor the morning. The rods were all rigged, plus there were four dozenbaits brined on ice. It was a still calm morning. As the sun was risingabout 200 or so ravens flew past the dock at first light. The fog began

to lift up off the Indian River. The horizon had a distinct red haze to itthat morning. I took out the sailfish rods then had a cup of coffee.Charlie was blowing smoke about me getting caught up at the traintracks. Todd pulled up. Charlie said "lets go see what he thinks aboutthe weather." Todd said "we might as well go" So we went. The inletwas rough. We had a wave break over the bow as we were getting outof the inlet. The wind was right out of the east. It was over 20 knots,gusting at 30. Most of the sailfish being caught were offshore of FortPierce. There is an edge that we would work about 15 miles east ofthe shoreline. Even though it is 15 miles out, the edge there is just

150 feet deep. It was a rain gear morning. Man we got drenched onour ride out. The wind was hawkin', so we put out four baits ratherthan our normal spread of seven. Sometimes that is all it takes. Thefirst fish came right up on the flat. I had the drag set real light so thefish could tug some line without resistance. A sail will pull a little linethen drop a bait before charging back in on a bait it is best to wind onthe bait a little or hold the rod up in the air. Getting the hoo in sightmakes the fish visible also. The more excited a fish is the better thechance of getting it to commit. I hooked the sail. Todd fought the

fish. It made several short runs except it was small. We were able toback right up on it. I brought the fish onboard quick to get the hookout of it then dragged it through the water a little to revive it. Oursecond fish popped up on the left rigger. After banging the clip down Igave it a quick feed getting the hook into the fish on the first take. Itwas another small sail. It came jumping towards the boat. I had to bereal delicate with these small fish, their bills are soft. Charlie cooledoff after we landed some fish. Number three came up after our squidchain, then faded back on the flat line. I dropped back to it thenhooked up again catching the fish. We called it a morning afterlanding three sails then ran back to Stuart.

Radha Madhava

Traveling around the Miami area using mass transit has been anadventure in and of its own. Living in Jupiter I got to know a cab


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driver who picked me up at the Spring Training Baseball Stadium todrive me to the Tri Rail Station. Most of the time I carried a backpac tokeep the cell phone I had on me, japa beads, several books to read,spare cloths, camera and so on. It is great to bide the time on thetrain leafing through a book. The cell phone allowed me to scroll

through the New York Times to check the latest news. I sometimeschanted silent japa also. At the transfer station I got onto the metrorail to Coconut Grove to get to the festivals or to do devotional work.

Prasad was great tonight. The coliflower with the potatoes cooked inoil hit the spot. The rice had black olives added to it. After washingpots and ladels this morning I went for a walk to get a coffee, and abox of cloves. Once I got back to the temple I was able to chantseveral rounds of japa next to the tulasi garden. The lock toGovindas, the book store, was caught when Mantra Murti got to the

temple. After we got the door to open I noticed Ganga Safari a greatbook Mahamaya Devi Dasi wrote about traveling with JayaPataka. One night we were all explosive over Gaura Purnima in Miamiif i place the time right, spring of 2007, tulasi water going all over,scattered flowers or organized chaos.

At arotics I had a good chat with a godbrother about how to improveour sadhana or our meditation. Visal das was speaking aboutsadhana the previous morning. I managed to chant as loud and

as clear as possible to maintain a humble go about it. The kirtan wasa gradual progression for me. It had me drifting a little as i thoughtabout how to free the mind from MAYA. I had to go light on thekiratalas at first. Rasesa Goura got me going with his drum again. Inthe mist of it all we directed our attention to Krishna. Our speaker hadthe most straight forward insight on the main focus of the BhagavadGita. The facets of Arjuna. As he began his lecture chanting JAYARADHA MADHAVA. What a quiet night on the metro rail. I addedtulasi water to the cup of drink ice I got at the bar on the walk to thetrain. The taste of the tulasi leaf will settle me for the night.Prabhupada das mentioned the Lower East Side of New York in the60's when he got to know Srila Prabhupada and Allen Ginsberg. I holdon to the lilamrtas I found at Govindas, talkes between Swamiji andAllen Ginsberg are in Satsvarupas notes. Prabhupada das wasinterested in what I wrote. I gave him a print out of Eight Islands.

I must maintain constant practice to master the art. Sadhana is


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something I am working on.

