Zen Master Plays BasketBall

The story of Phil Jackson is already the stuff of legends, but after leading the Los Angeles Lakers to yet another championship victory this year, the so-called "Zen Master" isn't ready to close the book on his sports career just yet.

Today, 65-year-old Jackson -- whose health has reportedly been ailing in recent years -- reversed course on earlier statements indicating he would retire and announced that he will, in fact, be returning to coach the Lakers for a record-setting 11th tenured season.

Besides the possibility of achieving a flabbergasting 12th NBA championship -- and a fourth "three-peat" at that (that's four sets of three years of consecutive championships, for all those non-NBA fans out there) (trademark Pat Riley) -- why else would the winningest coach in NBA history elect to put himself into the stressful, demanding situation of attempting to steer a larger-than-life team to victory yet again?

One distinct possibility: his personal philosophy -- heavily influenced by Zen philosophy, as espoused in several books, interviews past and his own recent words on his decision to return. Here, Surge Desk attempts an explanation of the Zen Master's recent statement in light of that philosophy:
After a couple weeks of deliberation1, it is time to get back to the challenge2 of putting together3 a team that can defend4 its title in the 2010-11 season. It'll be the last stand5 for me, and I hope a grand one6.
1. Deliberation, i.e. Meditation, "Zazen." Meditation is one of the most fundamental of all Zen Buddhist practices, and Jackson is said to have taught the Chicago Bulls "dream team" of the 1990s the practice to allow them to relax and think more clearly before making split-second on-the-court decisions, a practice he carried over to the Lakers and implemented as recently as the 2010 championship, according to some sources. No doubt the old sage practiced extensive meditation to arrive at his own peaceful inner conclusion to return as coach.

2. Challenge, i.e. "Koan." Another cardinal Zen Buddhist tradition, koan refers to a vexing, pithy, often personalized thought-problem posed as a question or statement by a Zen Master to one of his initiates. The initiate must then meditate on the koan and attempt to arrive at a meaning. More than a mere Buddhist riddle, the koan is designed to get the problem-solver to think beyond the preconceived notions and limitations of the rational mind. Broadly speaking, Zen is often concerned with a series of escalating personal challenges.

One of the most famous Koans goes, "If you meet Buddha on the road, kill him," which advocates a seemingly a bizarre piece of aggression founder of the philosophy. Yet it actually reinforces the Buddhist notion that thinking about, i.e. "encountering," the master is inherently delusional, that one should concentrate on bettering oneself rather than embodying or living up to an outward ideal. Interestingly, Jackson himself has even riffed off this parable, writing: "If you meet the Buddha in the lane, feed him the ball."

3. Together, i.e. "Sesshin" and "Dharma Transmission." Many Zen teachings have been imparted during gatherings of students and Zen Masters. Gatherings that involve intensive meditation are called "sesshin." In fact, the ideal form of Zen knowledge transmission is a mental unification, a "one-to-one" transmission, where a teacher imparts wisdom to a student during a gathering without words or explicit physical expressions of any kinds. The most famous example is of course the first, conveyed a parable called the "Flower Sermon." It goes something like this:
Gathering together in an orchard of blooming sweet lime trees, the students waited for their esteemed teacher, Kasyapa. Slowly walking down the dirt path, relying on his danda walking staff for balance, Kasyapa joined his students. He sat quietly for a long time, enjoying the fragrance of the lime blossoms. Finally, he raised his danda staff. Everyone stared at Kasyapa -- serious, intent, focused and silent. Only Shifu Miao Zhang [a student] smiled, and then lifted his cane and pointed at a lime blossom. Kasyapa pointed his danda at Shifu Zhang. Another transmission was completed. The sacred thread remained unbroken.
Jackson himself has described the kind of unity he seeks to achieve on the court in a 2004 interview with EnlightenNext magazine. As he put it: "It's interesting -- the other players are consciously aware of the fact that they're anticipating their teammate's behavior. Somehow, mysteriously, they just know the timing is right. They simply feel something out ahead of themselves and make their move."

4. Defense, i.e. Zen Warriors. Jackson and the Lakers are certainly ready to defend their position at the top of pro basketball's hierarchy, but does that not not betray a sort of worldly affectation not in keeping with Buddhism? Not according to scholar Thich Thien-An, who notes:
The first supporters of Zen when it was introduced from China to Japan were the samurai, the warrior class, who found in Zen's emphasis on self-control and equanimity of mind a method of discipline conducive to their own ends. Zen has also influenced the development of techniques of self-defense like judo and karate. The principle underlying these different applications of Zen is that any field of activity can serve as a means for realizing the truth of Zen.
5. Last Stand, i.e. "Enso." On the surface, this type of Zen calligraphy appears to be the opposite of a last stand, as it is repeated over and over and over again until it is mastered. The object is to draw a perfectly round circle, symbolizing many things: the artist's connection with the moment, the universe, enlightenment. And yet, as the artist continues to draw circles, he or she transcends through different levels of awareness, just as Jackson has transcended through playoff after playoff and emerged victorious. As one Buddhist who had achieved enlightenment wrote:
At the right time, you will be able to break through to the state of nothingness. You will attain this realization because of some thing and you will know with your entire being that you are at the center of absolute nothingness, at the center of an infinite circle. To be at the center of an infinite circle in this human form is to be Buddha himself. You have been saved from the beginning. You will know all these things with certainty.
6. Grand One, i.e. "Roshi." Although he was describing the upcoming season itself, it's hard not to interpret Jackson's words as a bit of self-reflection. Of course, the old Zen practitioner would toss in a reference to himself as a "Grand One," or the "venerable master of a great school."
Filed under: Sports, Surge Desk