Sports and Spirituality
In the hoary past Indian Sages perhaps neglected the body in
their pursuit of God. They felt the supreme necessity of
renouncing the world, including all physical comforts. However
in the West, this life of asceticism is not appropriate, there
is no reason to equate spirituality with rigid asceticism.
Physical fitness is of great importance in the spiritual life.
The body is like a temple which houses our soul, by keeping the
body fit we give the best circumstances for the Soul's light to
come to the fore. If we are plagued with physical ailments,
meditation and a life of prayer is more difficult.
When we engage in sports like running we help our body shake off
lethargy and infuse it with life spirit. Running also helps to
clear the mind from our usual thought patterns. This is very
refreshing and is good preparation for real meditation where we
try to remove all thoughts completely. It is also helpful to
meditate before running. If we get discouraging thoughts whilst
running long distances, we can use the poise of our meditation
to overcome these obstacles.
Also through running or other sports we can give ourselves the
opportunity to practise self transcendence, going beyond our
previous limitations. Self transcendence is not competing with
others but with ourselves, and by stretching our capacities we
can get tremendous inspiration. The mind likes to set limits on
our capacities but by being in harmony with our self these
limits can be surpassed.
Great saints and adepts have shown that we are more than the
body and that ultimately the source for physical energy is a
spiritual source. If we remain in the body consciousness we
cannot be aware of this, however through prayer and meditation
we can become more conscious of this inner strength. This
spiritual energy allows us to go beyond the limitations of the
mind. If we can tap into this stream of inspiration our body
will be surcharged with dynamic energy and enable us to go
beyond our preconceived ideas of what is possible.
The self transcendence we gain from sports is symbolic of the
inner journey of ourselves. Through practising spirituality we
can expand our consciousness and become more aware of our higher
selves, in deep meditation we can become aware of the all
pervading infinite consciousness; this consciousness is not
static but constantly self transcending itself. In meditation
there is no end to our journey of self discovery, unlike the
physical where our progress has to come to an end at some time.
Sports can give us joy, but if winning is our only objective we
are destined to be disappointed because at sometime we will fail
to be victorious. Real Happiness comes not through separation
but identifying ourselves with the winner. The best approach
from a spiritual point of view is to do our best and then leave
the result at the feet of the Supreme. Sri
Chinmoy says:
"From the highest point of view, the goal is not to defeat
anybody but only to compete with ourselves. When we compete with
others, we are never happy. Today I may defeat someone in
running, but tomorrow I will look around and see that there is
somebody who is far better than I. Our goal is to do our very
best and try all the time to compete only with ourselves. But
whatever the result, we have to accept it cheerfully. We will do
our best and then, whatever result God wants us to have, we will
accept."
Sri Chinmoy is a
spiritual teacher who gives great value to the importance of
physical exercise. In his youth he was a champion sprinter at
the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. On coming to the West he took part in
several marathons and ultramarathons. Now aged 74 he is still
breaking his own records for lifting various heavy weights.
Recently he wrist curled a 256lb dumbell with both hands. See
video at Sri Chinmoy
TV. He keeps lifting to inspire others, especially older
people. Sri Chinmoy's philosophy is "never give up" and that
"age is not a barrier."
Finally sports offers a great opportunity for bringing unity
between different countries. Sport has the capacity to transcend
political barriers. If played in the right spirit sports can
offer the chance for increased friendship between the different
countries of the world. In particular the Olympics is one of
humanity's flagship opportunity's to show we all belong to one
world-family. Thus sports can play a vital role in bringing
about greater world harmony.