Phil Jackson, head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and arguably one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time, has helped the Lakers, and before them the Chicago Bulls, win multiple championships using unique training methods, including meditation and other forms of contemplative practices. The author of Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior, Jackson talked with the Omega Institute about using contemplative practices.
Omega: You use meditation to help your basketball teams reach the excellence that makes them champions. When you played for the New York Knicks, did you use meditation in order to gain focus in your own game?
Jackson: An hour before every game I created a space in Madison Square Garden where I could become quiet, serene and focused. But I also had to make sure that I activated myself for the physical game because sometimes my body would get into the same peaceful place that my mind had from the meditation. For the activity of playing basketball I really had to get my body active and then bring my mind along with it. One of the things I learned about combining the activity of basketball with the peacefulness of meditation is how to be calm within the activity.
Omega: Do you teach your players how to do this?
Jackson: I tell them that they can reach a serene place within themselves, even when at great speeds and in the midst of tremendous activity. I tell them that they can get into that kind of flow, that kind of connected feeling, where things slow down and they become calm in the midst of all the fury and activity.
Omega: How can one find peace while elbowing someone for a rebound?
Jackson: A good metaphor for this is the action of the Samurai. The Samurai use meditation to be calm within the midst of violent fighting. It surprises people that meditation can be present within such a violent, life-or-death situation, such as a swordsman would be in. The presence of the mind in coordinated activity with the body can allow the mind to be calm instead of racing. Instinct and reflex become natural parts of the action. Often you can get in your own way when you are trying to play well. When you are in this meditative space you naturally play at your highest potential.
Omega: Has your meditation practice helped you to deal with the stress of winning or losing?
Jackson: That might be one of most important things meditation helps me with as a coach. Even though I have had a very successful career, when I lose I don’t get negative or irrational. I think that one of the great blessings of meditation is allowing yourself to take what we call good and bad without moral judgments. Self-forgiveness is very important in order to give you the balance and equanimity that are so important in the game and in life.
Omega Institute is located in Rhinebeck, New York, two hours north of New York City. It is the country’s largest holistic workshop, retreat and professional training center. For almost 30 years — through workshops and conferences with some of the leading thinkers, authors, and teachers of our times — it has been on the forefront of education and exploration in the fields of health, wellness, psychology, spirituality, yoga, bodywork and cross-cultural arts and culture. 800-944-1001 or www.eomega.org.