Zen Golf Wisdom
What is Zen golf wisdom?
Essentially, it is mastery of the mind, which is
the mastery of mental golf. There is no sport requiring as much complete
control of the mind as the game of golf.
Golfing success wisdom stems from the Oriental
wisdom of thinking and the mind. Specifically, it is the wisdom of Zen.
Tiger Woods once said: “My mother’s
a Buddhist. In Buddhism, if you want to achieve enlightenment, you have to do
it through meditation and self-improvement through the mind.
That’s something she passed on to me: to be able to calm myself down and use my
mind as my main asset.”
Tiger Woods also commented on the
golfing success of Jack Nicklaus, “The biggest thing is to have the
mindset and the belief you can win every tournament going on. A lot of guys
don’t have that; Nicklaus had it. He felt he was going to beat everybody.”
If you are playing your very best, you are in a
state ofmeditation, transcendence -- the ideal condition for
mental golf success.
So, what exactly is the wisdom of Zen golf or
mental golf wisdom?
The word “Zen” is Japanese, but it
derives from the Chinese, meaning “meditation.”
According to the legend, one day when Buddha was
growing old, he gathered all his disciples for an important discourse. As soon
as all his disciples sat down silently, Buddha arose, picked up a flower and
raised it to his eyes. Then, without uttering a word of sermon, he returned to
his seat. All his disciples looked at each other in bewilderment -- except one
disciple, who apparently was the only one in the audience to have perceived the
significance of the meaning of silence of his Master. That disciple smiled at
Buddha, who also smiled back as a silent bequeathment of the spiritual meaning
of his silent sermon. According to the legend, that was how Zen came into
existence. And that was the origin of mental golf.
Zen means waking up to the present moment. In
other words, you perceive this very moment exactly as it is, and your
thinking should not be adulterated by preconceived ideas, opinions, or
notions. This mindset is the groundwork for mental golf.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen
Lau
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