This blog post is inspired by a podcast on The Knowledge Project by Shane Parrish in which he was talking with Todd Herman. Todd is the author of the book, The Alter Ego Effect, in which he has written about the Alter Ego that he helps athletes and professionals create that they then fall back upon in difficult or challenging situations. Kobe Bryant famously had what he called “The Black Mamba”. The Black Mamba would take over in crunch situations in games and perhaps score the winning basket or make the steal or do whatever was needed to win the game. It was an identity that was created in conversations between Kobe and Todd Herman in the aftermath of the episode where Kobe was accused of assaulting a woman and he was the subjected to hatred from all sides. Kobe Bryant later spoke about it as a mentality/ zone that he would be in during stretches of a game to help his team win.
I immediately made the connection between this “identity” that was created to being in the zone, as athletes like to call it. At such times, it is possible to have an out of the body experience, where one can simply “view” the self as a third person would. Andre Agassi once had an advertisement where he said that when in that mood, all he could see was the ball. All external noises, the crowd, the ball boys, the referee, etc. were simply there, but did not register in the mind. Come to think of it, simply observing the self without judgement is a state that one hopes to achieve in meditation, isn’t it? One of the common goals of meditation is to simply observe ourselves as we are sitting. The mind maybe wandering, thinking of all the tasks to be done, of all the people in our lives, etc. Regardless, I am able to observe myself dispassionately and without judgement. In an incident where I was closest to achieve this meditative state, I distinctly remember myself during examinations about 20+ years ago. It would be supremely hot in the examination room, I would have my towel or hand kerchief at my side to wipe away the sweat and I was concentrating hard. I felt like there were times when I was looking at myself from outside of the body. It was surreal. It says something that I still recall those instances from those many years ago because it is difficult to achieve. It makes me think that to be able to get to such a state in art form or activity that I am involved in, I should be completely immersed in it, which can only come as an outcome of hours, days, weeks and months of preparation. Artists perhaps feel that way when they perform on their musical instrument or are rendering a vocal piece. Truly, a meditative state.
Another dimension to meditation was offered to me by a spiritual guru, who once told me that meditation is introspection. To meditate every day, one needs to dispassionately recount the events of a day and our reactions to those situations, for about 5 minutes. In a sense, we are looking back at how we behaved through the day and observing ourselves. This is an easy place to begin with, isn’t it? Maintaining a journal (which I have been doing for the past 20+ years) is a great way to begin. Eventually, meditation would be achieved when we are be able to create multiple such instances of introspection throughout the day. We would be able to observe our own behaviours and reactions as a third party would. Maybe there are instances where this is needed more than at other times – making a presentation to a key stakeholder or customer. How are you feeling? How are you performing? What is the tone of your diction and speech? Are you able to communicate effectively? I have found that it is possible to do it and maintain an even keel during the event only with practice. Long distance running is another example. After a certain point during a long run, the mind simply takes over. The body does not need to be told to place one step ahead of another, it simply happens.
Here’s to achieving that alter ego/ meditative/ in the zone state in whatever we pursue! How often are you able to feel yourself in such a state of mind?
Mithun's Musings 