[boatbums]

Then he also gave me an alternative koan to work on, “How do you realize God while sailing a boat?” And he quickly added, “Believe in God. No believe in God” – and he shook his head… and then emphasized “Realize God!”

This wasn't a personal experience with Zen, but it was quite profound for me:

My husband and I were helping friends bring to Florida a sailboat they had bought in Tortola, BVI. One of the longest legs of the trip was a four day, non-stop trek from Fajardo, Puerto Rico to the Turks and Caicos islands, Being that there were only the four of us, a wonky compass, troubled steering and no working autohelm - which meant hand steering, it was grueling four hour watches for each of us - two on, two off. About the second night while on my watch, it was a moonless, dark, clear starlit sky and we were at depths in the thousands. You couldn't really tell where the sky stopped and the sea started. I started thinking we were hundreds of miles from any land and then panicked as I realized we could go down here and NO ONE would ever find any trace of us. But no sooner had I started to be fearful, a passage of Scripture came to my mind:

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)

My fear vanished and I began to delight in the peace and majesty of my surroundings. That was God speaking to me and was how I realized God while literally sailing a boat.

[daniel1212]

I started thinking we were hundreds of miles from any land and then panicked as I realized we could go down here and NO ONE would ever find any trace of us.

Oh, but you could have fantasied that you were "one with the universe” and dismissed objective reality.

[poconopundit]

Wow, what a lovely and personal story about realizing God!  Thank you for posting.  For many, apparently, a frightful experience at sea becomes a channel to the safe harbor of God's grace.

Gustave Dore

Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I. I looked to Heaven, and tried to pray: But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came, and made my heart as dry as dust. Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of shining white, And when they reared, the elfish light Fell off in hoary flakes.

Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam; and every track Was a flash of golden fire. O happy living things! no tongue Their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware. The self same moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea.     Rime of the Ancient Mariner

[little jeremiah]

That is a very beautiful story. Thank you.