{"id":73,"date":"2014-11-18T10:14:25","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T15:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/religioninthenews\/?p=73"},"modified":"2015-03-09T15:02:54","modified_gmt":"2015-03-09T19:02:54","slug":"zen-master-in-the-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/religioninthenews\/2014\/11\/18\/zen-master-in-the-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"Zen Master in the Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Zen<\/a><\/p>\n

by<\/em> Christine McCarthy McMorris<\/strong><\/p>\n

On March 2, four ATVs set off into the blistering Colorado Desert, 122 miles east of Los Angeles, in search of understanding.<\/p>\n

The trip was dreamed up by Phil Jackson, the famed coach whose teams have won 11 NBA championships. With him were James Dolan, the unpopular owner of the struggling New York Knicks, and the team\u2019s general manager, Steve Mills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a guide lead us on a wild chase across the desert in all-terrain vehicles, to see how my future colleagues would respond in hostile territory,\u201d wrote basketball\u2019s \u201cZen Master\u201d in a July update to his 2013 best seller, Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success<\/i>.<\/p>\n

While no one knows exactly what went down\u2014fan forums were convinced peyote was involved\u2014Jackson returned from the desert not as coach of the Knicks but as president (with a $12 million annual salary). Even more surprising, the infamously hands-on Dolan conceded that he would be the one to call the shots.<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s explanation of what was hailed as a miracle? \u201cUnder the clear desert sky, Jim and I had a meeting of the minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Celebration was general over Manhattan. After all, Jackson had played on the last Knicks team (1973) to bring home the championship. But questions remained.<\/p>\n

Had his use of Zen Buddhist practices really helped lead the Chicago Bulls to six titles and the Los Angeles Lakers to five? Would his alternative spirituality fly with the skeptical New York media, players, and fans? And most important, could his mysterious mojo turn around a seriously demoralized franchise?<\/p>\n

On March 18, he was given a returning hero\u2019s welcome at a Madison Square Garden press conference to officially announce his new position. Reaction in the press was positive, even giddy, as it played up his mystique.<\/p>\n

On CBS Radio 1010, Al Jones predicted the advent of \u201cThe Zen Era: Phil Jackson Comes Home.\u201d Gushed ESPN blogger Ohm Youngmisuk<\/a>, \u201cthe Zen Master and the Knicks owner\u2026their new basketball marriage is one of love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even the Daily News<\/i>\u2019 wary Mike Lupica described the hiring of the \u201cthe coolest guy in the room\u201d as a \u201cno-brainer, even for James Dolan.\u201d Only Lupica\u2019s colleague Frank Isola tried to spoil the party, calling Jackson \u201can aging 68-year-old former hippie looking for one final shot at glory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also hoping for a miraculous reset were the player-survivors of the 2013-14 season, which had been marred by injuries, lack of draft picks, Mike Woodson\u2019s lackadaisical coaching, guard Ray Felton\u2019s arrest on gun charges, and the painful-to-watch over-reliance on six-time All Star and Olympic Gold Medalist Carmelo Anthony, a high-scoring small forward who played the most minutes per game in the league even as he inched towards 30.<\/p>\n

Gifted but erratic shooting guard J.R. Smith, fined in the fall of 2013 for untying opposing players\u2019 shoelaces during foul shots, tweeted his approval: \u201cCan\u2019t wait to work with the great @PhilJackson11 #TheZenMaster.\u201d One-time star forward Amare Stoudemire told the AP\u2019s Brian Mahoney, \u201cHe is a champion and a leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony, facing the option of free agency, played it cool. Praising what Jackson could bring to the team (\u201chis philosophy, his mindset, his r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u201d), he told ESPN March 13, \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019ll have any effect on me, just as far as what I\u2019m thinking or my decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the fans, two days after the announcement, Jackson won a standing ovation at the Garden in a win against the Indiana Pacers. \u201cWith the Zen Master watching from the sidelines, Anthony scored 34 points\u2014with five assists and three steals thrown in for good measure,\u201d wrote the New York Post<\/i>\u2019s John DeMarzo.<\/p>\n

To be sure, the page the East Coast media and fans were on was Urbandictionary.com\u2019s, which defines \u201czen master\u201d as simply \u201cA nickname for former Bulls and Laker\u2019s coach Phil Jackson, because of his use of Buddhist [sic] philosophy in basketball\u201d\u2014as in, \u201cHow did Phil keep all of those punk baby beeyitches together for so long? Because he\u2019s the Zen Master<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n

By contrast, when Jackson was asked about the nickname by Hugh Delehanty on WSB-TV Atlanta, he answered, \u201cThere is no such thing as a Zen Master. No one will master Zen. The ephemeral moment to moment is all we are fortunate to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps a little Zen Buddhism 101 is in order for sportswriters in the country\u2019s biggest media market. Originating in China in the 6th century, Zen emphasizes meditation (zazen) in order to discover one\u2019s true self, let go of the ego, be mindful of one\u2019s actions, and develop compassion for others.<\/p>\n

Although one of Buddhism\u2019s smaller schools, Zen has traveled to Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, and to the West. It often makes use of a teacher (only proclaimed \u201cMaster\u201d posthumously) who answers students\u2019 questions with inscrutable responses (koans<\/i>) that bring understanding only after long reflection.<\/p>\n

