Sports as a Spiritual Pursuit

[LfcCharlie4]

@Leo Gura

 

Hi Leo, absolutely love the work you're doing and you've helped me so much on my journey, and also introduced me to the book 1000 which has helped me so much!

 

However, I feel your view on sports is quite unfair. I get that stage orange has certainly corrupted most sports, as it has most areas of life, but to me that doesn't mean sports should be disregarded as a worthwhile pursuit. 

Aside from the obvious physical benefits and of course nutrition to optimize performance I see Sports as a very viable Life Purpose for those who are talented enough to make it at the top level.

 To me, true sport is an art form, examples such as a great team goal in football, the perfect 3 pointer in Basketball etc, the creation of an amazing team and developing personal ability surely is no different than developing your skills as an artist in another domain?

Furthermore, you also have 'The Zone' which is many people's only way of getting close to the spiritual dimension of life when they are fully present and all they can focus on is the game at hand, Sadhguru has an article on this saying how Sport can bring you closer to the divine than prayer as you are forced to be involved in life. 

 Therefore, if someone has a love for sport and wants to pursue this as a career followed by a coaching career or something similar and they don't fall prey to the corruption and egotistical issues in many sports, and do it for the love of their sport and wanting to reach the best of their ability, while doing it all in a loving way and providing entertainment (just like Musicians do for example) why is it not a worthwhile pursuit? 

I completely understand the corruption surrounding sport these days, but it isn't the sport itself that is corrupt but the owners, leagues etc who are driven by stage orange values, once sports grow with Society to green and beyond I think we will see the true magnificence of sports flourish. (Hope to see Sport in our society following Conscious Politics in 100 years;))

I was also wondering if anyone else here has pursued a career in Sports and if so what is your career, or if anyone came close to becoming a professional athlete. 

 Or if anyone agrees/ disagrees that sport is a worthwhile pursuit and why thanks, guys. 

 

 

[Hello from Russia]

I think sports can be rather spiritual. It all depends on how you approach it yourself. The center of gravity in our society, though, is the sport is very unspiritual right now. You'll have to be brave enough to be unique and "different" and forgive other people that they don't know about how to make sport spiritual and for looking at you like you're some quack if you decide to expose yourself as a spiritual athete.

I'd suggest to check Ken Wilber's work, he has some interesting ideas and models about how to turn sport into meditation and access different states of consciousnes (what you call flow). I'd also suggest reading "Zen body being" by Peter Ralston. He has some profound insights about connection of bodymind too. He is enlightened guy who has very good Martial Arts background, which you would probably considers sports aswell. I think these can be very helpful and enlightening

Edited October 29, 2019 by Hello from Russia

[LfcCharlie4]

@Hello from Russia I will definitely read them books, thank you for the recommendations. 

 

But yes, I'm a huge Liverpool fan (UK Football team) and i LOVE watching and supporting my football team, yet the stage orange importance of money and power is so prevalent, our biggest rivals for the league title is Manchester City who are effectively owned by a Royal Family in the Middle East who allow child slavery and torture and murder, gay people. 

 

However, at its fundamental level, I see Sports as a spiritual pursuit, but however, like most things, they are currently very much corrupted by the Ego and Stage Orange at the highest levels!

[DrewNows]

@LfcCharlie4 it’s always about you and your reasons for playing, don’t think that a passion in sports is any less spiritual than one in another area. It doesn’t matter what others think, your spiritual growth will transform your passion for sports and everything else around you, from relationships to daily habits and connections, just don’t allow any idea such as professional football become your identity, it’s just a aspect of your creation. I’m a Liverpool fan as well, I’ve played college ball and I’m 29 yo still with the desire to play pro at some level possibly in Europe (Germany)  

but I’m also content playing recreationally as long as I can, and I’ve gained many other passions through football- health/wellness/weight lifting etc. I love adventure, games and fun, life’s a game, nothing wrong with games inside games  

[Mulky]

Sports, and physical intelligence, here we go.  I've been thinking about this lately and it seems to be very significant.  At some point the belief formed that intelligence was in the brain and people began to view themselves from the neck up, and ironically in their viewing themselves as intellectuals, they became quite stupid.  The intelligence coming from the body became something they couldn't believe in, so they were stuck.  The body is huge in spiritual practice, and in certain types of sports the intelligence about reality the body can gain through movement, enhances ones wisdom.  The best kinds are ones involving the entire body using subtle muscles not often used, where balance is important ,and the participant is fully immersed in the moment with no time to think of other things.

