Bowling as a Spiritual Experience

Yesterday, we had team-building excursion for around 20 of us to go bowling. Turned out to be a lot of fun, actually.

A bit of background: the last time I went bowling last year, I was surprised to find that I no longer had to score the game manually on large sheets of paper and use the overhead projector to project it. I've managed to break 100 several times in my lifetime, so I know that it's possible for me.

We bowled a game, had pizza, and bowled two more. The first game was about getting comfortable heaving a slippery 14 lb. ball at some tiny pins way at the end of this extremely narrow lane. I scored 118, and congratulated myself for breaking 100. However, halfway into the second game, I noticed I felt a lot more comfortable. I'd get my ball, walk onto the lane, and enjoy all the sights and sounds of my turn. I finished the second game at 139, and realized that the amount of thinking I was doing was actually fairly minimal.

I started the last game with three straight strikes. I'd wait my turn, listening and watching all this activity around me and in me. Out on the lane, preparing to throw the ball, there would often be nothing but sensations -- the heft of the ball in my hands, the sounds of the crowds, the noise, the smell. Then, the focus on the pins, intention, the feel of my body moving and releasing the ball, the sound of the ball hitting the pins, the feel of the lane under my shoes as I walked back. Talking felt superfluous, thinking was minimal, and I kept throwing strikes and spares.

I ended up bowling a 187, and remember feeling no large surprise, and no need to talk about it much. Thinking was very subdued, enjoyment was fairly prevalent, and all of everything felt right and proper. It's only when I think back on it and compare it to 'everyday life' that I realized what an astonishing experience of presence and immediacy I actually had. I'm going to remember this for a long, long time.

Strangely I've had a similar experience with bowling, and shooting pool. Getting into a "groove" like that in a sport or game is a beautiful thing!
I've always thought this was part of the explanation for bowling in "The Big Lebowski" "I'm throwin' rocks tonight dude!" I love the scene where the dude is lying on his floor listening to a recording of the sounds of a bowling alley, the same way I'd listen to a dharma talk.

Ever heard of Discordianism? There's a funny story about how it started which involved bowling and spiritual experience which might give you a chuckle in light of this post.

Getting into that groove is always wonderful, I used to get it while onstage singing and those were always the shows I enjoyed most, but remembered the least about.

Discordianism: that brings back memories.
I actually wrote Kerry Thornley's obit for The Atlanta Journal Consitution. If you scroll down a bit on this page, you'll find the obit.

www.subgenius.com/updates/X0012_Kerry_Thornley_R.I.P.html

This is a great thread. When I bowl, I find it interesting to pay attention to the tendency to react with satisfaction or disappointment based on the result of the throw. So many sensations come up if you throw a gutter ball or hit a strike.

When I went out to Las Vegas last year, I really wanted to play in a poker tournament but felt terrified that I would make a fool of myself. I remember walking from the Bellagio to the Hard Rock and noting the whole time: "nervousness," "anxiety," "tension," "imagining thought."
I faced the fear and played in my first, real-live Las Vegas tourney: And won 1st place!
It kind of felt like the message I was receiving was: "Yes, facing fears is a good idea."
Some people would scoff at the idea of poker or bowling having any merit, but as Kenneth points out the Enlightenment Delorean can use anything for fuel.