Skydiving

Over the course of his teaching career, Rama recommended many sports to his students. These including running, various forms of martial arts (especially Judo and Shotokan Karate), scuba diving, and golf. However, although I tried my hand at all of these activities, and they all certainly can shift the assemblage point, for me there is nothing that has really come close to inducing the shifts in consciousness that skydiving has. In a way this is not really a Rama story, because I actually didn't jump at all between 1992-1998 (the period of time when I studied with Rama while Rama was in the body); but skydiving is certainly something that I would recommend and it does tend to induce the same shifts in consciousness that sitting with Rama does.

I made my first jump back in 1983 while an undergraduate at a Canadian university. I am not sure quite what caused me to make the decision to jump, looking back--however, I do know that it is something that I had always wanted to do. I didn't realize, though, that it was something that was available to "ordinary" people--I assumed that you either had to be in the military, or be rich enough to own your own airport, to make a skydive. However when it became apparent that skydiving was available through the university's skydiving club, at a fairly reasonable cost, I "jumped" at the opportunity.

My first jump was a static line jump, where the parachute (main) is opened automatically upon exiting the aircraft. I was definitely quite fearful on my first jump, as it was something that I had never done before! However, I also found that skydiving unexpectedly caused my whole outlook on life to change-- to become more optimistic--such that I felt more empowered to do almost anything in my life. The feeling is not that easy to describe to those who are not familiar with the sport. But in short, it caused changes not that dissimilar to sitting with Rama in meditation. As a result, I found myself back at the airport the next weekend for my next jump.

Over the next several years, I made dozens of jumps and completed the requirements for a Canadian Sport Parachuting Association (CSPA) A-license. I also found that I was much more optimistic and generally positive about life in ways that I could not have imagined before taking up the sport. The financial constraints of being a professional university student, however, gradually caused me to drift away from the sport and I didn't make any jumps for quite a long time. I did, however, make one jump at Skydance Skydiving in California in August 1991, about a year before meeting Rama. Rama actually briefly recommended Skydance on his website Surfing the Himalayas although I believe that link is long gone.

Returning to California in 2007, I made four jumps at Skydance last year and look forward to making many more this year.

For those interested in approaching the sport and making their first jump, there are several options. For those who really only want to do it once and say "been there, done that" the best option is probably a tandem jump. With a tandem jump, you are strapped to an instructor for the entire jump from before the exit from the aircraft (at about 13,500 feet) until after the landing. You and the instructor ride down under the same very large canopy (parachute) and the instructor activates the main canopy. If necessary (a malfunction of the main canopy is unlikely but not impossible) the instructor will also activate the reserve canopy. A tandem jump allows a first time jumper to experience all aspects of the sport, including an extended freefall, but with minimal personal responsibility--the instructor takes on most of the responsibility for the jump. The jump can be videotaped so you can prove you actually did it, and training time is quite minimal (about half an hour).

Accelerated freefall (AFF) requires more extensive training (six to eight hours of ground school before the first jump), but allows you to take much more responsibility for yourself from the very first jump. AFF also provides an extended freefall (about 60 seconds or so from 13,500 feet), but the student jumps with their own rig. Two instructors accompany the student in freefall--they hold onto the student but are not strapped to the student. Once the student opens his/her main canopy, the instructors let go. The student then has sole responsbility for landing safely and also for dealing with any emergencies that might arise requiring the use of the reserve canopy. AFF is the best option for people who really want to learn the sport quickly and are willing to take on the highest level of personal responsibility. After the first jump, additional skills are taught and the instructors gradually let go of the student in freefall, allowing the student to learn the necessary freefall skills to acquire their A license, which allows them to jump on their own.

Static line is by far the oldest training method available and is still used extensively especially at smaller skydiving centers (drop zones). With a static line jump, the student is technically not skydiving, but only parachuting, on their first jump, because a static line attached to the aircraft opens the main canopy immediately upon exit from the aircraft. The icon on the main page of the Rae Chorze-Fwaz Mystery School linking to this page shows a static line exit. Static line jumps are done from much lower altitudes than tandem or AFF (usually about 3000 feet or maybe a bit higher), and do not offer the experience of freefall. After a few successful static line jumps, the student graduates to short freefalls ("hop'n'pops"), with the exit altitude gradually increasing as the student does longer and longer freefalls. Eventually the same skills are taught as with the AFF program, leading to the same A license. The static line program still offers some advantages over the newer programs, though. One is that subsequent jumps are usually less expensive than with AFF, allowing the student to make more jumps on a limited budget--thereby perhaps becoming better integrated into the sport socially (important for skydivers). Another is that because the program allows jumps from a low altitude, the student is less likely to have their skydiving progression interrupted by low cloud ceilings--a common frustration for AFF jumpers.

Regardless of which option you pick, it will be an experience you will never forget! I personally have found skydiving to be the closest approximation to sitting and meditating with Rama, in terms of its positive effect on my consciousness, that I have ever found!

Skydiving Links