 

There is a big difference between people I have known with physical intelligence, and those lacking it.  This is also why people do yoga, dance, martial arts, etc.  The intelligence of the disconnected mind is incomplete, and usually falsely confident in itself, because it is cut off from wisdom.  Something about the integration with every detail of your nervous system, brings about a lot of wisdom.

[LfcCharlie4]

@DrewNows good to see another sports fan around here! And definitely noticed differences, for example when we lose I get it out of my system then move on with my life. 

And yes I agree, it’s how you go about the Sport that matters, and good luck with becoming a pro baller man! 

[LfcCharlie4]

@Mulky you can even go one step further, and say once you’re in non-duality you realise you are no longer the Doer behind all of your action but something higher is telling you your hungry, having that desire etc etc 

[SoothedByRain]

All of One is Creation. God creates so it can experience. What is, experience itself, is Joy & Love.

That means an ape, a human, any mammalian animal that is designed a specific way, is to be experienced as such. Biological life has no free will, everything is flowing, and if a person is in the mindset of wanting to explore ones body, to hone that and actualize its potential with mindful, conscious joy and love . . .

That is One's creation. That is spirituality. Mindful, conscious exploration of One within our limited view of reality, from our sensory, relative perspective of the absolute. A Human Being  

Even if a person is an unconscious bodybuilder solely driven by negative motivations such as low self-esteem and a Stage Red need for domination and egoic security . . . that is One. That was designed specifically to Be. Of course evolution is moving in a certain direction, which is neurological development, psychological maturity and functional social interdependence through compassionate mutual benefit. Nonetheless, the tyranical egoic physically power hungry ape/human is One, is Love.

What we need as a species that was designed to move and work cooperatively, is mindful, enlightened health education and exploration.

If one wants to play football or dance solely for ones own enjoyment, that can be a mindful, spiritual practice of embodying Christ Consciousness through human form. But what if one becomes that and then proactively spread such joy through mindful, high consciousness marketing, business and teaching? Creating a ripple effect that enables humanity to flourish? Now thats a spiritual life purpose of worth I think.

A beautiful example of such I'll post below. Not from a stage yellow or turquoise perspective. But still . . . a beautiful example of physical potential and value profusion.

If a person has had a life experience that hasn't enabled physical flourishment, that has led them to being very cognitive and intellectual, that is also One's artistic creation and to be experienced fully in all its joy and love. I think this forum, Leo and most of his followers fall into this catagory so its great to see and share some athletic thoughts and posts. Self-Actualization is about creating mindful balance among the whole foundation of ones life I feel.

[LfcCharlie4]

@SoothedByRain that makes complete sense thank you so much! 

For example a professional footballer could then become a Coach who spreads enjoyment and love in his coaching, and uses his platform as you said to market conscious ideas, and even with bodybuilding there’s ways to do it consciously! 

 This was a really great answer and I think there are many many ways to approach your life purpose in ways that will help contribute to mankind- thank you:) 

[Leo Gura]

The practical problem is that with professional sports your body can give out at any time and ruin your entire LP. And this happens all too often.

If by sports you mean coaching others, of course that's more practical. But then again, what is really the point of competitive sports? It's rather mindless. I guess I have a bias against it. It just doesn't make sense to me to devote your life to throwing balls into baskets. But hey, it's your life. Do WTF you want.

[Iksander]

@Leo Gura Sports is an art form with as much value as any other, there is also extraordinary discovery at pushing oneself to overcome beliefs about what they can do physically.

The point of competitive sports is competitive sports. It's beautiful. Like a dance or a great song. The feeling when you yourself pull of an incredible move or the awe when you see a brilliant player score something spectacular on television or live at the stadium. Mastery of a craft. Of course we can say of the singer, 'Why devote your life you making sounds' or of the painter 'why devote your life brushing canvas' but these are obviously reductive remarks. 

It's all for the love of the game.

[LfcCharlie4]

@Leo Gura @Iksander basically you’ve summed it up perfectly. 

I used to be the same as you Leo in regards to drawing/ art because It was always my biggest weak point in school, until I realised it’s all for the love of it and Sport is no different, just extreme competition can bring out negative sides f people, but so can Business, politics etc, so it’s about competing consciously. 

 

And, you also get the array of physical and mental benefits of exercise that sport brings. 

But like you said life is to what the fuck you want. I just strongly feel used rightly as Sadhguru says, Sports can be amazing for building amazing people and societies when utilised correctly- which they certainly are not in this stage orange society we live in!

 

So, yeah like any other Athletic/ Creative pursuit the original motivation for creating music, art, films etc or playing sport all comes from the enjoyment and love for it! 

