The zen of baseball...

was one of many interesting things that I talked with my friend Richard Weiner over lunch yesterday. Richard is responsible for me finding my way to meditation. Richard is a master teacher of meditation. Thanks again Richard.

Is there such a thing as the zen of baseball? I think there is.

Many of us have read The Zen of Motorcycle Maintenance and maybe some have picked up a copy of the Zen Golf: Mastering the Mental Game.

Bailey Molineux, a pyschologist and the author of Loving Isn't Easy, says that "when you play a sport, you forget yourself for awhile. You are totally centered in the present. Nothing else seems important. When setting up for a golf swing, you try to concentrate all of your attention on that stupid little ball in front of you. Spiritual masters have been telling us for thousands of years that there is joy in the present and in losing yourself. Buddhists call it Zen."

I believe the same thing could be said about playing and watching baseball. Maybe that is why I collect old baseball cards. It's a zen thing! Gee, maybe that is the problem that needs to get fixed so the Cleveland Indians can get back on the winning track--that is the team needs to create more zen.