{"id":83,"date":"2010-08-21T07:59:57","date_gmt":"2010-08-21T07:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/is-tiger-woods-giving-buddhism-a-bad-name.html"},"modified":"2010-08-21T07:59:57","modified_gmt":"2010-08-21T07:59:57","slug":"is-tiger-woods-giving-buddhism-a-bad-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/08\/is-tiger-woods-giving-buddhism-a-bad-name.html","title":{"rendered":"Is Tiger Woods Giving Buddhism a Bad Name?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Tiger Woods, the number one ranked golfer in the world, was
\ntwo shots from last place after the second day of play at the World Golf
\nChampionship Bridgestone Invitational a tournament he has won seven times in
\nthe past. In most tournaments he would have failed to make the cut and would
\nhave gone home for the weekend, but everyone in this selective field played all
\nfour days. Since his fall from grace and his declarations to re-avow his
\nBuddhist origins and practices, he has been a mediocre golfer at best. He is
\ncurrently ranked 80th on the money list (with less than a million dollars; last
\nyear he won $10.5 million) and 111th on the Fed Ex Cup (a ten million dollar
\nprize he won last season). He is also at immanent risk of losing his ranking as
\nthe number one golfer in the world after holding that distinction for 269
\nconsecutive weeks. Tiger, the most famous athlete in the world, provided a
\nspectacular demonstration of the Three Poisons in action. His lust, lies, and
\nself-aggrandized delusion made headlines around the world. In April upon
\nreturning to competitive golf, he said, in response to a question about what
\nmore discipline would do for him, “I would be more centered more
\nbalanced, that’s where I am heading towards that’s what I’m working towards
\neach and every day. I’m meditating religiously again like I used to. I’m going
\nback to my Buddhist roots.” <\/p>\n

Since there was not cut in this limited field, Tiger got to
\nplay on the weekend despite his six over par performance on the first two days.
\nA chance for redemption? On Saturday, he shot a 5 over par performance to put
\nhim 11 over for the tournament. He was in 78th place in a field of 80
\ngolfers. He has never been worse than a tie for 71st through 54 holes
\nsince turning pro.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Buddha_golf.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Why is Tiger playing so poorly? It is hard to know exactly
\nwhy, and Tiger is reclusive with the press. I wonder, though, if this is not
\nkarma and conditioning in action? For many years Tiger engaged in delusive and
\ngreedy mental and physical sexual exploits. Perhaps, such karma cannot be undone
\nin a mere matter of months. I wonder, too, whether his ability to play at the
\nsuperhuman level he was playing at before was somehow facilitated by his
\nreliance on greed and delusion. That is, he was great not in spite of his
\nsexual peccadilloes, but because of them. Again, this is conjecture. S. N.
\nGoenka clarifies three levels of mental conditionings or sankharas<\/i>. The
\nfirst is like drawing your finger along the surface of water. The ramifications
\nof this action are short-lived. The ripple moves for a few moments and is gone.
\nThe second level is like drawing your finger through sand. This is a bit more
\nenduring, but eventually water or wind will erase its former presence. The
\nfinal kind is like etching a line into solid rock. This sankhara<\/i> will
\ntake eons to break down. Tiger’s sankaharas<\/i>
\nare likely more of the latter kind. These strong mental patterns have created
\nenduring ramifications, and I wonder if this is what is being seen in the
\nbreakdown of Tiger’s performance. A dysfunctional balance is still balance, and
\nit may take some time to re-establish his balance no matter how much meditation
\nhe has done in the past few months. <\/p>\n

An April 2010 Wall
\nStreet Journal<\/a>
\n<\/span><\/u>article asked if “Buddha Can Help Your Short Game?” It opined that
\nTiger’s reaffirmation of Buddhism might make him a better golfer. “A
\ngrowing number of golfers and golf coaches all over the world are warming up to
\nthe idea that the ancient religion, which teaches followers to let go of their
\negos, attachments and desires in order to attain enlightenment, could be the
\nfaith most suited to making somebody a holy terror on the links.” Buddhism
\nis becoming more visible on the PGA Tour as more players come from Asia and as
\nWestern golf gurus recruit this ancient wisdom. Other players with an avowed
\ninterest in Buddhism include Vijay Singh, Y. E. Yang Justin Rose, and Se Ri Pak
\nand Christie Kerr of the LPGA.<\/p>\n

Tiger has offered mechanical reasons for his poor
\nperformance and not ones from his personal life. He hasn’t said, “Well, I
\nreally miss all the lying and incessant fornication and this has thrown my game
\noff.” Instead, he has said, “Well, I drove it
\nterrible, hit my irons terrible, didn’t putt well, and it added up to a
\nlot.” <\/span>Day Four of the Bridgestone Invitational; things only
\nget worse. Tiger shoots seven over par culminating in his worst performance
\never, including his days as an amateur, at a time when he needed it the most. Unless
\nhe plays well at the PGA Championship next week, it’s quite likely that he will
\nnot qualify for the Tour Championship playoffs starting with the Barclays
\nTournament the last weekend in August.  <\/p>\n

So, of course, Tiger isn’t giving Buddhism a bad name, but
\nhis all-too-human performance shows that Buddhism is not an easy fix. Indeed,
\nas Noah Levine has said, “If you are looking for a quick fix or easy
\nsalvation, turn back now, plug back into the matrix, and enjoy your delusional
\nexistence. This is a path for rebels, malcontents, and truth seekers.” The
\nPGA Championship presented another opportunity for Tiger to play golf at the
\nlevel the world everyone is accustomed to. He showed glimmers of his old form,
\nbut he was not a factor.<\/p>\n

Redemption is
\navailable on each shot, if you can train your attention on the present. I would
\nsuggest that not only should Tiger persist in recruiting his Buddhist origins
\nand practice to heal his life and his game, he can also use his game as a
\nspiritual path — to become a better Buddhist. This is the dharma<\/i> of
\ngolf. Keep meditating Tiger!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tiger Woods, the number one ranked golfer in the world, was two shots from last place after the second day of play at the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational a tournament he has won seven times in the past. In most tournaments he would have failed to make the cut and would have gone home…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-beat","category-golf-as-a-spiritual-path","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Tiger Woods Giving Buddhism a Bad Name? - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Tiger Woods Giving Buddhism a Bad Name? - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tiger Woods, the number one ranked golfer in the world, was two shots from last place after the second day of play at the World Golf Championship Bridgestone Invitational a tournament he has won seven times in the past. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}