Gandharvika gave me a tour of the tulasi garden. One of the trees iswhat the Buddha once meditated next to. We noticed the flowersbuding in a tree growing above the garden. The tulasi plants in

the greenhouse need nurturing, perhaps we can root cuttings.


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Part TwoSea of Cold

Swamiji

Revisions of Srila Prabhupada quotes out of the writings of Satsvarupadasa Gosvami about his travels...

The idea is to point out some of the most intriguing things SrilaPrabhupada said then shed some light on his concepts.

One thing swamiji pointed out is "It is our action that counts, we each

have a free will, we can choose to follow our spiritual master or not..."It is best to relate to his teachings or writings to guide us on the rightpath. A true Guru Maharaj replies as a humble servant to his deciplewhen given the right level of respect in reciprocation to his student.

Some devotees just fade out so Srila Prabhupada often said "comeback to the temple, all problems aside, we will take care of things justcome back or else..."

Satsvarupa once said "this means more important of all, that I have tokeep more than ever unto death the strict practice of Krishnaconscious principles and following Srila Prabhupada and preaching inISKCON"

Srila Prabhupada said "this is the best part of the morning for spiritual

life..." on his morning walk on Waikiki Beach before the sun was up.The surfers were in the water. Prabhupada remarked that it wasalmost suffering for the surfers to get out in the water at that time ofthe morning. For me on mornings when I got out in the surf I foundgreat contentment. If we feel as though we are one with the ocean orthe elements we will struggle through whatever it takes to get outthere. Sometimes it means we have to fight through breakers to getout far enough to find our center or just sort of chill out on the board


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until the right wave comes along. I doubt there is a better thrill thansurfing out of a crest as the sun is rising over the horizon. Sometimesit even felt great to just paddle along in light waves at sun up. SrilaPrabupada is right it is almost suffering at times if the water is cold. Itis out there in the surf where we find our zen so whatever we go

through to get it we will.

Srila Prabhupada said similar things to John Lennon as he did in histalks with Allen Ginsberg...

"Hare Krishna" said George

swamiji smiled "this is Krishna's blessing"

"Hare Krishna," George replied again

Prabhupada said "whatever leading persons act, people in general willfollow them"

When swamiji asked John Lennon what philosophical veiws he wasfollowing, Lennon responded "following?" we still have to keep siftingthrough, like sifting through sand..."

Allen Ginsberg commented that Bhaktivedanta seemed to have nofriends in America, that he was alone, and gone, somewhat like a lonehippie to the nearest refuge, the place where it was cheap enough torent. There were several people gathering around sitting in lotus onthe floor. Allen described them as Lower East Side hippies who hadwandered in off the street being somewhat curious also full of


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inquisitiveness, and respect for spiritual presentation of some kind.Ginsberg said the hippies looked like street sadhus in India who wererefugees the from middle class. Allen liked the idea that in his words"Swami Bhaktivedanta had chosen the Lower East Side of New York forhis pracitice. He had gone to lower depths. He had gone to a spot

more like the side streets of Calcutta."

"I was astounded that he came with the chanting, because it seemedlike a reinforcement from India." said Allen about the kirtana...

Satsvarupa said Prabhupada quoted a passage from the BhagavadGita where Krishna said that whatever a great man does, others willfollow, requesting Allen to continue chanting Hare Krishna so that

others would follow his example. Allen said he did not take SwamiBhaktivedanta for granted questioning his own level of respectmentioning that his teaching was good to make him question that.

Allen said "The main thing, above all of our differences, was an aromaof sweetness that he had, a personal selfless sweetness like totaldevotion, and that was what conquered me, whatever intellectualquestions of doubts I had, in his presence there was a kind of personalcharm, coming from dedication, that conquered all our conflicts."


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Socrates

Can one consider Socrates to be a jnana yogi?

One of his disciples asks the question of what the goal of life isfor Socrates. It is to rise through the means of the intellect to attainrealization of the absolute good. Srila Prabhupada answered thatSocrates was a great thinker also stating that such a great soul is oneof a kind. The disciple asks if someone like Socrates who is a jnanavanor wise man will in the end surrender to Krishna? For Socrates Zueswas the king of gods. The concept is the same. It is certain Socrateshad a similar resolve to his idea of the source of all creation.