[Rasheed]

Such a great topic. Thanks for posting this. Very helpful. 

@LfcCharlie4 I agree with you 100%. It's about competing consciously.

[Jonac]

Sport will bring you only concentration and a bit of equanimity, nothing more. Look at lance armstrong, david googins, etc... They are pretty neurotic. Look at certain atletes, they still get angry, act like asses. I used to admire certain sport, but watch it, contemplate, lost interest. You better spend your time contemplate and meditating. But discovered for your self, its just my opinion ?

[TrynaBeTurquoise]

On 10/30/2019 at 1:58 AM, SoothedByRain said:

All of One is Creation. God creates so it can experience. What is, experience itself, is Joy & Love.

That means an ape, a human, any mammalian animal that is designed a specific way, is to be experienced as such. Biological life has no free will, everything is flowing, and if a person is in the mindset of wanting to explore ones body, to hone that and actualize its potential with mindful, conscious joy and love . . .

That is One's creation. That is spirituality. Mindful, conscious exploration of One within our limited view of reality, from our sensory, relative perspective of the absolute. A Human Being  

Even if a person is an unconscious bodybuilder solely driven by negative motivations such as low self-esteem and a Stage Red need for domination and egoic security . . . that is One. That was designed specifically to Be. Of course evolution is moving in a certain direction, which is neurological development, psychological maturity and functional social interdependence through compassionate mutual benefit. Nonetheless, the tyranical egoic physically power hungry ape/human is One, is Love.

What we need as a species that was designed to move and work cooperatively, is mindful, enlightened health education and exploration.

If one wants to play football or dance solely for ones own enjoyment, that can be a mindful, spiritual practice of embodying Christ Consciousness through human form. But what if one becomes that and then proactively spread such joy through mindful, high consciousness marketing, business and teaching? Creating a ripple effect that enables humanity to flourish? Now thats a spiritual life purpose of worth I think.

A beautiful example of such I'll post below. Not from a stage yellow or turquoise perspective. But still . . . a beautiful example of physical potential and value profusion.

If a person has had a life experience that hasn't enabled physical flourishment, that has led them to being very cognitive and intellectual, that is also One's artistic creation and to be experienced fully in all its joy and love. I think this forum, Leo and most of his followers fall into this catagory so its great to see and share some athletic thoughts and posts. Self-Actualization is about creating mindful balance among the whole foundation of ones life I feel.

This guy is most definitely yellow in a lot of aspects. He goes meta on the fitness world. Good example of systems thinking. Has the most advanced perspective on training/human movement, more than 99% of other trainers/fitness coaches.

 

[Raptorsin7]

@LfcCharlie4 I agree with your sentiments 100%. One of the main drivers for me on my spiritual journey is the fact that I never feel like I lived up to my potential playing sports. I always had moments of brilliance, but I was always in my own head about everything and I never really got into flow or enjoyed the sports as much as I felt I could have. I think the answer to my problem was awakening to being fully present, and giving everything I had in the present because that's all i could ever give anyways.

I think sports could work will with spiritualist if you're interested in them, because I think a natural a byproduct of spiritual work would be to make you better at any sport you're playing, because you have the ability to actually try your best and your mental game would be on point. 

I think a similar thing could be said for video games too. But i think sports is better than video games overall.

[Consept]

@LfcCharlie4 first of all great topic and something I've thought about recently as well. I'm from the UK also and a man utd fan (boo lol). I think you're sentiments are right, sport is a great tool to get into flow, before I even knew about a spiritual pursuit I would get into amazing states of flow when playing football, to the point of doing a trick that I'd never even practiced right in the middle of a game and just being amazed after about how even knew to do it.

I think there is value in mastering something just because. Alan Watts talks about it when he says he talks just because he likes to talk and he sees life as play, as in he finds something he likes to do, does it and gets better at it.

The problem with sport though and in particular football, is that once you start getting to a higher level there's so much money, unconscious and toxic environments, that's not to say you can't carve out corners of it to address this but I'm just saying the current state is like this and you could get lost in it. 

Like watching football can be great, but recently I've been looking at emotionality behind it, as in how other people react and maybe how I used to react to a result not going your way and it's crazy, it can ruin people's whole day or year even. There's so much anger if you've watched arsenal fan TV you'll know what I mean. As much as we're connected to our teams we're not really anymore than we're connected to apple or Google, they're just companies essentially. 