Jackson writes about his unlikely spiritual journey towards Zen practice in his 1995 book, Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Harwood Warrior<\/i>. Greatly influenced by the works of Shunryu Suzuki<\/a>, the monk and teacher who helped popularize Zen Buddhism in the United States, Jackson wrote that in sitting zazen<\/i>, \u201cI learned to trust the moment\u2014to immerse myself in action as mindfully as possible.\u201d For him, the goal of Zen was \u201cnot just to clear the mind, but to open the heart as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many Western followers of Zen, Jackson was not born into Buddhism. Raised in rural Montana as the son of two Pentecostal preachers, he expected to follow his parents\u2019 strict religious path. But in spite of daily Bible readings and long services, Jackson found himself unable to experience the Holy Spirit by speaking in tongues, which his parents saw as rebellion. \u201cRather than rejecting their faith outright,\u201d he wrote, \u201cI dodged services and started working on my jump shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

After studying religion and philosophy in college, Jackson wandered the West most summers in a van, looking to Native American beliefs, progressive Christianity, and yoga to replace what he saw as the restrictions of his family\u2019s faith. In Zen he found a practice that did not necessarily preclude other belief systems\u2014something that proved helpful when he introduced it to his ever more ethnically diverse basketball players.<\/p>\n

So what? Some would say that a turnip could win championships coaching the likes of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman in Chicago, and Shaquille O\u2019Neal and Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles. But in Eleven Rings<\/i>, Jackson explains that the players\u2019 clashing personalities, outsized egos, insecurities, and jockeying for dominance made coaching difficult. \u201cIf the players don\u2019t have a sense of oneness as a group,\u201d he writes, \u201cyour efforts won\u2019t pay off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson started his players off with 10-minute meditations during practice to facilitate \u201ctaking a more mindful approach to the game and to their relationships with one another.\u201d To build trust and unselfish play, Jackson tried scrimmages with the lights turned down low, silent practices, and simply observing players who liked to act up. Incorporating his interest in Native American beliefs, Jackson called players to meetings by beating a drum, and hung tribal artifacts in his office. He taught them about having respect for your enemy, be it a wolf or a New Jersey Net.<\/p>\n

He even pulled some techniques from his Pentecostal bag of tricks, placing the pre-season Bulls behind a line and telling them, \u201cGod has ordained me to coach you young men, and I embrace the role I\u2019ve been given. If you wish to accept the game I embrace and follow my coaching, as a sign of your commitment, step across that line.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to basketball strategy, Jackson believes strongly in the little-used triangle offense, an approach that stresses passing the ball to whoever has the best position to score. \u201cBasketball contains larger truths for Jackson, and the triangle is the key to unlocking those truths,\u201d wrote Grantland.com\u2019s Zach Lowe, one of the few sports analysts who appreciate the intersection between his spirituality and his technical approach to the game. \u201cAny team that hires him should be prepared to install it and commit to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the initial enthusiasm, New York sportswriters began to get antsy when Jackson had trouble meeting his first big challenge, hiring a new coach to replace Mike Woodson. His initial and seemingly only choice, Steve Kerr, who had played for him in Chicago, instead went to Oakland to coach the Golden State Warriors\u2014this, after it was reported that he had given Jackson a verbal OK.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhil Jackson failed in his first, very public task,\u201d pronounced Barry Petchesky of Deadspin.com<\/i> May 15. \u201cIn the embarrassing aftermath of the Steve Kerr fiasco, Phil Jackson was described by one league executive as \u2018looking like a beaten man already,\u2019\u201d sneered the Daily News<\/i>\u2019 Frank Isola<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jackson himself spoke philosophically about Kerr\u2019s decision, telling reporters in a question-and-answers session May 30, \u201cI understood entirely the process he was going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

On June 10, the Knicks announced that the new head coach would be Derek Fisher, who had won five championships as a guard with Jackson\u2019s Lakers. The next challenge, a bigger one, came on June 22, when Carmelo Anthony decided to opt out of the final year of his contract and test free agency.<\/p>\n

As stories about Anthony being courted by the Bulls, the Lakers, and others, began bouncing around the Internet, fan forums started sounding suicidal. Knicks\u2019 bean counters fretted about losing the player who guaranteed a sold-out Garden for every game, whose official jersey (number 7) had outsold even LeBron James\u2019 during the 2012-2013 season.<\/p>\n

When asked about re-signing Anthony at an April press conference, Jackson had responded with Zen equanimity: \u201cIf it\u2019s in the cards man are we fortunate. If it\u2019s not in the cards, man are we fortunate and we\u2019re going forward anyway.\u201d He challenged his star to return for less than the allowed maximum salary of $129 million and a five-year contract, to give the team the cash to sign another top player in 2015.<\/p>\n

Ironically, it was Isola\u2014whose long feud with the Knicks organization got to the point of his never being called on in press conferences until Jackson broke with tradition\u2014who on Tuesday, July 9 tweeted the rumor that turned out to be true: \u201cThursday is decision day & it looks like Melo\u2019s coming home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isola reported that Jackson had flown out to Los Angeles the previous week and engaged the wavering Anthony in an evening-long conversation. Although we don\u2019t know exactly what was said, the bottom line was, according to Isola\u2019s source, \u201cI Believe in Phil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thursday turned into Sunday as Anthony waited out LeBron James\u2019 decision to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Northeast Ohio love fest that followed. He finally announced his return (with a discount of seven million dollars from his max salary) with a statement on his website that pointed to the desire to win a championship in the city of his birth.<\/p>\n

Of course, the questions remain. Will Jackson stabilize the franchise and chill out the \u201ccatastrophe or triumph\u201d auto-settings of much of the New York sports media? Can he and Derek Fisher make the triangle system work, turn the Knicks into an enlightened band of brothers, and at least snag a spot in next season\u2019s playoffs?<\/p>\n

What we do know is how the Zen Master sees the way forward. As he writes in the introduction to Sacred Hoops<\/i>, \u201cLike life, basketball is messy and unpredictable. It has its way with you, no matter how hard you try to control it. The trick is to experience each moment with a clear mind and open heart.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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