West of Jesus: Surfing, Science and the Origins of Belief by Steven Kotler - Book Report/Review Example

West of Jesus: Surfing, Science and the Origins of Belief by Steven Kotler The overall argument of Steven Kotler's engaging book is the fact that when one is at one's lowest there is an opportunity for hope and a return to a perhaps better life than the person had before. The love of surfing is the one enthusiasm that Kotler has left after several years suffering with Lyme Disease. In some ways Kotler had lost everything: health, job, girlfriend and perhaps even his sanity. One of the main assumptions of this book is that a person can find spiritual enlightenment through the most unlikely of processes. Thus surfing is in general seen as a sport pursued by fun-loving, perhaps even superficial individuals who like the casual lifestyle as exemplified by The Beach Boys. But Kotler sees a different kind of identity, stating that there is "am inherent mysticism of surfers and their sport" (Kotler, 2007). The literary theme that will be considered in detail here is the quest that Kotler is essentially going on throughout the book. The nature of this quest is physical, emotional and spiritual, and each element works in relationship to the others. The book starts with Kotler recovering from a long battle with Lyme Disease that nearly killed him. He searches in an internal way for "a reason to live" (Kotler, 2007) and initially does not seem to find one. Eventually, he comes across his continued love of surfing, and he decides to travel in order to pursue it The physical aspect of the quest, involving actual travel, starts with a trip to Mexico, where Kotler goes surfing for the first time in years. This physical liberation is followed by a scene in which he hears a story about a magical creature that is called "the Conductor" (Kotler, 2007), who is meant to control the surf. Kotler states that he has heard a similar story while surfing in Indonesia (on the other side of the road) eight years before. He sets off to discover the origin of the myth. This physical and mental journey returns Kotler to a time before his battle with Lyme disease, and enables him to start being a journalist once again. Kotler wants to find the source of the myth in a literal sense, but also states that it is the spiritual nature of surfing in general that leads to such ideas being common throughout the world. Surfing is a very physical activity: surfers need to be very fit, have great skill levels and even the best of their ranks risks his/her life every time they go into the waves. But at the same time it is a very spiritual type of activity in which the person is joined with some of the most primeval forces on the planet and seeks to avoid being killed by them, knowing that they can never control them. In his search for the origin of the myth, a classic quest ensues in which Kotler, as in many quests, becomes sidetracked into many different subjects along the way. He explores subjects such as the history of surfing, Jungian psychology, Buddhism, religious beliefs ranging from Christianity to beliefs only found on individual islands. There is also consideration of doomed attempts at weather modification. The physical journey that Kotler takes lasts for three years and takes in most of the major surfing areas of the world. As he travels, Kotler develops a quite complex theory as to the mixture of how "genetic and biological factors combine with physical and emotional experiences" in order to create what he calls the "funkytown feeling" unique to surfing (Kotler, 2007). As with most quests, while Kotler meets many people along the way, this book is a deeply personal journey in which the reader can follow with the author along his physical, emotional and spiritual journey towards some kind of enlightenment. The reader starts with Kotler, as if they have just recovered from a serious and potentially life-threatening disease. They travel with him to Mexico, and then set off on the journey to discover not only the true origin of the Conductor, but also may find something about themselves within Kotler's own transformation. Perhaps most of all, even if a reader has never surfed before, they come away from the book with a much deeper appreciation for why many people dedicate their lives to something that may appear rather whimsical and superficial to those not involved. Surfing itself is a kind of quest that is by nature doomed to 'failure' because the perfect ride, or wave, will never occur. But the success of life is found within this failure, because the joy of the quest for perfection is the pleasure that goes along with it. To conclude, West of Jesus: Surfing, Science and the Origins of Belief is a fascinating exploration both of one man's recovery from a disease and spiritual transformation as well as the nature of what it means to be human. It is remarkably approachable considering the sheer range of subjects that are covered within it. These subjects make up an organic whole through the quest structure of the story which gives it a through line but which allows for numerous diversions (physically, emotionally, spiritually, intellectually) along the way. In many ways the books is supremely hopeful. Kotler feels that he has nothing to live for having lost everything that was important to him because of Lyme Disease. He finds something very unlikely, but actually powerful, to believe in when he realizes that he still has a love of surfing. Many people go through times of despair or at least feeling that life is worthless, this book provides a model for how one may move out of this darkness into a light of new hope. That hope is spiritual in the widest sense of that word: not associated with a particular religion or creed, but rather with a realization of the essential spirituality of the whole world. _____________________________________ Works Cited Kotler, Steven. West of Jesus: Surfing, Science and the Origins of Belief. Bloomsbury, New York: 2007. Read More