Once again listening to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, and it once again provides me with an answer.
The student's biggest problem was a slave mentality which had been built into him by years of carrot-and- whip grading, a mule mentality which said, "If you don't whip me, I won't work.'' He didn't get whipped. He didn't work. And the cart of civilization, which he supposedly was being trained to pull, was just going to have to creak along a little slower without him.
This is a tragedy, however, only if you presume that the cart of civilization, "the system,'' is pulled by mules. This is a common, vocational, "location'' point of view, but it's not the Church attitude.
The Church attitude is that civilization, or "the system'' or "society'' or whatever you want to call it, is best served not by mules but by free men.
As long as my motivation comes from whipping myself - as long as I have a mule mentality - I can never be free.
Last few days have been quite similar. Wake, meditate while coffee water is boiling. I wish I was dedicating more time to meditating, but some is better than none. Then posting here, Duolingo, summarizing TIGOT. Then working out, breakfast, and going climbing. Then back to camp, hanging out and dinner and beers, then bed.
Finished summarizing TIGOT. Kb workouts progressing well. Last couple days I've only been toproping climbs, but think it is time to start picking up the sharp end again. And my body is protesting - I think I'll help celebrate my friends birthday tonight and then cut back on the drinking.
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Summary of The Inner Game Of Tennis
Within you, there are two selves - Self 1 and Self 2. Self 1 is "I", the ego, the thinking mind. Self 2 is "myself", the body, the intuitive feeling mind.
When you are playing a game (like tennis, for example), there are actually two games being played. The outer game (tennis), and the inner game - your ability to stay relaxed and focused and enter a flow state that allows you to play your best.
How well we play the inner game is determined by the relationship between the two selves. And how well we play the inner game has a big impact on how well we practice and perform in the outer game. Self 2 - the body, the intuitive mind - is far better at performing almost any task spontaneously and adeptly than Self 1. But if Self 1 does not trust and respect Self 2, then it will try to take control of the body, and will clumsily execute actions which would have been trivial for Self 2 to perform. Playing the inner game well consists of Self 1 giving some direction to Self 2, and then trusting Self 2 to perform the task. Meanwhile, Self 1 should concern itself with nonjudgmentally observing, and not interfering.
Being able to play the inner game well is an ur-skill, allowing one to perform at their best in all domains and quickly acquire proficiency in any mundane skill.
The 4 sub skills of inner game are:
1) Letting Go Of Judgements
2) Trusting Self 2
3) Creating Images
4) Relaxed Concentration - the master skill
So, how do we (1) develop these skills, and (2) apply them to both the performance and practice of mundane skills?
1) Developing the Inner Game Skills
1.1) Letting Go Of Judgements
This is the skill of not judging our actions as "good" or "bad", and instead viewing our actions passively and patiently. Letting go of judgement doesn't mean not recognizing errors as errors - instead it means not attaching a moralistic label of badness on them. Instead, it is about observing mistakes and knowing that these are part of the learning process of developing a skill.
It is practiced when we notice ourselves judging our actions or performance as good or bad. Then, we let go of judgement and simply observe our actions as they occur. By being able to fully focus on what we are doing, rather than having our attention divided by moralistic judgement, Self 2 can more rapidly and automatically make adjustments.
So:
- Notice judgement
- Let go of judgement
- Observe - see, feel, hear, etc what *is*
- When describing observations to oneself, use non judgemental language and tone
1.2) Trusting Self 2
Trusting Self 2 is practiced by practicing "letting go". Having a desired action, and then not instructing or trying and just letting it happen.
Simply choose an action to practice, repeat it several times, and observe as Self 2 is gradually able to improve with no formal instruction. As you observe this natural improvement, you will trust and respect Self 2 more, allowing Self 1 to more readily give up control.
Devise experiments for both low stress (practice) and high stress (performance) scenarios to practice letting go and trusting Self 2.
1.3) Creating Images
Creating Images is practiced by imagining changes you want, then allowing Self 2 to try to create them in real life (via Trusting Self 2).
