Golfing with the Dalai Lama

Accept Where You Are and Work From There

In human life, if you feel that you have made a mistake, you don’t try to undo the past or the present, but you just accept where you are and work from there. Tremendous openness as to where you are is necessary. This also applies to the practice of meditation, for instance. A person should learn to meditate on the spot, in the given moment, rather than thinking, “…When I reach pension age, I’m going to retire and receive a pension, and I’m going to build my house in Hawaii or the middle of India, or maybe the Gobi Desert, and THEN I’m going to enjoy myself. I’ll live a life of solitude and then I’ll really meditate.” Things never happen that way.

—Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

http://www.tricycle.com/practice/your-life-your-practice

The Path is Personal and Intimate

It is essential at the beginning of practice to acknowledge that the path is personal and intimate. It is no good to examine it from a distance as if it were someone else’s. You must walk it for yourself. In this spirit, you invest yourself in your practice, confident of your heritage, and train earnestly side by side with your sisters and brothers. It is this engagement that brings peace and realization.

– Robert Aitken Roshi

http://www.tricycle.com/-practice/the-teacher-everything

Turn Down the Heat

Something empowering happens when we begin to see these problems as internal rather than external. We have access to ourselves. We have the ability to make internal changes when the mechanisms for change are within our reach. A slight shift of attitude, a minor adjustment of priorities, an occasional opening to a wider perspective, the glimpse of a good greater than the merely personal— these all contribute in a small way to turning down the heat. And since we are faced not with a single enormous fire but with billions of little fires, each one ablaze in one person, miniscule changes in one mind here and one heart there can add up to a dramatic reduction of greenhouse defilements.

Andrew Olendzki, “Burning Alive”

http://www.tricycle.com/thus-have-i-heard/burning-alive

From Tricycle: When people genuinely meet the dharma, they realize it directly within themselves. So the Buddha said that he is merely the one who shows the way. In teaching us, he is not accomplishing the way for us. It is not so easy as that. It’s like someone who sells us a plow to till the fields. He isn’t going to do the plowing for us. We have to do that ourselves.

http://www.tricycle.com/dharma-talk/meeting-dharma-alone

The Choppy Seas of Conversation

Like surfing, staying present is always a challenge, but doing it while interacting with others tends to be like managing in choppy, cross-current seas. We have not only our own thoughts and impulses to contend with but also those of our conversational partners. So if we can stay present and compassionate when, say, a coworker is kvetching, odds are we can do it anytime.

http://www.tricycle.com/feature/talk-buddha

Welcome to the Revolution

The Buddha was a revolutionary, a radical advocate for personal and social transformation. He rejected the religious forms of his time and renounced all forms of greed, hatred, and delusion. He dedicated his life to going “against the stream,” to the subversive path of an outlaw transient. He wasn’t afraid to speak out against the ignorance in this world’s political, social, and religious structures, but he did so from a place of love and kindness, from an enlightened compassion that extended to all living beings. The Buddha’s teachings are not a philosophy or a religion; they are a call to action, an invitation to revolution.

http://www.tricycle.com/community/heart-revolution

Awaken Aspiration

When the clarity of practice becomes obscured by the dark and swirling energy of emotional distress, it is useful to have some clear and concise reminders to bring us back to reality. The first reminder is to awaken aspiration. On an elementary level, to awaken aspiration means simply that we remember to practice. Once we remember to practice, to awaken aspiration means that we see our particular distress as our path. Instead of seeing our distress as the enemy, as something to get rid of; instead of giving it juice by solidifying the thoughts around it into the heaviness and drama of “me,” we learn to view distress as our opportunity to see and to open.

http://www.tricycle.com/practice/bursting-bubble-fear

We Will Our Lives

We will our lives with activities. Many of them are really very good activities but if we are not careful, they can just be an escape. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do good and necessary things, but there has to be breathing in as well as breathing out. We need to have both the active and the contemplative.

http://www.tricycle.com/blog/three-kinds-laziness

The Controlling Faculties of Mind

Acquiring skillful attitudes involves developing two qualities: continuity of awareness and insight knowledge, which is the progressively refined intuitive understanding of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and conditionality (anatta). Stabilizing the mind and refining wisdom are the natural results of developing faith, energy, and awareness through insight practice. These five qualities together—faith, energy, awareness, stability of mind, and wisdom—are known as the “controlling faculties of mind.”

http://www.tricycle.com/dharma-talk/got-attitude

Sangha is Essential

Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are three precious jewels in Buddhism, and the most important of these is Sangha. The Sangha contains the Buddha and the Dharma. A good teacher is important, but sisters and brothers in the practice are the main ingredient for success. You cannot achieve enlightenment by locking yourself in your room. Transformation is possible only when you are in touch. When you touch the ground, you can feel the stability of the earth and feel confident.

