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workout, schmorkout...
October 18, 2008
Whatever happens tonight will be determined, not by the stats, but, by our level of proficiency and our well kept knowledge of the game. George Herman Ruth was, and don't think I have no respect...a blubberbucket, BUT, he had the power of jen, or righteousness, because he embraced the game, gave and took (yin and yan), with a singular purpose. Righteousness in swinging and hitting, as opposed to the vast possibility for incorrectness.
I would argue that our team would be better served by an understanding of correctness. We humans strive to acheive correctness, but we settle for what can be judged as incrementally less than right. We don't expect to acheive perfection, so we settle for less. We depend on the energy God gives us and the probabilty that things will provide the most effective results.
True jen requires full knowledge and full compliance. The student is fully alert, knowledgeable, and compliant with the requirements of the master. He knows exactly where the fastball will be, he knows when to swing, and he knows where and how hard to swing. The issue remains: Why does he comply or not comply?
If a man truly believes he is a bird, he will fly. He must not only believe. He must know. Knowledge is critical in acheiving jen. Righteousness appears as one of a number of suspects in a police lineup. It is a choice, however incremental, along the continuum of posibilities. Our batters have the capability of turning every strike into a home run.
I would argue that our boys would be better off going to Tibet and praying for the return of the Dalai Lama than they would be by attending some kind of workout program in Arizona in the offseason. Harmony is a concept which was advanced in the purest form in native America and by the Buddhists of South Asia. Master and student were in sync. But kneejerk reaction to any kind of behavior which expands the continuum, and which avails the citizen of a conceptual advantage, have been sacrificed in favor of a sure thing with mediocrity.
Does this make some kind of sense? Whether they win or lose. I would like to honor Bill Lee, who has been a guest, along with his wife, Mary Lou (former Miss Alaska) and his son, Michael, in our home in Shrewsbury, Mass.. Despite they way the press dumped on him, he is one of the nicest human beings you will ever meet. He has jen.
-mr.pieface
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