Aristotle begins in Nicomachean Ethics mentioning the overall

good. Taking action can be or is in his terms a good attribute for aman. Action contributes to the overall good if it is done in a productiveway. For example, building a boat or tending to farm feilds. Building aboat adds another ship to the fleet. Tending to farm feilds providesproduce for the well being of the townspeople. There is a cost for theproduce. It must be paid for. The farmer must be rewarded for hiswork. People are discouraged from stealing. This does not makereference to work ethic. Someone who is active or contributing insome way to others is held at a high level of virtue. When meeting an

end, the means for that end, can be weighed based on the action thatwas taken for oneself of for ones nation. Aristotle said it was finer tomeet ones end in service of the state, rather than for ones ownpersonal ambition. The overall well being of mankind is somethinggreater and more complete. Acting in accordance with rationalprinciple knowledge is in some sense doing the right thing in givensituations. The question that arises is, how is rational defined? Somemen are consumed by their senses, thinking about their well beingalone, or thinking about whatever makes them feel good. Those ofhigher intellect seek out political thought or live a contemplative life.Aristotle does stress the value of knowledge as a measure of a man. Agood can be an accomplishment or the completion of a project.Winning a battle is an accomplishment. The work that goes into theconstruction of a building can be viewed as the good that completedit. The good in that case being the time the builders put into the work.

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regarding Socrates and how Aristotle makes reference to the overallgood. The well being of mankind and the transcendence of the soulare linked. From the perspective that we assume the spirit soul is real,we link what man does on this Earth to the well being of the soul.From a material standpoint we can observe the actions we as men

take in relation to what happens around us. In plain terms good karmais good work. That tells us to take action in some good form wheneverpossible.

Nicomachean Ethics breaks the world down to what it is. It doesnot claim to be an explanation of how things should be. The book insome aspects describes the chaos the world of men is in. Aristotlemakes suggestions, except each suggestion is weighed against theopposite. Perhaps the death of Socrates effected Aristotlespen. 'quotes'... "virtuous actions are noble and done for the sake of

the noble"... also "the liberal man like other virtuous men, will give forthe sake of the noble" Aristotle.

A liberal man spends on the right things. In some sense that tells usthat a liberal man will make the right moves, speak to the rightpeople, or all in all do the right thing. In some aspect or another mostmen are flawed to some extent. A man who claims what is inaccordance with his merits is respected for it. Those who make falseclaims are denied respect. In the commercial fishing business it is

crucial to catch the largest number of fish possible, right? For a farmerit is important to get a high yeild out of a crop. Lobtermen set gearnear structure where lobster like to hide. Lets assume merit is basedon the mean of the average number of lobster caught, compared towhat is brought in. How does moderate success gain more merit thanoutstanding success? Is moderate harvest of fish wiser, so to speakthan seeking to take too much at one time. Can the resource beoverfished? What Aristotle is talking about is character.

Pride is something that is based on a mans veiw of his ownstatus. A proud man of the highest status must be good in order tomaintain his place in life. Aristotle stresses moderation in wealth,power, level of pride, and in fact ambition as well. Aristotle explainshow a proud man who avoids danger most of the time will face greatdangers. Courage in the face of danger is what sets men apart. Theremust be a balance of how one takes shelter with the number of riskstaken. The moderate or more temperate man understands, and takes


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the middle road. Philosophical thought has few boundries. How is itcertain people are rewarded for their work when at the same timethere are those who are exploited? Does the person who getsexploited work as well as the person who is rewarded in a fair sense?How can we sure that the exploited worker is held to the same

standard as the satisfied worker? How are ethics upheld? It isimportant to fight for what is right. First we need to figure out whatright is. Who is to tell us what to look upon as negative or what to getexcited about. In order to do this we must use common sense.

Knowledge is learned over time. Aristotle seems to tell the readerto step back from material attachments as does Srila Prabhupada inhis purports. Free from attachments man can attain a higher level ofthought. Socrates was mentioned as being a modest man who had agood understanding of things.


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Logic

Logic tells us that there must be a creator for the universe to exist.St. Thomas calls God the first mover. In Shorter Summa, theexistence of God is the first topic St. Thomas explains that God iseternal. God is not split like a Taoist would suggest.

