Sport and Spirit →

What I find fascinating about the transformational process is that transformation requires a letting go of the old in order for the new to emerge. For subject to become object one must "let go" of the subject, and that letting go process is inherent to integral consciousness and flowing presence. Flowing presence is the very definition of letting go, of non-attachment; a flowing present dimension does not cling to either past or future, but is touched by both, is surrounded by both, includes and transcends both.

That's a delicate balancing act to pull off, and yet with practice, a state of flowing presence becomes a state of choice, one that is stabilized over time and preferred over other states, mostly because it is more effective as a state of being. Relative time is ever-flowing, so it benefits us as human beings to enter into a one-to-one relationship with the flow of time. Transformational practices show us exactly how to do just that, and because these practices develop our ability to connect with the flowing present in a one-to-one interface, they are simultaneously practices that develop our ability to live a life of non-attachment. A life in which we do not cling to the past nor fear the future, but rather rest in the reality of all that is right here, right now.

But that's not all that happens when we develop our ability to live a life of flowing presence. That life of presence in the relative domain of space and time allows us to recognize the ever-present nature of the absolute domain; the Eternal Presence of Spirit by whatever name we call it. And with that realization comes a deep sense of belonging, of oneness with the One, an understanding of our deepest nature, our deepest identity, our True Self.

What always strikes me about transformational practices is that over time they can become spiritual practices that are very different from the traditional spiritual practices of organized religion. Traditional spiritual practices are appropriate for some, but sorely lacking for others, especially in an ever-growing secular society.  But the immediacy of the zone experience is the immediacy of Spirit-in-Action, with or without a religious bent. Spend enough time "in the zone" and you begin to realize the simultaneity of relative and absolute. The flowing presence of the game takes place simultaneously with and within the Eternal Presence of Spirit. The game is Spirit. Spirit is the game. And being one with the flowing present opens us up to the recognition that we are simultaneously one with the Eternal Present. One with Spirit.

Simultaneity means "existing at the same time." Flowing presence exists at the same time as Eternal Presence. Eternal Presence exists at the same time as flowing presence. What that means in sport is that Spirit exists at the same time as the sport we are playing. Spirit and sport, Spirit and life, are simultaneous, and by entering into a state of oneness with the flowing present, it is easier to recognize that we are simultaneously in a state of oneness with Eternal Presence, a state of oneness with Spirit.

For many this will sound like spiritual babble. But to them I would suggest "don't knock it till you try it." How can you call playing in the zone spiritual babble until you get in the zone and experience it for yourself? It's intellectually tacky to condemn an experience until you have had the experience. If, after having the experience of playing in the zone, you still wish to call it spiritual babble – then fine. You've made your judgments on one experience of playing in the zone. Of course, the fact that you played so much better when you are in the zone will probably be reason enough for you to come back to the experience again and again, now that you’ve learned how to reproduce it. And by returning to a state of flowing presence again and again, you will eventually “let go” enough to come to the realization that something deeper lies beneath your experience of flowing presence; something underneath it all, something always already there, a stillness, a calm, and emptiness in which and with which all that is form arises. Underneath is all is the simultaneity of Spirit.

You can ignore Spirit all you want, but you cannot avoid its ever-present simultaneity, and it is this simultaneity of flowing and Eternal Presence that is the simultaneity of form and emptiness, the simultaneity of relative and Absolute, of manifest and unmanifest. The simultaneity of sport and Spirit.

Sport is Spirit: Spirit is sport.

A Sense of Oneness →

Playing your sport in the zone is playing your sport in a higher conscious state, and playing in this higher conscious state can turn sport into a transformative practice. It means playing the game in a state of flow, and a flow state is first and foremost a higher state of consciousness, not just because of the difference in brain activity, but because of a difference in the whole interface between your body-mind and its environment. Everything in the environment takes an upward leap – and in the case of your consciousness, that upward leap is the leap of inclusion and expansion of awareness that is integral consciousness.

The sense of oneness you get when you are in a flow state is caused by your body-mind connecting to the whole of the athletic environment, not just serially connecting to the environment’s sequential parts, which is our normal mode of connecting, but when you are in a state of flow, that connection changes from serial to parallel, and with that radically fundamental change in the very core of your functional interface comes a radically fundamental change in your awareness of the environment and the part you play in its co-creation. It’s no longer stepping into a pre-existing reality; it is you as co-creator of the presently-arising reality.

That’s a whole new ballgame, literally, and when you realize that you are the co-creator of your own moment-to-moment reality, it motivates you to take a closer look at the state of consciousness in which you are doing the co-creating. Are you co-creating a partially potentiated reality as your body-mind interfaces with only a portion of what’s available in the environment? Or are you co-creating a fully potentiated reality in which your body-mind is interfacing with the whole of what the environment has to offer?

You probably won’t ask these types of questions until you spend a little time outside your normal performance state with its gross consciousness and serial mode of operation. Your ego could give a rip about questions like these. In fact, your ego will tell you these questions are ridiculous and not worth answering. But with a little time spent in a state of flow, a little time spent with your Authentic Self, you will start to understand that these are the questions of deepest regard for you as a human being. The questions that ask “who am I, really?” and “why am I really here?”  Transformational practices make it impossible to avoid these questions.

One of the things that playing tennis in the zone has given me is a sense of oneness with everything. Not just oneness with the game of tennis, but oneness with the whole of the manifest realm as it arises in the flowing present. I know how crazy that sounds. It used a sound crazy to me too, until it started to happen again, and again, and again. Then it wasn’t so crazy after all. It was real, very real. More real than the partial game I had been struggling with my whole life. The partial game that gave me an ulcer at age fourteen. The partial game that never felt complete, never felt whole, and because it never felt whole, neither did I.

Only when I started intentionally playing tennis in the zone did the game feel complete. Only then did I feel complete. And through years of practicing this transformational process, I have come to feel a sense of oneness both on the court and off. And that oneness comes not only from a more natural connection to the flowing present, but from something even deeper, a deeper connection to the Timeless Presence of Spirit. That connection, too, is very real, and it’s the connection that completes me as a human being; the oneness with Presence that is the True Me.