Zen and the Art of Basketball

I think I finally realised why I love the game of basketball so much today.

I was outside, just shooting around... and I suddenly caugth my thoughts... I wasn't thinking about basketball, not even for a second... I was thinking about life, the universe, everything. Basketball just came naturally, it was just a part of me, I was not playing basketball, I was basketball... it was as natural as breathing... something you just do because it's a part of you, not something you force yourself to do. You get completely entrapped in the game, and it becomes life. I felt so relaxed, and in such a deep meditation out there, felt natural, ya know...

It's not only basketball that brings this feeling... reading does the same, you become the book... you are not reading it, you are the book, you are the story... it is your life for an hour or two... same with playing music, you become the instrument... for a while it is you, and you are music... that is the way you express yourself, the way you speak to the world.

There are so many other things in life that bring such beautiful meditation...

What does it for you?

 

Man...you think too much just pass the damn ball. while your over there discovering the meaning of life they scored 8 points on us! MOVE IT!

Nah i love baskeball the same way, mostly its great excercise and its a great game to kick your friends ass in.

For me its cooking, whenever im cooking i know what im doing and i know how to enjoy my meal as im making it. i dont need no recipe or books to tell me how my food should taste, im cooking for life and pure enjoyment, the warmth of the steaming stove the feel of your hands on meat, the noises of a kitchen are soothing to me....

ya im weird

 

Haha, I was actually thinking of cooking as an example.

Because I just made a badass turkey roast.

Yessssssir! It's yummy!

 

Running is my meditation. You almost can't help but detach your mind from your body while you're doing 5 or 6 miles. I think about lots of things when I'm out there: life, friendships, mistakes, song lyrics, comedy bits and jokes. You also get to notice little things about your neighborhood that you would NEVER pay attention to when driving a car.

As far as food... it's marinated dead cow for me at the moment... It's moo-licious.

 

I don't get any meditation- I'm conscious 24/7 no matter what I'm doing.

 

swimming in the main one...i'm not swimming, i am apart of the pool

but i have similar effects through playing soccer, lifting heavy weights. this happend last time i deadlifted - i was in a zone, nothing else bothered me, even the crappy music they were playing on the gym stereo.

basketball is a great way. like you said, reading...

its really not about the activity at all...i can get in that state with most any activity i really enjoy now...but it started with swimming

 

I play a lot of Basketball myself and when I'm In The Zone it's like an Out of Body Experience(OBE) the rest of the world just seems to fade away and I'm one with the Basketball, the Hoop, and the universe.


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