We teach that in a game, no matter what the outcome, as long as you do your best then wining or loosing doesn’t matter. But some leaders of the sport teach that winning is all there is. That sends a mixed up message. Yes. It is a huge spiritual dilemma in this day and age.
Aren’t there two trains of thought going on here. Indeed. There are two sides to that coin. The two schools of thought regarding fairness in sport are actually very old, and neither is really seen very much in this day and age.
The first school is endeavour undertaken with humility. To not offend the Gods with human arrogance, but to do ones best to give honour to the divine. More or less a reminder to humanity of what is possible in the human arena, but not stepping on the toes of the divine.
Do all humans take that path because they don’t want to step on the toes of the divine? Ultimately, yes, even if today that is just the fear of being something other than socially acceptable.
So “do your best” thinking? Indeed. It was even believed that an athlete of strong faith would perform better. It still is though in a less publicly acknowledged way than it once was.
What about if they just feel better doing that? Oh, sport could be undertaken as asceticism as well, and actually is, but in these cases the events are less public. Monasteries in the east used to hold martial arts tournaments, and still do though less often, but there purpose was not for public recognition.
There is a cage fighter who is very religious and meditated a lot, and he’s kind of psycho. He almost always wins. The spiritual athlete tends to run a bit zealous, though probably more so in the light of current social resistance, or at least apathy.
The second school of thought regarding the spiritual sport is the “left hand path” of the sporting way. In this school of thinking, the divine is not kind, nor is it cruel. It is more elemental, animal, and demonstrations of strength and ability in this school of thought are seen as evidence of virtue in ones own right. Not seen as coming from obedience to the divine so much as being like unto the Gods on a personal level. Things like this are seen rather commonly in the ancient African cultures, but also in the middle east and even the far north as well. It is what gave rise to the hero Gods, or Demigods. Seen in one way it just serves as proof of the doctrine that humanity was created in the likeness of the divine, rather than as servants to the divine.
Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.
Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~