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Yo Ho Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life For Me?
Are Pirate’s Enlightened?
I just woke up and went out on deck of our 47’ Beneteau sailboat that we chartered for our honeymoon. I am thinking about whether a pirate is enlightened or not? Where’s a pirate’s Zen? I’m going to try to answer that question later in this blog.
But first, it’s our seventh day of the  sailing trip. Sailing is a great way for a couple to experience that teamwork spirit required for long-term relationships. I’m watching small flying fish jumping in and out of the water in perfect harmony performing Las Vegas-style acrobatics and Pelicans diving into the water for their breakfast. It’s their simple first meal, raw fish. For my first meal of the day, I prefer a Flax waffle with fresh blueberries. There’s a rainbow over the edge of the bay touching the water where legend says there’s hidden pirate treasure.
Yesterday, we sailed into a beautiful bay named The Bight for a night on Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands. Norman Island is the island on which Louis Robert Stevenson based his novel, Treasure Island. It’s a big protected shelter with interesting caves. We ate at a local restaurant on the beach called the Pirates Bight…not bad for bar food. We usually order mostly local fish, which ironically, is not that readily available.
On the other end of the bay, a short  dingy ride away, is a bar called Willie T’s. It’s made out of a make-shift old pirate ship and is the local hang-out and tourist trap for some heavy partying. When the bartender starts passing around the Jagermeister, the party gets heated up. The drinks, of course, are rum concoctions: Painkillers, Grog, Rum Punch, as well as the local beers—Carib or Red Stripe. It’s hard to find a decent bottle of wine unless you’re in a good restaurant with a creative chef. So far there have been only two such places on the eastern side of the Sir Francis Drake channel, which is the body of water we sailed to get here. The first is Coopers Island, which has an amazing eco-friendly small beach resort, and the other is the high-end Peter’s Island.
We’ve sailed by Dead Chest Island,  Deadman’s Bay, Grouper’s Nest, Road Town, Little Indians, Pelican Island, and so on…all pirate-like names given to the islands by the privateers. They were “legal pirates” heavily financed by the Kings and Queens of England, Spain, and France. I’m imagining this area filled with swashbuckling pirates on their ships filled with booty. (Over the years, I believe booty has taken on other meanings!)
The pirate privateers were hired to steal gold and treasure from other countries during the development of the Caribbean. They were sometimes hung as traitors when those that hired them could not be known…in other words, stabbed in the back by their financiers.
Pirate stories are filled with folklore, suspense, and adventures that now entertain millions of adults and children throughout the world. Disney’s popular Pirates of the Caribbean movies brought the tales to life with big-action special effects on the big screen. Other pirate-themed movies in the last 20 years include Cutthroat Island with Geena Davis, Hook with Robin Williams, The Goonies, The Princess Bride, and Muppet Treasure Island. Even best-selling author Michael Crichton has recently written an action adventure novel, Pirate Latitudes.
Kids love pirates! They act out swashbuckling scenes, pretending to be Captain Jack Sparrow. In fact, I loved when I used to sword fight and share tales of pirate stories and adventures with my daughters when they were young. I have collected pirate paraphernalia and books on pirate code. I have a gold ring made out of an authentic Piece of Eight (the Spanish coin of the time) found off the coast of Chile in a wreck. I think my family may even have a pirate fetish! In fact, a lot of us have pirate fetishes—but why?
That leads me to ask—
What do Zen and pirates have in common?
Let’s see…pirates are known for pillaging, plundering, and raping. Plundering of villages refers to looting during wartime. Well, looting can’t be good! Pillaging refers to robbing and, as we know, robbing is not exactly a spiritual activity. And raping creates devastated victims and we would all agree that this is unacceptable criminal behavior. The word piracy itself means robbery at sea without a commission from a sovereign nation. In other words, pirates are acting without a King or Queens’ approval. Basically, pirates are sea-faring felons with a flare for being a romantic swashbuckler. Hollywood has romanticized criminal behavior forever, especially with movies about cunningly crafted robberies and jewel thieves. Sometimes we like to see the bad guy get away with it.