You can practice creating visual images, which is useful for asking Self 2 to give results straight on. You can practice creating "feel-mages" - the physical sensations in your body - which are useful for asking Self 2 to use different form. And you can practice imagining you have a different personality - like you are an actor acting out a role - which is useful for asking Self 2 for to change its overall style of action.
Additionally, this process can be greatly helped by observing desired actions in real life. For example, performing the actions slowly while watching and feeling carefully, watching another person (like a coach, mentor, or friend) perform the action in real life, watching a video of a highly skilled person performing the action, or watching yourself on video performing the action.
1.4) Relaxed Concentration
Relaxed Concentration is practiced by noticing you are distracted, and gently returning your attention to the hear and now. It can be done at any time one is conscious. It is useful to pick something to focus on - a sight, or sound, or feeling. It helps if the thing you are focusing on has constant subtle differences to keep your attention engaged. The key is to let yourself be interested in the object of focus by not presuming you already know what will happen next.
Lapses in concentration occur when the mind would prefer to focus on something other than the present. Usually, the mind is shifting focus to anxiety about the future. In most modern endeavors, these anxieties deal with feelings of self-worth - a feeling that failure will in some way make us unworthy. In challenging moments like these, it is useful to reframe - remember that your real goal is improvement of your internal self. Therefore, facing these challenges and their accompanying anxieties is the whole reason you are engaged in these actions in the first place. Learning the skill of relaxed concentration is the ur-goal, since not only does it improve performance in every endeavor in life, but it is what gives life vividness and meaning - being in the moment.
2) Application of Inner Game Skills to Practice and Performance
2.1) Application to Practice
2.1.1) Discovering Technique
Learning new skills and techniques is best thought of as a process of discovery, since each person might find different things helpful. Inflexible prescriptions for technique usually result in anxiety, tightening up, and suboptimal performance.
To learn a new technique or improve a current one, it is best to watch someone else do it, then imitate with drills. Research or create drills, which also function as experiments for trusting Self 2. Drills are simple, helping you to focus on a single thing, and can be repeated quickly to allow for rapid feedback.
Ask Self 2 for results by creating a vivid mental image of the result desired. For example, to ask for a more powerful tennis serve, imagine the ball arcing quickly and powerfully over the net and into the opponents court.
Ask Self 2 for form by practicing the form slowly, and imagining the feeling of moving with that form. For example, to ask Self 2 to keep the tennis racket level on a forehand, practice slowly moving the racket in the desired path and watching and feeling the racket intently. Then imagine the image of the racket, and the feeling of your body as you want to move.
Ask Self 2 for qualities by play-acting, pretending to be someone with the target quality without concern for results. For example, to learn to play more aggressively, practice hitting balls as if you are an aggressive player - without regard for whether or not you are actually making good shots.
It is useful to consult experts to improve your game, such as reading a book or listening to a coach. However, don't view these instructions as absolutes on the "right" way to do things. Instead, think of them as hints - things to *try* in order to discover your own best technique.
It is useful to watch other people who are more adept than you, either on video or in person. But don't think that how they do something is exactly how you should do it. Instead, simply relax and watch them perform with interest. Allow yourself to focus on whatever is most interesting to you. After watching a performance, try practicing and imitating.
2.1.2) Changing Habits
Changing Habits is about replacing one pattern of behavior with another.
We develop patterns of behavior to serve a function. Any "bad habit" you want to replace with a good habit is serving a function, and it is very hard to break that habit if there is nothing to replace the function it serves. Bad habits with no replacement function are especially likely to recur when under stress, when we have no spare willpower to surpress them. So the first step to breaking a bad habit is to stop suppressing it or berating yourself for doing it, so you can observe and see what function it serves. Once we see the purpose of a bad habit, an alternative pattern of behavior that serves the same purpose can emerge.
2.1.3) The Process of Learning Using Inner Game Techniques
i) Nonjudgemental Observation
It is important to realize that we should not force change. We want to find the thing which is most ready to change, not what Self 1 deems "most important".