http://www.tricycle.com/insights/fertile-soil-sangha

The Importance of Giving

Giving needs to be practiced and developed because our underlying tendency toward attachment, aversion, and confusion so often interferes with a truly selfless act of generosity. An act of giving is of most benefit when one gives something of value, carefully, with one’s own hand, while showing respect, and with a view that something wholesome will come of it. The same is true when one gives out of faith, respectfully, at the right time, with a generous heart, and without causing denigration.

http://www.tricycle.com/-practice/dana-practice-giving

The brain acts as a receiving set for energy patterns … which exist as conscousness expressed in the form of thought.  It’s the vanity of the ego that claims thoughts as “mine.”  Genius, on the other hand, commonly attributes the source of creative leaps of awareness to that basis of all consciousness, which has traditionally been called divinity.  – Power Vs. Force by Hawkins

Lead by Being Led. – MLK

True peace is not merely the absence of negative force, but the presence of positive force. 

A – The beginning of life. The wonder. Ahhh.

U – The life itself. Full of experiences, agony, pleasure, love and distrust.

M – Life’s end.  Hmmm. It was a good life.

Then, the silence before the cycle continues.

“Your life evokes your nature and you learn more about yourself as you go on. Put yourself in situations which evoke your higher nature.”  — Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

When we recognize our metaphysical connection to others, we enable the Hero within us.

“I don’t know.”

Funny how this classic Dualistic day is the end of Dualism for those that believe in dualism.

When Descartes met Ramana Maharshi he asked him: “Do you believe in Dualism?

What was he answer?

If there is judgement, then there is duality. If there is duality, then there is good an evil.  In Unity, it feels as though there is no judgmental nature. It’s a paradigm of Christianity that gets lost many times.  But, after all, wasn’t one of Jesus’s great teachings about not judging others.  That’s non-duality.  There’s not a matter of being right and wrong, because it’s all here for us. As Joseph Campbell says, it’s the experience.

I think about the Unity message of “put your own mask on first” which is a metaphor of how airlines instruct passengers – you’re no good if you can’t breath yourself.  But, my problem, even though I like to give, is that I have an expectation back. That’s something I need to get over.  I need to give and that’s it. I have had the mentality that “if” I “give” then people will give to me.  Well, that’s misplaced expectation, attracting those that expect me to give to them.  I need to not expect from others, and give freely. Whether or not I get anything from anyone in return should be superfluous. If I expect, then I’m not giving.  So, here I go down that metaphysical dichotomy of Catch 22’s. 😉

One experience I had that has stuck with me, I believe, is based on the invisible connectivity of humans.  It’s also part of the whole competitive paradigm.  Let me explain.

Bellefontaine and Urbana were arch rivals.  From the first games I remember playing in Junior High – those that had competition outside the city, Urbana was our fiercest foe.  We were well-matched, too. Towns were less than 20 miles apart. Social patterns were the same.

Anyway, our basketball team won the district championship, and our trip to the regional event took us directly through Urbana.  When we got there, all the lights changed to flashing, a police cruiser escorted us through the city, and Urbana residents lined the road with signs of encouragement – like “Win Regionals and Go to State!”

I had goose bumps. I was swimming in emotions that I didn’t understand at all.  These people were our enemies – but were now acting like our neighbors.

I was with the assistant coach sitting in the front seat of the car, and he told me later that the look on my face was wonder and bewilderment.

As it turned out, our team (and I) played two of the best games ever played by a Bellefontaine team, and, indeed, we did get to the State Tournament.  After the win that got us there, I remember trying to vocalize the feeling, which was still with me in the locker room.  But, alas, I could not. I just remember saying something like – “When we came through Urbana, I knew …”

Next: Duality?

Sorry for not writing lately, been busy.

Not much better today, other than including this video:

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/caddy-shack/A5C82AA1CB82F4550930A5C82AA1CB82F4550930

Next: Peak Experience

Charles and I first met at the Dalai’s abode.  Within the first several minutes, Chuck and I found ourselves deep in a punning exchange. I think it was about cameras (a topic that “lens” itself to puns), but over the years, the range has been wide, and as you can imagine, golfing can provide many opportunities.

After all, isn’t it a “fairway” to pass the time?

Anyway, the Dalai refrains from punning. But, he enjoys it and smiles. Dalai smiles a lot.

Next: What you can learn, when you play against someone you can’t beat.

Charles, more than the Dalai, and I had a competitive streak. The Dalai played the course, of course, except when he “had to” grind.

Anyway, since the Dalai was typically a stroke or more better per hole than Chuck and I (even if we scrambled), we had to devise ways to compete against the Dalai.  Chuck and I had our own competitive nature outside of golfing, mostly in the confines of a racquetball court.