God is not part something, part nothing. God in fact is somthing. The

answers we are looking for are, that it is in reference to its existence,and what it is in reference to its essence. Creation is evidence thatGod is out there somewhere. God set the universe in motion. Somebelieve that God has taken on multiple forms or has expansions. Ofthe theories on creation the Hindu perspective explains that Brahma isthe first God. Brahma is the cause of the cosmic explosion that beganthe creation of the universe. Catholic Faith tells us that God didexpand creating worlds as well as spiritual expansions except thatthere is one God. The one God is the first mover. Astronomers take

satellite photos of planets. The planets orbiting the Sun are barren.The planets closer to the Sun are volcanic, the planets farther out arefrozen or made up of elements that are of no likeness to our planet.

The satellites also look out into the nearest galaxies. The images areamazing. The universe has no known limit. Hindu scriptures tell us amultitude of creators emerged. The exceptance of the multiple Godveiw is based on the number of stars or planets that exist.

In our respect it is impossible to put God into simple terms. St.Thomas said the divine intellect is the same as the divine essence.Looking for answers is just speculation. The earth is a diverse world.

The oceans are abundant in all sorts of wildlife, from pelagic fish, tobirds like the albatross. There are iguanas, snakes, elephants, deer,bears, and so on. There are oak trees, pines, mangroves and so on.Does an albatross have a spirit? Is God found in trees or plants? Theworld makes God look like an artist. All things act own their own.St. Thomas focus is on mankind. Man is set apart based on his will or


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hid intellect. Man is higher up on the evolution of the mind. Thepower of creative thought or speculative thought or constructivethought is all given to man. Man has work ethic. Civilization is theresult of creative thinkers. The will is a great force. Man was giventhe will to work through whatever struggle is in his path. Man is the

result of a greater source that intended us to exist. God is said to bethe same force all the time. The attributes given to man are the sameas what God is. St. Thomas set out to prove the existence of thecreator. Let us call that fact. Whatever else god is, philosphersquestion. So much can be proved, then the rest is left to arguement.St Thomas tells us that at the beggining of creation mankind was lost.God planned to restore man. Lost at the first man? Man becamematerialistic. Christ came to restore man. God became a part ofmankind after taking on the form of a man. Man the last to becreated, of all beings on Earth is a part of Christ. The sacred scripture

tells us Christ ascended up out of the Earth after his death. Christcame to the Earth a mortal, then left as spirit. The purpose was forGod to realize man. The realization of man lets God find someunderstanding for men.

Can man realize God, if God never realized man? Is Christ the turningpoint in mans realization of God? Christ was said to be in fact in theform of a man though he was formed of some sort of celestial matter.

The teaching of Christian faith tells us Christ was of the same nature

of mortal men, and had a true rational soul.

Plato believed the intellectual soul is seperate from us in the form ofmatter. Plato said a mans soul is like a sailor in a boat, it is atthe helm. The soul is one with man. The soul is said to be themover. Alexander belived the potential intellect to be part of the soulthat is seperate from a man. Aristotle agrees with Plato that the spiritsets things in motion, and that it is a force of intellect seperate frommans actual form.

Let us go back to the first mover. There is an order of causes thatbrought about what we know. The order of causes created the stars.It set the planets in motion. The order of causes is responsible for theevolution of the evolution of all the creatures on the planet. After alook at creation, where does it leave us? There was a first mover,there is an order of causes, something brought about the world,something brought about man, all things meet an end. Those are the


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five proofs brought up. Lets assume man is on his own in the world.Does the spiritsoul of the creator remain with us? Is there a cause forthe good elements of mankind? St Thomas said there is a source thatis the cause of all being. Socrates said man came from the world offorms. The theories are similar. The outlooks tell us that God shaped

man. The Catholic Faith calls the omnipotent God the creator, and themaker. The creator is the concept of Brahma or the first mover. Themaker is like the craftsman or sculpter of men.

Abstract Capitalism

If we look to the stratosphere we notice the clouds or thevariations of the hue of the horizon above us. If we see wherewe are standing we get to the realization that we are on aplanet. If our feet are anchored as we give thought to wherewe are...on a planet infact...

How is our social structure or our outlook on the earthitself. Even in a social capitalist mapout of things allmerchants or business owners will be granted capitalism to

the fullest extent if the right chart is drafted...

For a merchantile, if we had a woven rug, someone is anexpert in that trade. Someone else is a builder who is skilledas a master craftsman. The owner of a farm does perhapshire his sudra class workers to tend to his fields.