Start practicing a skill you would like to improve. Don't try, just start practicing and observing, relaxed. Simply by observing, you might notice changes already occuring - just allow these changes to occur, staying relaxed.
After about 5 minutes, you should have an idea of what you would like to change. Practice a bit more, without trying, observing this thing.
ii) Picture the Desired Outcome
Create an image of your desired result.
iii) Trust Self 2
Let go, and allow Self 2 to act.
If after a short while, Self 2 is not making the change, return to step (i), finding a different change to make - ask yourself what is inhibiting the desired change. First ask Self 2 for results, then if results don't occur, try asking for form.
iv) Nonjudgemental Observation of Change and Results
As you observe changes in your action, remain detached from actual results - performance may dip while the change is taking place. For example, while developing a more powerful serve, accuracy may drop. Keep going, remaining patient and attentive, while performance catches up. While doing this, you will often notice other things you want to change.
v) Watch Out For Self 1
After doing these things and seeing results, watch out for Self 1 coming back to take credit and give instructions for what Self 2 discovered. Give Self 2 the credit for what it discovered, and allow it to keep doing it without interference.
2.2) Application to Performance
In performance, it is typically only useful to use the 4th skill of Relaxed Concentration. Not Judging, Trusting Self 2, and Creating Images might also come into play naturally, but the focus should be on keeping Relaxed Concentration.
During performance, pick something subtle and important and interesting to focus on, and stick with it for the duration of the performance, bringing focus back each time it wanders. Focus might be wide or narrow, but it is best to keep it targeted at the same thing, rather than switching as the mood strikes.
During breaks in performance, focusing on the breath to prevent mind wandering can be useful.
3) Further Notes
3.1) It seems quite obvious that practicing relaxed concentration in its purest form is simply meditation. And the broad and narrow foci described in the book map quite directly to the gradual focus of attention from all immediate sensations to the sensation of breath passing over the tips of the nostrils described in The Mind Illuminated. So dedicated meditation time seems useful. Additionally, it might be useful to carve out additional meditation time spent on the skills of Nonjudgemental awareness, trusting the body, and creating images. Finally, it is interesting to note that TIGOT explicitly states that relaxed concentration can be practiced at any time, while in parallel, The Mind Illuminated states that progression in a meditation practice will always be slow and halting of the practitioner fails to apply a meditative mind to their day to day life.
3.2) Creating Images is quite an interesting concept. These days, I think we would call it Visualization, a ubiquitous technique in sport. It could also be compared to the technique of "manifesting" advocated for by the woo crowd. Creating and acting out an imagined personality seems especially interesting - it is a "fake it til you make it" technique without the fakeness. It reminds me of Castenada's technique of lying to yourself, not to recreate your self image in the image of the lies, but to realize that your current self image is equally fictitious.
3.3) Deep in the philosophy part of the book, the author goes on a tangent about self worth. He notes that our culture assigns worth based on achievement, and argues that such a culture demeans the human spirit, which cannot have its worth defined. He notes that true confidence emerges when the individual realizes that their worth is intrinsic, rather than deriving from achievement. However, I am highly suspicious of this argument, as it sounds like the arguments for self esteem and participation trophies. Sure, the metaphysical value of a human is immeasurable. But it is patiently obvious that both individuals and society assign value to individuals based on their utility. Denile of this fact either results in disillusionment when the falsehood is discovered, or conceited delusions of grandure and entitled attitudes. And a failure to provide utility to others, then, will inevitably result in others failing to provide utility to us, depriving us of basic needs.
This pushes the argument into an even more important realm - this idea of trusting Self 2 to make mistakes and learn is all well and good in games like tennis, where failure might simply result in a feeling of disappointment or inadequacy. But how would one use this technique in situations where results actually matter, where life and death are on the line? I plan on re-reading The Rock Warriors Way for an opinion on this.
3.4) Other Works To Read
- Zen In the Art of Archery
- Abraham Maslow
- Games People Play by Eric Berne
- Carl Rogers