At one point, we developed a set of rules intended to make sure “we” had an advantage over the Dalai.  Some of it was so foreign to the Dalai’s nature, that he had no choice but to allow the winning and losing to run its course. After all, he really didn’t care.  He enjoyed our gimics.

So, here’s a couple of the rules – If said participant clearly hits a good shot or putt, but the next player has an even better shot or putt, the second said participant shall say “Get That Weak Sh*t Out of Here” to the first said participant.  (That was later Acronymized to GTWSOH.)

Second rule – If said participant clearly hits an outstanding shot, or makes a putt over the length of 15 feet, he shall announce “You Can’t Beat That!”

Should the announcements not take place, then said participants are given two-stroke penalties.

As you might imagine – in the racquetball space, these taunts would become much louder and quite pointed, with shaking racquets and victory laps.

Next: NCAA Punning Championships

One “event” that the Dalai, Chuck and I used to play was on a particular Par 5, which had a wide open fairway was the “Thunderbirds from the Tee.”

Somewhere in the Dalai’s past, he had a passion to fly airplanes (not many people know that about the Lama).  He, I believe, actually had his license at one point.  But, I think the Dalai’s golf fanaticism only allowed him enough time for one focus (kind of a meditation).  However, I do see the single-focus meditation applying to both those avocations.

Anyway, on the 14^th hole, the three of us would tee it up together. Lined up in the center of the tee-box would be Dalai, with me right behind him (tee almost at his heels) and Chuck facing the Dalai.  The Dalai would give the count down “3, 2, 1” and we’d all hit our shots at the same time.

This, I guess, could be equated to a forced meditation. You can’t just “allow” this, but you have to make the focus happen. My guess is that our baseball backgrounds allowed for this. Kind of goes along with the chatter situation.

Now, the real reason we called in Thunderbirds goes back to the flying – the Thunderbirds being the aerobatic flying team of the Air Force.  Then, the visual connection came when the balls would perform similarly – each taking off and with some synchronization, they’d split into multiple directions.  The Dalai down the middle, Charles (the lefty) slicing to the left and me slicing to the right.  The views were magnificent.

How I miss those days of camaraderie.

Next: The Ill-Marketing, Non-Communicative Rules of Golf

When I putt, I try not to think of too much. In fact, the more I think, the worse I putt.  To me, it’s all about being comfortable.

Heck, I don’t even really like to read the green much, or think about speed, or even worry where the water is (how the ball will turn towards it, I’m told).

Nope, it’s all feel. Kind of like Chevy Chase on Caddy Shack. Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na.

At one point, Dalai, Chuck and I would carry a Video Recorder (Beta) with us on the course.  It was fun reviewing the footage afterwards, plus giving commentary during the round.  Dalai would use it as an analysis tool for his swing.  Chuck and I weren’t that refined.  We had the Lee Travino approach – hit it, find it, hit it again.

Anyway, since the video camera was property of the company I was working for at the time, I was really the only one with experience shooting.  So, at one point, I was trying to explain the functionality of the camera to Dalai and Chuck, so they could take some footage of me.

On a long putt attempt (40+ feet) on an extremely undulating green, I hovered over my putt with Chuck holding the camera behind me. I felt it. I hit it. I went in.

I jumped for joy and knew it was on video. Saved forever!  So, I pulled the camera from Chuck to view the feat.  But, he had failed to hit the right button, and, alas, no video.

I then put the camera on the ground behind the ball, made reference to their ineptitude to technology, and how they missed my fabulous putt. Of course, their conversation was something to the effect that it never happened.  After all, who would know?

So, I stood over the putt again. Centered myself. Then, drained that baby again!

Golf is who you play and where you play – not the score. If you’re with friends and having fun, either the score will come, or you won’t care.

At one point, when we were in shape, the Dalai Lama, our friend Charles, and I played “Running  One-Club.”  We’d choose a club, only one (and you had to putt with it), then jog around the course.

Some interesting tid-bits – you needed to be careful about the club.  For instance, the Par 3 16^th was about 185 over water.  Of course, you could play it to the right, if you wanted, but Par 3’s, of course, were opportunities to score.

The Dalai developed a putting stance, on his knees, choking up to almost the blade.  He really was a grinder extraordinaire.

One time, before I understood how tough golf is, I became known as “The Shotmaker.”  On a double-dog leg par 5, using my 3-iron, I had pulled my third shot to the left, with some very tall trees between me and the green – and only about 50 yards away.  Anyone with any sense would have punched it out to the middle of the fairway, then tried to punch it again to the green.

But, I chose to open my stance and take a swipe under the ball, dropping my right shoulder almost perpendicular to the ground. Voila! it went up and over the trees and on to the green.  Today, of course, not only wouldn’t I try it, but if I did, now knowing the difficulty of the task, I’d probably blade it deep into the woods. Reminds me of a Guy Clark song: “He did not know he could not fly – so he did.”