If we see a diligent farm worker, how are we to percievesomeone who developed the skill or work ethic to work in thefarm fields if the sudra is weighed out against the merchant oreven a brahmin? For the brahmin to meet the farmhand orthe merchant on equal ground the ethical level of either one isthe question. If his aquired knowhow is in his area of work. Isthe diligent farm worker an equal even to a broker who is ableto maintain all of his financial records. In a capitalist marketthe broker will overtake the sudra working in the farm field.One good question is how we can see potential in someone or


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how to know the next right thing to teach someone else whois well on their path.

If a girl is a model who is creative enough to start a trend?It might be a blouse or a discrete outfit? The abstraction finds

a medium...If one culture developed or has maintained itself who has

the right to infringe on it. In Canada we see tradition thesame as we will see traditional values in South America. If thecustom in a fishing village in Cuba is for the lobsterman orfishermen either sell their catch at the boat or at a smallmarket place in town. If the lobsterman has his own scale hecan run his proprietorship at his own dock. If the fishermen isable to deliver his catch to someone who is able to distribute

it into the cities it is their right to own or maintain their boatsor manage whatever finance is involved in the business. Theconcept of tax is one of the aspects of how to finance thepolitical spectrum. How to build a peaceful socialenvironment that rises far higher in all of the multifacetedaspects of a global free market is our question...

One writer might work on current events for a newspaper.Someone else might write indepth fiction that applies to what

is going on in the world or the social atmosphere.

For a brahmin...is the man a Hare Krishna or a Taoist orperhaps a Buddhist?

...is his perspective integrated?


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Shiva

The Image of Shiva was found in the ruins of the Indus Rivercivilization. The parallel of worship of Shiva is the worship of shakti orthe power of the active forces of the universe. The source of thepower known as shakti is thought of as Shiva. The power of Shiva issomething that flows out of his consort Durga or Kali as Radha is thesource of Krishnas potencies. The prakrtis or potencies are of Krishna

who is the sarva-drk, the overseer and also the upadrasta the greatadvisor. Shiva is adored among the devas. It is said that Shiva cantake on the form of Brahma or Vishnu. Also of his forms are tortoise,fish or conchs. The coral of the ocean floor is also an outcropping ofShiva.

The focus on Vishnu was an offshoot of Shiva. Vishnu is often noticedas Krishna or Rama. The devotees of Krishna or Rama are in factworking for Vishnu. Vishnu can lift one up out of the sea of the world.

Brahma is known as the source that sprang from the waters of thecosmic ocean. In the principle of creation Vishnu is the element ofpreservation where Shiva is that of destruction. The great waters or


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the source of Brahma are the highest of all. It is for certain that Shivais also a god of preservation as well. Krishna as the Buddha is alsoone of the creations of Vishnu in the Hindu outlook on the devas.Ganesa often traveling with Shiva is the master who removes greatobstacles.

The devotees of Shiva are often the most opulent in material aspects.The devotees of Vishnu sometimes are said to sometimes lackmaterial gain. Shiva who dwells at the base of a tree in the mountainsmakes those who fall at his feet rich where as the devotees of Vishnuor Krishna the devas who reside in an infinite abode tend to be poor.One who has the main focus of Vishnu-tattva has the greatest spiritualgain. How is it that one who serves Shiva has fewer to gain in spirit if

there is a contrast to the concept? A devotee of Shiva must must begranted spiritual energies as high up as someone who is a devotee ofVishnu. In order to get to the higher planets one must go throughVishnu. The planets of Krishnaloka are the highest level of thespiritual plain. The devotees of Vishnu are looking to attain niaskarmawhen ones actions are free of material effect. Durga or Kali representall material energies. Shiva is the master of the material plain.Brahma or Shiva are known to ask their devotees to adhere or hold tocertain qualities.

Shiva is the absolute bearing the mark of the crescent moon with hisconsort Durga or Kali the sacred mother of the earth, he is the thief ofthe soul, the one who brings meaning, and the light that shinesforever.


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Eight Islands

The Shinto believe the gods once drove a spear into the Ocean. The

beads of saltwater that fell from the end of the spear formed into anisland. The gods descended to the island to build a pillar. The twodanced around it producing the eight main islands of Japan.

