|
|
|
I came across the blog entry by military blogger. He relates Zen with golf and combat. Here’s an excerpt.
There was a time when I had been training Hostage Rescue teams for over a year and all my team did was teach and practice Close Quarters Battle CQB. At that time we could clear a multi-room, multi-story building and just flow through each room like fine wine, every step smooth and purposeful, no unnecessary jibber jabber, puttin' bullets in bad guys (or usually bad guy targets) and nobody had to stop and think about any of it.The pre-shot routine went like this
"I have control. I have control. Stand By. 5,4,3,2 1" and the snipers fire, "execute, execute execute" and the demo blows and in we go. The conscious mind is active in classifying threats but once the decision to engage is made there is no thought. The weapon comes up, the front site or optics are acquired and two rounds ventilate the bad guy. Adding doubt, indecision, or any other factor into this could be fatal. It may sound strange but there is Zen in battle too.
I recommend reading his whole post – particularly if you also golf – which I don’t.
I wonder if there is such a thing as Zen and cancer treatment. Maybe it's something I should develop.
Posted by The Vorlon at December 27, 2005 3:33 PMZen. Yes!! Firm believer in the technique, not the religion. Had a Zen class in Sem.
When I was in basic training, we were taught the "quick kill" method, a very useful concept for jungle warfare.
The idea is that your weapon becomes an extension of your self (which is a Zen dogma). Instead of taking aim which takes time, you learn to shoot without aiming which is the way that I used to very sucessfully hunt Pheasants.
We started out with Daisy BB guns and worked in teams of two. One would toss a 3" metal disk straight up into the air and the other would pull his BB gun up from his side and shoot. When we got good at hitting a 3" disk, we moved down to a 1.5" disk. It took some time to learn but in the end, we were able to hit pennies in the air about 30% of the time. This skill is still with me today and I will use it if we are ever faced with an invasion of Pennies.
On to Zen health. Ocasionally in prayer, I will do a complete body scan. While in prayer, I am completely relaxed and at peace. I start a body scan starting with the very top of my head. Slowly, I move the scan down my body (Chi Kung). Like a medical scan, I examine my body slice by slice, looking for areas that are not at peace. When I discover an area that is not at peace, I move that tension from my body up and out of my mouth. I keep doing this until that part of my body is at peace. I then continue on with the scan until I have examined every part of my body. I am not sure that this is useful, but it does give me the ability to put my body in a state of complete peace.
I use Zen techniques quite often in prayer with some amazing results. I used to use the ACTS method of prayer, Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. This is fine but there is no provision for Listening. We go before God and do all of the talking but we don't listen. Zen has taught me how to listen by learning to clear my thoughts and sit quietly to LISTEN.
I have had some truly amazing experiences in prayer. I now use the AL method, Adoration and Listening. (AL is the Hebrew word for God) Like the beasts before the throne who say "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord almighty", I get so overwhelmed with the love of God that prayer is nolonger about me but only about God.
If you are interested, I am willing to share these events.
FWIW
Posted by: Ned Swift at December 27, 2005 7:02 PMI remember, as a kid, reading an article about marksmanship in, I think, Field & Stream. As I recall, he used a BB gun to demonstrate the technique and it was just as you say. He shot almost on instinct without even taking aim. If memory serves me right, he could shoot paper wads from the centers of flat washers. I also recall that he was teaching the technique to the military. It sounds very much, like what you describe.
I rather use an inverted form of ACTS for prayer. I use ACST. In the end, I’m not sure God really cares. He knows what you’re going to say anyway, so I’d think it would be like listening to a song you already know by heart for Him.
I don’t know if I could achieve the relaxation, you describe. I don’t relax very well. When I do relax, I tend to go to sleep. I’ve tired Yoga with the Vorlon Wife and it just bores me to tears. For a while, I was interested in the Silva method, but I just don’t have the patience to sit in one spot. I suspect it may have something to do with being a first-born.
Posted by: Ted at December 27, 2005 7:39 PMI dont relax well either. Either sleep or wired. First born may have something to do with it or maybe I have some sort of anti social anxiety disorder.
Posted by: John at January 1, 2006 8:03 PM