Golfing with the Dalai Lama

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.”

Do you believe in Duality? Good Vs. Evil? Right Vs. Wrong? Mind Vs. Body? Immortality of the soul? What is your myth? Where are your metaphors?

If there is no duality, then is there only acceptance?  Would judgments, consequences and ramifications simply become actions without a preface? Would there be injustice – or for that matter, justice?  Without judgments, where is evil?

Do you believe you can help people? What if they don’t want your help? What if they think that by not allowing you to help them, they are helping you? What is help? Where is help? Who is help? Never why. Never “why” is there help.

In the West, we need to be cognizant of our propensity to allow logical thinking to dominate our consciousness – therefore discounting the sometimes mystical, or the idea that some things just can’t be explained.

Buddhism and golf just seem to go together.  And, the story about bringing them together can be both fact and fiction.  I’m not preaching religion, just depicting mythology.  How do we reach our inner spirit?  Not through story, but through actions.

Golf gives us this opportunity, as it’s the only sport I’ve ever played that I can get better at, without practicing.  Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t practice to get better at golf. It means, that by thinking about the game – watching the game – and provoking the game’s silence and mental acuity, you can mindfully improve your game.

It is the dichotomy of knowing and doing.  Doing it, by Buddhist standards …

And there lies the myth.  Becoming the person who can implement their thoughts – pulling out of the world of dualism and bringing spirit and body together.  Even if it’s only for the short period we are here.  Or, on the golf course.

As this story unfolds, it will be obvious that the Dalai Lama is not THE Dalai Lama, but someone who has the Dalai Lama qualities.  He’s a combination of mythology, spirituality, religion, and a keen professor from Miami of Ohio, who we call the Dalai Lama.

We called him Dalai Lama for several reasons – he was bright, calm, loving, balanced, and he practiced his craft.  He wasn’t someone to one person and someone else to another person – and, he could spot the fakes a mile away.  But, his alignment was not to judge, but to focus on what he could do – many times ignoring what others would have trouble ignoring.

At one point, I strayed from the Dalai Lama, as I became more involved in other agendas. It had a profound effect on my inner nature.  Not until I realized that I had neglected the Dalai Lama’s influence was I able to again begin the regaining of my spirit.

This book, I am hoping, will make me whole again.

TENZIN GYATSO, THE 14TH DALAI LAMA:

We can see that all the desirable experiences that we cherish or aspire to attain are dependent upon cooperation and interaction with other sentient beings.