| |
Golf And Zen
Chapter 1: 'West' versus 'East'
Wayne Smith
This is the first in a continuing series of short essays
dealing with the application of Eastern spiritual philosophy
to your golf game. (The title says "Zen," but this discussion
will apply equally to the other Eastern disciplines: Buddhism,
Taoism, etc.)
The superficial intent (or benefit) is that, as you apply
these ideas, your golf and your enjoyment of the game will
grow. However, the underlying motive is, as you are able to
see gains on the course, you'll be moved to alter your approach
to life as well.
Today's Topic: 'West' versus 'East'
Before we can dig into the details, we need to start with
an over-view of how Eastern and Western thought differs, in
the most fundamental of ways.
We Westerners are trained from birth to use our logical, analytical,
conscious mind -- our ‘three pounds of meat.' From our earliest
age we learn to name, to sort out, to categorize. We may not
grow up to be scientists, but we learn to think according
to the scientific method, and we worship at the feet of the
great thinkers: Einstein; Newton; Steven Hawkings. In a very
fundamental way, we learn to distinguish — to separate out
-- ourselves, our people, our places and things, and our beliefs…
from everything else that is ‘out there.'
Eastern thought is the polar opposite. They attempt to quiet
their active chattering mind, so that their inner subconscious
can emerge. Through that practice, they come to see and believe
in an underlying (and conscious) universal Whole, of which
they are only a part. From that different perspective, life
changes in very fundamental ways. One small example: The only
logical approach to conducting my life is to focus on optimizing
the whole of things. Since I'm not separate from the whole,
if there is really only one person in the room, then how can
I ever capture things for myself, at the expense of others?
How does this apply to golf?
The Western idea is that golf is a competition, both with
the opponent and also with one's self. The basic idea is to
win, to defeat that other guy. As such, we practice, we study,
we try (hard). At a very deep level, we play to re-enforce
our ego, our sense of worth, to others and -- most importantly
-- to ourselves. If we don't play well, then we aren't worth
much.
Here again, the Eastern idea is the polar opposite. Winning
and losing doesn't make any sense (if there is only one person
in the room) and the Easterner knows that he can't force anything
to happen through his own will. He knows that everything happens
through the Whole, and so his approach to golf is to use it
as a means of connecting with the Whole, to let the Whole
move the ball through him. He allows his golf to happen, he
doesn't demand that it happen.
Related articles:
Golf and Zen Chapter 2: The Fundamental
Truth
Golf and Zen Chapter 3: You Already
Know
Copyright © Wayne Smith - http://www.littleacornpress.com
Wayne Smith is a former Director of Manufacturing,
a seminar leader, text book author (John Wiley), a magician,
and a life-long golf searcher. You can view his golf book
at http://www.littleacornpress.com/books/thirdeye.htm
Article Source: http://www.hotlib.com/articles
Return to The Mental Game of
Golf Articles directory.
|
|
