Radhika goes scuba diving in the Andaman Islands. She shares the life lessons from the sea slugs, exclusively for Different Truths..

I am on a little boat in the sea, in my scuba gear, adjusting my breathing apparatus as I ready myself to do a back-roll jump into the water. I’m among a group of six trainees undergoing our open water diving training in the Andaman Islands and our diving instructor shouts out our instructions once again on what’s expected from us during this session.

I’m a little nervous but mostly looking forward to what wonders lay below the surface.  It’s my turn to jump, I take a deep breath, tuck my chin in and let myself fall backwards from the edge of the boat into the sea. At first, it’s just a sudden awareness of the world around me as I look around at the swirls of water, bubbles, the reef below and then the sensation of being pushed up backward to the surface. Exhilaration, joy as I resurface. I look around at the endless sea around me and up at the dark skies and clouds as the raindrop and wind hit my face gently.

We adjust the pressure and weights in our gear and start to descend slowly. All sounds cease except the sound of my own deep and long breaths being drawn in and bubbling out through the mask. A feeling of returning to myself descends on me as I leave every other thought behind, the deeper I go. A singular focus is achieved as I become one with the sea, my breathing and my body. A loss of identity just like a drop in the ocean.

I’m surrounded by countless reef fish and I allow myself to just follow a small shoal ofI’m surrounded by countless reef fish and I allow myself to just follow a small shoal of multicolored trigger fish for a while, swimming behind them as they feed on the reef.

I’m surrounded by countless reef fish and I allow myself to just follow a small shoal of multicolored trigger fish for a while, swimming behind them as they feed on the reef. They are aware and allow my presence for a while before swimming off into the distance.

Several meters down we hit the sea floor, next to the coral reefs. Our instruction is to slow down our breathing which helps us control our movement up and down underwater while being parallel to the sea bed. The challenge is to hover horizontally just above the sea bed, yet not touching it using only a slow and steady breath.

Archimedes must be proud of me as I apply buoyancy to perfection, and I imagine great yogis nod in approval of my meditative focus on breath.

I take inspirations from three giant sea slugs (about two feet long) around us and think of how they just lay there in the same spot, probably meditating on the cosmos and great secrets of the sea. I decide to be one as I straighten my body out, parallel to the sea bed and make my breath ever so subtle, moving a few inches up as I breathe in, a few inches down as I breathe out. Archimedes must be proud of me as I apply buoyancy to perfection, and I imagine great yogis nod in approval of my meditative focus on breath.

I tell myself that as a giant sea slug, I carry the burden of acing this exercise as a homage to my species ability to lay virtually motionless. I glance up to look at my instructor Rachel as she gives me a thumbs up in approval while the other trainees struggle awkwardly with the exercise. I deny myself the pleasure of an inflated ego, knowing that anything inflated would take me straight to the surface. I choose to smile inwardly at myself as all sea slugs must.

We are motioned to move ahead towards the reef, and I snap out of my reverie. I wave goodbye to my three mates and move on to explore the corals with my team.

The oceans are more ancient than the forests, the mountains, the great beasts and they are bursting with the memories and the dreams of our planet…

The oceans are more ancient than the forests, the mountains, the great beasts and they are bursting with the memories and the dreams of our planet since the beginning of time.

A sea slug can be a Spiritual Master when we are willing students. To be aware that the present moment is ripe with everything we are seeking is our greatest lesson. Be not the slave of your own past – plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far.

©Radhika Bhagat

Photos sourced by the author from the Internet