Zen and golf
If you apply Eastern spiritual philosophy to your golf game, your enjoyment of the game will grow. However, the underlying motive is, as you are able to see gains on the course, you’ll be moved to alter your approach to life as well.
How does Zen apply to golf?
The Western idea is that golf is a competition, both with the opponent and also with one’s self. The basic idea is to win, to defeat that other guy. As such, we practice, we study, we try (hard). At a very deep level, we play to re-enforce our ego, our sense of worth, to others and — most importantly — to ourselves. If we don’t play well, then we aren’t worth much.
Here again, the Eastern idea is the polar opposite. Winning and losing doesn’t make any sense (if there is only one person in the room) and the Easterner knows that he can’t force anything to happen through his own will. They just play with their golf clubs and enjoy the game. He knows that everything happens through the Whole, and so his approach to golf is to use it as a means of connecting with the Whole, to let the Whole move the ball through him. He allows his golf to happen, he doesn’t demand that it happen.