September 3, 2011
Phil Jackson led the Chicago Bulls and later the Los Angeles Lakers to a total of 11 NBA championships. Add that to his own 1973 NBA championship ring as a reserve for the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson easily deserves the title of "all time great" in any sport.
In his book, 'Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior' which Jackson co-authored with Hugh Delehanty, Jackson lays out the combination of Christianity, Zen Buddhism and the religion of Sioux Lakota that formed the foundation of his approach to coaching the Chicago Bulls. Given that the book was published in 1995, there are no references to his coaching the LA Lakers.
At the outset, let me be clear, Jackson does not reference the Bhagavad Geeta or Hinduism in his book. Yet, for me Jackson's philosophy finds several echoes in the Geeta and that makes me a big fan of the book.
It is difficult to limit oneself to only a few quotes from the book. Here are some:
My dream was not just to win championships but to weave together my two great passions, basketball and spiritual exploration...Intuitively, I sensed there was a link between spirit and sport...True joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment.
The day I took over the Bulls I vowed to create an environment based on the principles of selflessness and compassion that I learned as a Christian in my parents home, sitting on a black cushion practicing Zen and studying the teachings of the Lakota Sioux.
The vision... required every individual to surrender their self interest to the greater good so that the whole adds up to the some of the parts.
The Lakota concept of teamwork was rooted in their view of the universe. A warrior did not try to stand out from his fellow band members. He stove bravely and honorably to help the group in whatever way he could. If glory befell him, he was obliged to give away his most prized possessions to his relatives, friends, the poor and the aged. As a result, the leaders of the tribe were often the poorest.
The joy they experience working in harmony is a powerful motivating force that comes from deep within not from some frenzied coach pacing on the sidelines shouting obscenities into the air... The conventional wisdom was that the Bulls were a one man show - Michael Jordan and the Air Jordans...The real reason why the Bulls won three NBA championships between 1991 & 1993 is that we were plugged into the power of oneness instead of the power of one man.
Anger was the Bulls' real enemy, not the Detroit Pistons. Anger, was the restless demon that seized the groups' mind and kept the players from being fully awake. Whenever we went to Detroit, the unity and awareness that we worked so hard to build, collapsed reverting to the most primitive instincts.
The (Detroit) Pistons' primary objective was to throw us off our game by raising the level of the violence in the game. Pounded away ruthlessly, pushing shoving, sometimes even head-butting to provoke them (the Bulls) into retaliating. As soon as that happened, the battle was over. We completely disarmed (the Detroit Pistons) them by not striking back... At that moment, (the Bulls) became true champions.
Success tends to distort reality and make everybody, coaches as well as players, forget their shortcomings and exaggerate their contributions. As Michael Jordan said, "Winning makes the 'we's' back into 'me's'".
Jackson's vision statement reminds of what Śrī Kṛṣṇa calls sātvikam jñānaṁ or pure vision.
सर्वभूतेषु येनैकं भावमव्ययमीक्षते |
अविभक्तं विभक्तेषु तज्ज्ञानं विद्धि सात्त्विकम् ||१८-२०||
sarvabhuuteshhu yenaikaM bhaavamavyayamiikShate .
avibhakta.n vibhakteshhu tajGYaanaM viddhi saattvikam.h .. 18-20..
That by which one sees the one indestructible reality in all beings, undivided in the divided, know that "vision" as SATTWIC (Pure). 18-20
Again, the effect of anger has its best exposition in chapter 2.
क्रोधाद्भवति सम्मोहः सम्मोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः |
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद् बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ||२-६३||
krodhaadbhavati sammohaH sammohaatsmR^itivibhramaH .
smR^itibhra.nshaad.h buddhinaasho buddhinaashaatpraNashyati .. 2\-63..
From anger comes delusion; from delusion 'loss of memory'; from loss of memory the 'destruction of intelligence'; from destruction of intelligence, he perishes.
In case you missed any of the previous entries related to sport, here they are.
Golf post on Tiger Woods and apost on a Hollywood movie, Baseball, the English football team, cricket earned two, here and here.
Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post
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