What does adventure really mean?

Adventure means to surrender oneself to things, which are beyond us. Climbing Mount Everest may look like a great adventure but straddling the peak of your consciousness is a much bigger adventure

In your life, you can have ventures or you can have an adventure. Adventure means that you do not know where your next foot is going to be. That means there is danger. If there is no danger and everything is safe, there is no adventure, Adventure means you want to step into something that you do not know. If you step into the predictable arena, that is not an adventure; that is just an activity.

The greatest adventure

Adventure need not necessarily mean you have to go out and conquer the world. In fact, adventure means you have surrendered what you like and dislike, what is “mine” and “not mine”. Adventure means to surrender oneself to things that are beyond us. Climbing Mount Everest may look like a great adventure but straddling the peak of your consciousness is a much bigger adventure. You can do the greatest adventure with your eyes closed. Some freaky ambition of proving who you are is not an adventure.

When you start stretching to break limitations - physical, mental, emotional, and perceptional limitations that you have-then you are in adventure mode.

The greatest adventure in life is not about climbing a mountain, riding a motorcycle or jumping off a mountain. The greatest adventure in life is that you break at least one box in your head every day. Even if you are riding, flying or doing something else, the adventure is only in stretching beyond your limitations. And no one can deny you this. Whether you are working from nine to five in an office or doing something else, no one can deny you this. If you break one bondage every day, depending upon how many heaps of limitations you have, someday you must get liberated. It is bound to happen.

"There is room for adventure in every sphere of life. Adventure means you must trust your capability and competence and take one step more than that. There is a risk, of course. Without risk, there is no adventure"

Adventure sports – Is it worth the risk?

There is room for adventure in every sphere of life. Adventure means you must trust your capability and competence and take one step more than that. There is a risk, of course. Without risk, there is no adventure. Unfortunately, sometimes young people get killed. Before I became thirty-five years of age, at least twelve-thirteen of my friends died - some in motorcycle accidents, some in hang gliding, and some in other things we were doing together. Well, these things did not kill me but I could not live without having done all those things. Even if one of those situations had ended me, I would still have done it. It is not simply out of egoistic jingoism to do something others cannot do, but about stretching yourself beyond your limits.

Of all the many phenomena that are happening in the universe, life is the most intricate, sophisticated and fantastic phenomenon. When that has come to you as a gift, what return on investment do you want?

Is it one hundred per cent safe? No. Nothing is one hundred per cent safe because all of us are mortal, isn’t it? There is no such thing as a risk-free adventure but youth without any sense of adventure are not youth. You can already bury them as old men. They have to do something. This does not mean they have to do wild things on the street. We can create situations and spaces where they can do this with a reasonable amount of safety but there is no absolute safety. Some of the parents will not approve of this but otherwise, they will do it somewhere where you cannot see it.

This is one thing I noticed in the United States. I went to a motorcycle shop and there I saw that they actually make motorcycles for three-year-olds. Three-year-olds are riding on dirt bikes, fully helmeted, jacketed and their parents are standing there watching. This is great. Otherwise, they will do something wild when they are sixteen, without any training, preparation or safety equipment. Then we do not know how it will end.