Meditating down the fairway

June 22, 2006

Dear Julie,

A few months ago at a dinner party, I cornered someone deeply involved in a Japanese martial art in which swords play a prominent role. I wanted to know if he knew the secret of golf, a secret I have been searching for many years.

At the time I was reading a book called "Be Like Water," in which the writer describes martial artists who can break a single brick in a stack of bricks 3 feet high. This is done with a hand held 1 inch from the brick.

This is only possible, the author says, when the artist knows how to summon chi, energy, and then transfer it to the target. And this energy transfer is directed by the mind.

The writer then invokes the words of the mythologist Joseph Campbell: "Consciousness and energy are perhaps the same thing."

The title of the book is taken from a quote by Bruce Lee, the late actor and martial artist known for this explosive skill called cun jing (inch power). "Be like water making its way through cracks," Lee said.

Water is a good conductor of energy, and fluidity is prized in a golf swing. So you see my curiosity about the martial artist at the dinner party.

I wondered if he had discovered how to summon chi to in his swordsmanship. He assured me that chi played no role in the martial art for him, that the secret to being a martial artist was no more or less than practice and discipline. In other words, there is no secret.

How disappointing.

After weeks of ruminating about this, I realized that asking the martial artist about transferring energy missed the mark. He talked about the importance of discipline. That's another word focus. Probably nothing focuses like a sword being thrust at you. When you're standing over a lifeless little white ball, nothing is easier than thinking about anything you shouldn't be thinking about. Nothing seems harder than focusing solely on this simple act.

Now my book is about meditation. I want to learn how to focus my mind when a hundred thoughts are percolating inside. The writer, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, is the living holder of a Buddhist tradition that believes all beings are basically good, one that values wisdom and compassion above all else.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche also loves golf.

Early morning is my time to play. My companions and I sweep the dew from the fairways as we make our ways from hole to hole. We don't know what each shot might bring. We try to forget about the last shot and the next shot and focus on this shot. That is the essence of meditation. As the Sakyong says, each shot requires a fresh mind.

The secrets are manifold. Discovering one opens your eyes to paths that lead to more.

For me mastery of golf or of anything requiring discipline, skill, insight and creativity equates to mastery of oneself. And that is the greatest challenge of all.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is managing editor of the Southeast Missourian.