Post by Magnet Man on Jan 28, 2008 16:07:29 GMT -5
Definitions:
I: A pilgrim like Everyman, trying to get body, mind and soul, fit, focused and working in unison.
Par Golf: A reasonble life.
God: The Holy Grail - 59. (13 shots under par)
Devil: Shooting 80.
I started golf when I was twenty. The goal was to play scratch golf, but do it nonchallently. I thought I could master the game by desire alone. I was a fatherless child and never grew to appreciate the long-term care and guidance of a teacher. For ten years I played the game regularly and intensely - mostly alone.. I paid little attentiion to methodical practice. I started each round believing that somehow or another I would shoot par. I never once connected the dots and realized that no guidance in the subtlies of the game, zero practice, added to late nights spent carousing did not equate with good coordnation at the tee. As a consequence, though I came close once or twice, I never shot a round of par. Material goals beckoned. So I gave it up.
Spirituality beckoned when I was 42. I become a conscious pilgrim when I finally realized that life was a challenge that needed to be taken very seriously and that it went far beyond the material goals of fame and gain. I found a teacher who gave methodical guidance in perseverance, strict personal honesty, focus, religious practice and artistic style.
I took up golf again at 51 and spent the next ten years ironing out the imperfectiions in my swing, learning to envision each shot and place the ball with precision. By age 61, I was hitting and spinning the ball the way one should play the game. I had achieved my earlier goal. I was a scratch golfer - forty years later than I should have. With a best round of ten under par, I set my eldership sights on the Holy Grail. 59.
With a steady center to work from, I began to analyze the subtle nuances of what made for good and bad days. A late night at my age invariable upselt my timiing. Intrusive thoughts broke undivided concentration. Then there was luck. During a normal round the ball would somethimes bounce my way and sometimes not. The breaks usually evened out and was accepted as part of the game.
But then there were the exceptional rounds - when everything went my way - or everything went against me.
Ten good bounces in one game and then ten bad bounces on another, has nothing to do with chance. Those odds confound analysis and force one to reflect more deeply.
Who controls the bounce?
And why?
I am hopeful that, should I ever shoot a round of 59, which can only happen when body, mind and soul are working in unison, and you know for sure that God is on your side, the bliss of that moment n Nirvana, will bring that kind of assurance of one's position in the cosmos that the Buddha called, Enlightenment.
I: A pilgrim like Everyman, trying to get body, mind and soul, fit, focused and working in unison.
Par Golf: A reasonble life.
God: The Holy Grail - 59. (13 shots under par)
Devil: Shooting 80.
I started golf when I was twenty. The goal was to play scratch golf, but do it nonchallently. I thought I could master the game by desire alone. I was a fatherless child and never grew to appreciate the long-term care and guidance of a teacher. For ten years I played the game regularly and intensely - mostly alone.. I paid little attentiion to methodical practice. I started each round believing that somehow or another I would shoot par. I never once connected the dots and realized that no guidance in the subtlies of the game, zero practice, added to late nights spent carousing did not equate with good coordnation at the tee. As a consequence, though I came close once or twice, I never shot a round of par. Material goals beckoned. So I gave it up.
Spirituality beckoned when I was 42. I become a conscious pilgrim when I finally realized that life was a challenge that needed to be taken very seriously and that it went far beyond the material goals of fame and gain. I found a teacher who gave methodical guidance in perseverance, strict personal honesty, focus, religious practice and artistic style.
I took up golf again at 51 and spent the next ten years ironing out the imperfectiions in my swing, learning to envision each shot and place the ball with precision. By age 61, I was hitting and spinning the ball the way one should play the game. I had achieved my earlier goal. I was a scratch golfer - forty years later than I should have. With a best round of ten under par, I set my eldership sights on the Holy Grail. 59.
With a steady center to work from, I began to analyze the subtle nuances of what made for good and bad days. A late night at my age invariable upselt my timiing. Intrusive thoughts broke undivided concentration. Then there was luck. During a normal round the ball would somethimes bounce my way and sometimes not. The breaks usually evened out and was accepted as part of the game.
But then there were the exceptional rounds - when everything went my way - or everything went against me.
Ten good bounces in one game and then ten bad bounces on another, has nothing to do with chance. Those odds confound analysis and force one to reflect more deeply.
Who controls the bounce?
And why?
I am hopeful that, should I ever shoot a round of 59, which can only happen when body, mind and soul are working in unison, and you know for sure that God is on your side, the bliss of that moment n Nirvana, will bring that kind of assurance of one's position in the cosmos that the Buddha called, Enlightenment.