The Zone
I watched Tendulkar score 98 against Pakistan in the 2003 world cup match at Centurion. It was an amazing knock; many people (South Africans) who I spoke to on the following working day were equally amazed.
A lot was written about that innings. When Tendulkar was asked, how he managed to bat so superbly, he simply shrugged his shoulders and gave an awkward smile, unable to give an answer.
There were other things written about that innings but the words that stuck with me were the term ‘The Zone’, or ‘The Batsman’s Zone’. It is about this ‘Zone’ that I want to talk about.
Many years ago in the hostel I had come across a book titled ‘Way of the Peaceful Warrior’ in which the author meets a garage attendant who later becomes his spiritual guru and he calls him Socrates. There is one incident in particular that I want to mention from the book.
Socrates and the author are sitting in a Gym and Socrates produces this binocular which is quite unique and he asks the author to look at people through it. Surprisingly, when you look at people through the binocular you start hearing (or feeling) the thoughts of the subject.
Socrates asks the author to point the binocular at many people doing various chores and the author is able to hear their thoughts. After a while Socrates asks the author to point the binocular towards a Gymnast who is about to start her routine.
The author notices that there are a lot of thoughts going through the Gymnast’s mind as she approaches the floor and then, as she starts her routine, everything goes quiet. The author realizes that the Gymnast has no thoughts going through her mind. Absolute silence. He turns to Socrates and Socrates says this state of ‘No thought’ is what humans crave for, this absolute state of purpose, when one is totally in sync with ones actions, this feeling of being totally in the present.
I did not think much of this then, years have gone by and I have travelled a bit, seen many things since then. There have been many similar episodes that I have come across, in my own life and many other people’s experiences. I particularly remember an incident when I scored a goal in my 2nd year B.Sc. I remember receiving a pass from the midfielder and then everything is a blur after that. The next thing I remember is the ball beating the out stretched hands of the goal keeper and into the goal.
Later I tried to go over the experience and to this day when I replay the incident in my mind I have the same feeling that I had that day, the feeling that when I received the ball I knew with certainty that I was going to score. I don’t remember a thought that said ‘Aha, now is a chance to score a goal’ or ‘I can beat the defender and the goalee’. I had no thought in my mind for those few seconds from the time I received the ball to the time I saw it going into the goal.
I have been fortunate enough to experience some of the greatest maestro’s in music, Pt. Jasraj, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Alla Rakha, Ustad Bismilla Khan, Ustad Zhakhir Husain etc… Many of these performances have transported me to a different plane and I am sure the performer himself is in a different plane. There is almost no connectivity with the world. As if we are in a plane where the matters of the world seem petty and of no consequence.
Tendulkar’s ‘Zone’, Socrates’ ‘No Thought’, and the musician’s ‘Trance’. Aren’t these the same things? Isn’t this the goal of Meditation? This feeling of being totally in the present. The Now.
I remember Swami telling us on many occasions. ‘Don’t follow me, for I may not lead you’, ‘Don’t go ahead of me, for I may not follow you’, ‘Walk with me’. Didn’t he mean, stay in the present moment?
Another thing that comes to my mind is something Gautam said to me after he had attended an ‘Art of Living’ course in which the guru had said that we spend most of our time either thinking about the past or the future, not of the present. (On further contemplation, I realized it was so true).
Why does a batsman want to go out there again and again and score? Musicians are almost permanently in the zone, a raag or a taan is always just waiting to slip out.
I want to re-live the ‘Goal’ and similar moments of my life repeatedly. I think this is so that we can attain the state of ‘No thought’, the feeling of being in the present. This state where you are in sync with your actions (body), isn’t this the call that Krishna makes to Arjuna in the Bhagwath Geeta? To act. ‘Karm karo, Parth’. Its only through action that we can attain this state. Isn’t this the goal of martial arts? The cycle of life urges us to Act; we can only Act.
I believe these are all the same. The quest to attain the state of Nowness.
Finally, I cannot end without saying this. After Saturday’s match it sure looks like that the only way India is going to win the world cup is if Sachin stays in ‘The Zone’ for the full fifty overs, for all the matches.
Nice thoughts…
Ya, India will will win if Either Sachin stays in Zone for all the 50 overs or all the 11 members stay in zone for all the matches. The second is more admirable from a team work point of view.
Nice message and action is definitely a path to the Zone. However, there are other accepted paths too.. Bhakthi Yoga (through utmost devotion, surrender everything including the mind and its thoughts) and Jnana Yoga (Rationalize and Realize, more like Zen). There is another known as Rajayoga (the path of meditation). All paths lead to the same goal. But action is the easiest for most of us. And as you pointed out it is not just musicians, athletes or artists. It can be even mechanics like socrates here. It is just the ability to do action perfectly by being in the present. And when we worship the achievers, we probably are worship this quality which we all subconsciously aspire for.
Possibly Maradona’s “leg of god” goal can also be put in the category of “in the zone”.
@ Yogi, lol about Maradona. Leg of God, and head of clay? Just kiddin.
@ Ajay,
Brilliant read, again. How striking, that you would remember a goal so clearly. M trying to think when I experienced such a moment..
@Ajay. Sairam. Nice thoughts from your side which are indeed very thought provoking.
Swami is many times in this “Zone ” Himself. Especially, when some good music is being played or somebody is recalling some divine experiences, HE goes off into a trance like state.
I recollect Swami mentioning in Kodai once, ” The mind should be where the body is”. This is nothing but living in the present.
I think “in the zone” is intimately related to “Karmanyeva adhikaaraste…” shloka from Gita.
I believe that “in the zone” is a time when your subconscious mind takes over. Prof C J M Rao used to say this about geniuses and their inspirational moments : They meditate on the problem for so long and so deep that after some time it sinks deep into their subconsciousness. The subconscious mind is more powerful and there they find their solutions. He spoke of a man involved with Apollo Moon mission finding solution in his meditation. That is what i think should have happened with Apple & Newton even if it is true.
Even with sporting geniuses, this is the case. They have worked so hard on their game and trained their skills so much that they are able to reproduce it subconsciously. Even Sachin once said that you need to practise the cover drive constantly and so much that, the moment the ball is in the area one will automatically play the cover drive. Though it sounds just a mental exercise, there is more to it. Enormous effort in training the body and then allowing the mind to do what the body has trained for.
@Amar, i guess you know the context. The other goal (an hand goal) in the match was dubbed by Maradona as the “hand of god” and English press called it “hand of devil” 🙂
Wonderful piece and I can’t stop myself from commenting since this resonates with me. Apart from musicians and sports persons, I have heard of software engineers sometimes being in “the zone” when writing code. In my opinion, any creative work, if it needs to be exceptional, does not happen through normal human brain activity. It instead flows through us, inspite of us and the work thus produced far exceeds the normal human cognitive capabilities.
I have personally experienced this many times when writing some complex piece of software. As you rightly point out, there is a great desire in me to keep returning to that state where I loose track of time and space and forget my physical self completely. Though I don’t know what is the state aspired for during meditation, I would want to believe that this state of being in “the zone” is similar to that aspired state.
That was quite a nerdy comment, but I understand it completely, being one myself, in a previous avatar, infact over the past 2 years I have done a lot of architecture and design and I miss coding a lot.
thanks.