A piece on Minnesota Public Radio discussed these romantic swashbucklers,
“Nucup says it’s unlikely today’s pirates will ever have the allure of the centuries-old swashbucklers. The image of a rugged outlaw in a velvet waistcoat with a cute little parrot on his shoulder, it’s just so much nicer than one of some guy in a tattered shirt hijacking a boat.“ (see article click here)
But, are pirates enlightened or not? Where’s the Zen in pirates?
First, pirates fulfill our escapism fantasies. We escape to the Pirates of the Caribbean. We can easily act out their mannerisms, language, and swashbuckling skills using a toy sword or broomstick. Pirates are anti-authoritarian and function outside of social norms and regulations. They had a different way about them and how they did business. When you signed on as a crew member on a pirate ship, you were given an equal share of the booty and an equal share in the say of where the ship was going and who the crew would be pillaging.
Admittedly, I was a young pirate in my teenage years. I may not have been a swashbuckler or have dressed in velvet. But nonetheless I was a true romantic pirate with bouts of being irresistible to the young wenches and “minor” acts of piracy since I was thirteen. I was very anti-authoritarian and in and out of jail. The only thing that kept me on track was that I was able to maintain excellent grades in school without much effort. It was no doubt I was seeking freedom. But what I didn’t know was what I was seeking freedom from.
Finally, years later I discovered it was freedom from myself. Through Zen I discovered it. Zen is understood by breaking down our inner authoritarian rules and regulations, then seeing a part of our inner nature—our own free spirit. Pirates romanticize the rebel spirit and make us want to come along for the ride. They draw us into the moment of longing to be free.
Pirates fearlessly sought their freedom by collecting stolen riches and battled governmental agencies who hunted them to take their freedom away. On the other side of the coin, the Zen rebel remains inconspicuously hidden in his or her inner battles. Pirates boost their egos and the Zen rebels tear their egos down. Yet the same enlightened spirit to seek ultimate freedom is there. Both seek to free themselves from the confines of either an outer rule or an inner rule, as it may be.
Pirates, like Zen followers, are focused primarily on the present moment. They LIVE in the present moment. That is their reality. A Zen rebel’s life can only exist in the moment—the rest is a mental construct. Seize the day was the pirate’s way. Seize the moment is the Zen way. Pirates lived each day like it may be their last…perhaps another reason for our love of pirate folklore and tales. It romanticizes our thoughts of death and life.
We may not be able to condone how pirates sought their freedom through pillaging and plundering. We can, however, recall a time in the 1700’s when many of the pirates fought the same enemy the United States did. In a way, they were the patriotic swashbucklers who helped America fight England. They both fought for their own piece of freedom. Pirates were our swashbuckling allies who could romanticize the battles they fought. They gathered their treasures and hid it wherever they could. From a Zen perspective, perhaps the real treasure they sought was, for them, unknowingly right inside them all along.
The days of romantic swashbuckling and pirate lore will always remain one of my family’s favorite fetishes. And at any age, I will always love to sword fight with my two girls and share lines from our favorite movies, Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me…
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We kidnap and ravage and don’t give a hoot.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We extort and pilfer, we filch and sack.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Maraud and embezzle and even highjack.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
We kindle and char and in flame and ignite.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We burn up the city, we’re really a fright.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We’re rascals and scoundrels, we’re villians and knaves.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We’re devils and black sheep, we’re really bad eggs.
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
We’re beggars and blighters and ne’er do-well cads,
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Aye, but we’re loved by our mommies and dads,
Drink up me ‘earties, yo ho.
Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.
If you’re seriously interested in learning the technique of mindfulness, you can contact me to schedule a free seminar at your company, private group, or attend one of my scheduled seminars, see http://wheresmyzen.com/seminars.
You can also download one of my books in PDF format from the site above or go to Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble for a Kindle, Nook, or Hardcover version. The short version of the technique appears on page 49-56 in Where’s My Zen? and a full detailed version appears on pages 386-430 in The Ten Paradoxes: The Science of Where’s My Zen?
Blessings,
Paul Harrison AIA
aka Master Nomi
Architect, Author, Creator of the Zen Advantage Program™ (ZAP)
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