Tendai BuddhismIn the mountain school students were to remain on the mountainassigned to the repair of ponds, canals, to rebuild after landslides, theconstruction of bridges and ships, planting trees, sowing hemp andgrasses, and digging wells.

The Tendai sought to attain a state of spiritual enlightenment tomerge into Nirvana. The transfer of merit is how a monk avoided thelaw of karma through his own will.

Shingon BuddhismA blend of Confucian or Taoist thought integrated into the ideals ofIndian sripts the teacher found in his travels of China to the border ofIndia. The Shingon focus was on magical spells. The Tibetian root also


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noted the factor of the deities in the austerities. The Shingon workedon the sacred mantras, practiced the sacred gestures, and studied themandalas or the sacred pictures. The Shingon meditation out of thework of India had a focus on the cosmic Buddha. The Shingon soughtout the realization of the Buddha or his Dharma in this lifetime. The

parallel to Nirvana or escape is Satori, the awareness of the Buddha inthis world.

the spiritual LightBrahma is the source of the cosmic explosion at the beginning of the

universehis energies were first.If we believe there is a spiritual correlation to the scientific outlook ofthe universe, we know Krishna is real so perhaps there is even somesort of spiritual plain on Jupiter or Saturn even though science has nograsp of it.Siddhartha or the Buddha are also said to be forms of Krishna or oneof the devas in the outlook of Buddhists. The founder of TibetanBuddhism was an East Indian monk.In the Bhagavad-Gita Arjuna said what is this absolute freedomKrishna? What is the nature of beings and of the gods?Krishna said freedom is union with the deathless, the self is theessence of all things, its creative power called action causes the wholeworld to be.


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In the First and Last Freedom on contradiction J. Krishnamurti said wesee contradiction in us and about us, because we are in contradiction,there is a lack of peace in us and therefore outside us. There is aconstant state of denial and assertion, what we want to be and what

we are. The state of contradiction creates conflict and this conflictdoes not bring about peace which is a simple obvious fact.In the chapter on actualizing special insight in Stages of Meditationone of the Dali Lama books on how a Bodhisattva cultivates wisdom isa quote after realizing calm abiding, meditate on special insight,thinking as follows: all teachings of the Buddha are perfectteachings the quote goes on, just as darkness is dispelled whenlight appears mere calm abiding meditation cannot make pristineawareness more pure, nor can it eliminate the darkness of the thingswe find obscure Therefore, engaging in calm abiding meditation I

shall search for suchness with wisdom, and I shall not remain contentwith calm abiding alone.

What is it that makes plants grow? We know that plants are rooted inthe earth. It is the rain that provides nourishment. Plants growtowards the sunlight or the source. One droplet of water is enough toshow us krishna. We are able to see the Tao in this droplet of water. Inthat one waterdroplet we can find an entire abode as vast as the Tao.What we see in a waterdroplet on a leaf in the sunlight after a rain is

as much of a path to our grasp of Krishna as the ocean.

The sight of the stars at night over the horizon is in fact a lookingglass into the Tao. Each sun is a source of light or a center of a movingforce of elements. As the earth is moving all of the time as is theuniverse. Even in our material realm the elements are representativeof Krishna or the source. For a plant the source is the sun or thesunlight, the rain being an element needed for the plant to grow. Justas the earth is a platform for the plant it is a plain for mankind. As aplant grows towards the sun it is our nature to be drawn towardsKrishna or the eternal Tao.For us to be swallowed up or absorbed to Krishna or the Tao we mustfirst follow the right path. Our mindset has to be true. We must see lifeas it is. Our thoughts have to be as pure as the droplet of water.

The same as we cultivate a plant we must root our character traits inorder for our thoughts to grow. As our thoughts grow we gain wisdomand our insight gets to be as deep as the ocean. The concepts we


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were never able to fathom end up in our grasp.Once we are mindful of the Tao we will find our focus. Our spiritualprogress is rooted in how we percieve the world or the universearound us. Once we realize that our source be it Krishna or the Tao isthe same as the droplet of water on the leaf of a plant we will find true

knowledge. Then in fact we know we are on the right path.ATMA is also a JIVA the individual self who is a minute part of KRISNAor the eternal TAO

the SANKARACARYA concept is that there is that the self is one

with KRISNA or the eternal TAO

the BUDDHA often spoke of the self

the aspects of the Eightfold Path are the discipline of true BUDDHISTthoughtout of the work of H. Saddhatissa in THE LIFE OF THE BUDDHARight Understanding means seeing life as it is as well as realizing thenature of existence as summed up in the Four Noble Truths

