2019.11.16 04:07
Fertile Void, Why We Play Golf
Golf is an exercise in perspective:
every shot requires that you estimate
where you are in relation to the target.
Enough golf springs you free.
Free from what?
From your attachment to any point.
Some part of your mind begins to sense
the relativity of things and the fertile void.
It is believed that somehow, by some unconscious process,
the constant exercise of the sense of perspective required in golf
sends a message through to our higher centers that
you can never be in the same place twice in relation to the target.
Every moment in the course, like every moment in life,
is to some degree unique and unrepeatable.
And from that realization the mind begins to grope,
perhaps unconsciously, for some secure place that
never requires a final standpoint in this always shifting world.
The mystics have described such a place, or such a no-place,
and have called it by names like
the God, the Brahman or the Fertile Void.
Such exercises in perspective, golfing, are a good thing
for nothing seems satisfying to us short of that.
Not that we golfers are against a sense of duty
and doing our work in the world. Far from it.
But part of our human duty is
is to bring Being into higher definition and
not to save it any more for the Judgement Day.
from the book, "Golf in the Kingdom"
by Michael Murphy
slightly paraphrased by me.
2019.11.17 00:16
2019.11.17 06:08
You said nothing but the truth, Dr. Ohn, in describing the feelings
of many, many golfers including myself.
Arnold Palmer once said after hitting the driver in the middle of fairway,
the good feeling he gets after the shot like that is what makes him go or something like that.
It is so true golf gives us the uplift we need to live in this world.
2019.11.17 06:08
Golf is such a awkward sport and expression of 'Fertile Void' is somewhat proper
and interesting as well according to my observation.You have to 'void' your daily
main activity,then you will get success(fertile) in golf.
Here are a few examplaes for those.
1.If you are right handed person in example,right side is main and dominant side
to fulfill your activity successfully, but in golf you should 'void' that side
to get 'fertile'in most of swings and puttings.
2.When you throw,shoot,or kick toward target,you normally aim your eyes to the target
to get bull's eye,but in putting in golf, you should 'void' aiming your eyes(head)
and stay still your head and staying away from target, then you will get 'fertile'!
3.In mentally,if you 'void(empty)'your mind, you would get 'fertile' KJ
2019.11.17 09:04
Thank you, Dr. Hwang, for your valuable comments.
Someone once said a long time ago that golf contributed to the mental
wellbeing of mankind a lot more than what psychiatrists did.
Maybe we golfers like to believe that although none of golf widows
would agree.
2019.11.17 09:12
I exclaimed, "Good putt!". My wife said, "I closed my eyes."
Whenever she makes difficult putts, she thinks that's because
she closed her eyes.
2019.11.17 09:45
I heard that some golfers do that
although I never tried it.
You just gave me an idea. Thank you.
Fertile Void; I like the phrase no matter how it relates to golf.
If someone asks me , "Why do you play golf?", I have a hard time
to answer it. Because no matter what I say, I am not really happy
with the answer. Do I come across the status of "fertile void" when
I play golf? I agree to the part of "void" because I do not think anything
but the task at hand. What about "fertile"? The productivity of the void
is not so great. The most you get is the good shots. The tee shot hits
the middle of the fairway, the long putt goes to the hole. The chip shot
stops at the kicking distance. And so on.
The success makes us feel so happy because of the weight of failure. The
failure will disappoint you because there could have been a success.
When you set a goal and challenge it, you feel a thrill because you
in fact are in a high hope. Every shot in golf has the potential of
achieving something more than you can do. Can you do it in your
daily living? It would be crazy if you do. But you can feel this thrill
if you play golf. Perhaps I go out there everyday with high hope of
achieving the impossible on every shot.