Career wise, like Leo says your purpose can be completely derailed by an injury but the knowledge that you gained can be passed on it can also teach you about life, focus, diet, human relations, so much apart from the actual act of doing it and all this can be passed on to others. I never thought my career would be sports but I loved playing football which I can't do anymore because of achillies injuries, when I think about it I got to a good level at football and spent many hours playing but many of those hours I loved and wouldn't change them so for me it's not a waste. 

I've started boxing recently and that kind of gives me an outlet for an sporting endeavour but again I'm not playing on becoming a pro or anything I just like the process of learning something new. 

If you really love sports go for it and it seems like you're aware of the potential traps so why not 

 

[LfcCharlie4]

@Consept Yeah my purpose probably isn't in sports, I was more defending sports, as I believe you should do what you love but it's VERYYY easy to get caught up in the high life so to speak, so I see your points. 

But at it's fundamental level, sports is something done because people love it, and that in itself is 'spiritual' and my point was if someone loves it they should certainly pursue it. 

Feel sorry for you this season, I still get heavily involved emotionally when watching Liverpool games, but since my awakenings it all flows through me much quicker, I don't hold onto the feelings, but that's the case for everything these days, I'll always be heavily involved watching sport, it's who I am and that won't change ever, but I'm not going to go start a fight because we lose like some people do haha, you can make sport 'more conscious' like you can anything. As you said, life is to be enjoyed and if people enjoy sport they shouldn't resist this, but instead make it a part of their practice and use their development to improve their sport. 

I play cricket and recently have decided to finally learn to properly Bat (I'm a bowler) and honestly I've never felt so in the zone, the complete focus is on the now and as a result if anything awakening will only help your athletic abilities 1000 fold, of course you'll still have your physical limitations. 

At the end of the day, sport could be used for amazing things and it can help people grow as people when utilized properly, as anything can, therefore, I certainly see it as an amazing LP when done properly and in the service of truth, as most things can be. 

@Raptorsin7  I agree, and like you said the same can be said for Video Games, again if that's your passion don't resist just because you're now spiritual, go enjoy your life and if that's your path go do it, you can definitely do 99% of careers in a way that is in service to true and your understandings. 

Of course, combine this with healthy eating, working out etc, but there's no reason you can't enjoy these things just because you're spiritual. 

In my opinion we are here to HAVE FUN and ENJOY LIFE, awakening makes that 10000x easier as the resistance to the now drops and life becomes an effortless, spontaneous play and it's truly amazing. 

[DrewNows]

When i reflect on my experiences with competition and sports as well as my father, who has always been quite the sports fanatic, i see many other dynamics in play regarding the appeal and reasons for developing a passion in sports. I recognize that most of my life i used "passion" and "love" for the game as an excuse to push myself never to give up or quite playing the sports i felt really drawn to. Soccer being my primary sports attachment lol. What i notice in those who are ultra competitive is they struggle with a specific attachment style, usually dismissive avoidant or fearful avoidant. They tend to seek control and use neurotic tendencies to cope with the lack of connection. Once the healing process for the dependent attachment styles begin to manifest, there seems to be a lot of questions and uncertainty involved around understanding the purpose for competition and how it can be seen in a new light. Not sure how true these ideas are but i thought i'd share them anyways. Most of my life I would see a competitive soccer game as a war of the heart, always played with everything i had but because i saw such divide between the 2 sides this limited the creativity and joy available

 

[LfcCharlie4]

@DrewNows That's based on belief that last sentence. 

Try looking at it like this- it is 22 people playing a game, having fun, enjoying themselves and doing all they can to win the game, but the true joy comes from the playing of the game, which is what makes it beautiful. 

This paragraph from sadhguru says it better than I ever could even attempt to lol; 

'You know, Swami Vivekananda said, “You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita.” When you pray, you can do and think so many other things. But when you kick a ball, you only kick a ball. Otherwise, it will not go where you want it to go. Playing a game gives you the understanding that without absolute involvement, you cannot be successful. You have to play as if your life depends on it. They say 3.2 billion people watched the final of the last football World Cup. This is almost half the world, and the entire adult world. These 3.2 billion people were watching eleven people who were trying to kick the ball in one direction and another eleven people who were trying to kick it in another direction. Of course, you could ask the philosophical question, “What’s the point?” Essentially, we do not watch because of the ball, not even because of the skills, but because someone is kicking the ball as if his life depends on it. It is the intensity of involvement that makes the whole world sit up and watch.'

In terms of the ultra competitiveness; 

'This is a fundamental principle that everyone should know, in any sphere of life. You can only be successful if you want to win. But if you lose, it should be alright with you.' 

play for the fun of it, with full involvement and you will be amazed at how amazing Sport can be.