Right Thought means a pure mindRight Speech means cultivating the same characteristics in oneswords as in ones thoughtsRight Action or Right Livelihood are straightforwardRight Effort is constituting a moral training through which the otherobligations of the Eightfold Path can be fulfilledRight Mindfulness is the development of intellectual awareness in theservice of spiritual progressRight Concentration is the practice of meditation that leads to the fullgrasp or understanding of the impermanence of things with the focuson NIRVANA .


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VISVATMA DHARMA

Learning to be pure finding santosa orcontentment orsvadhyaya,the reading of the scriptures are all aspects of entering the dhaamaor sheltered asrama for arjava, upright meditation on the absolute.

Teaching is the main focus of a BRAHMIN once the aspects ofjnanaare in his sight.

...THE MAIN QUALITIES OF A BRAHMIN...

SADHARANA DHARMA

dhrti patience, ksama forgiveness, dama self-control, ateya non-stealing, sauca cleanliness, indriyanigraha control of the senses,dhi intellect or wisdom, vidya learning, satya truthfulness, akrodhaabsence of anger


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finding restraint or the avoidance of

sucana insinuation, harsa anger or exultation, rosa grumbling,dambha covetousness or delusion, droha malice, kama untruth,anatmyam neglect to keep the senses in order, ayogah neglect to

concentrate the mind

in the DHARMA SRADDHA...

bhutahitatva, seeking the good of creatures

the tortoise, the blackbirds, or the whales

visista devata bhakti working for prasad offered to the dieties

Of the qualities of a KSATRIYA

isvarabhava leadership or standing ones ground in battle isforemost,

also note saurya heroism, teja vigour, dhrti steadiness, dhaksyabeing resourceful

The ksatriya is a sheild of the spirit...

The ultimate goal being peace...

The path to attain VISVATMA or the cosmic soul...

Tending to crops or working as a merchant being the main focus of theVAISYA... The SUDRA is asked to work for the pinnacle three...

As I wrote notes on a legal pad. I found someone chanting next to thetulasi garden to guide me.

Even as I strive to fit the mold I find someone else will somewherealong the lines to hit me with a hammer, and chisel. Someone else isthe scultpter. I notice even if I think I measure up to all of the aspectsof character I strive to achieve I see that I will fail alone.

SADHANA is something I am working at improving on. Noticing theflowers buding in a tree above the tulasi garden someone pointed out


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that one of the trees is the same strain of tree the BUDDHA oncemeditated next to. To escape our mind we draw on our ki or lifeforceto maintain our prana or find light in the spadelike leaves of theboddhi tree. The mind is a treasure chest. The nerve endings growlike trees even sprouting leaves or flowers...

OM VISHNU PADME

Paintings in our Minds

The subconscious mind is a powerful thing. Our subconscious mindhas all sorts of hidden paths to it. To some extent it can unlock doorsinto the past that can in fact allow us to gain perspective on ourselvesand also give us the center of being we sought after all along. Ifsomething was lost or is brought forward in a surreal form are the

neuropaths of the brain working alone or is the scorceror of the mindthe source of our creation?

The source of our thoughts or the visions or images we see in ourdreams is something larger than we are. The things we forget that arebrought forward are of the source. This must be so! If something wesee is an elaborate pattern of visions that are in fact something out ofthis world we know the thoughts flow from a source larger than the


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capacities of the mortal mind.

Our subconscious can serve as a guidebook for us if we are able tofirst sure up the conscious mind. Once we are of a sound mind whenwe are awake and are able to maintain it, the thoughts or visions we

have in our sleep will fall into place. Somehow all of the sudden thingswill make sense. Once we center ourselves through our practice ofmeditation we are able to balance ourselves on a larger scale if wework at it enough. Our meditation is a process of healing.

The core of our imagination is also of the absolute or the source of allthat we know. One question we can notice is where are the images oractual thoughts contained? The soul is the source of the mind or allthought as we know it so we can consider the mind to be the windowto the soul. Our thoughts can sometimes be so surreal we know it is

the spring of the absolute that is creating t

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