Golf and the Spirit: Lessons for the Journey | M Scott Peck

Golf and the Spirit: Lessons for the Journey | M Scott Peck | A Hole In One!

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Golf and the Spiri...

	Golf and the Spirit: Lessons for the Journey M Scott Peck Three Rivers Press, 2000 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 21 reviews view larger image
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Golf. It's the ultimate head game. And when nothing but the best advice will do, along comes M. Scott Peck, M.D., the celebrated psychiatrist and author of the best-selling self-help book of all time, The Road Less Traveled.

In Golf and the Spirit, M. Scott Peck writes a book for beginners and masters alike--and even for nongolfers. It goes beyond mechanics to explore the deeper issues, ways of successfully managing the emotional, psychological, and spiritual aspects of this most wonderful, maddening, deflating, and inspiring game.

Playing side by side with M. Scott Peck on an imaginary course of his own design--complete with illustrations of each hole--you will come to see the profound truths in this seemingly simple game. Appreciate that life is not linear. Come to understand your own anger and how to heal that which gets in your way. Accept the gifts of humility. Appreciate kenosis, the process by which the self empties itself of self. Benefit from teachers. Know that in weakness often there is strength. Realize that to experience the blessings of golf and life fully, you must accept the divinity that underlies all things.

Like the best-selling volumes of Harvey Penick and Michael Murphy, Golf and the Spirit makes a unique contribution to the literature of golf and life. It goes beyond the body to address the heart and soul of the game, creating a rare opportunity for transformation in the lives of its readers, both on and off the fairway.

It seems to me the human condition is most basically that we are willful creatures living in a world that, much of the time, doesn't behave the way we want it to. We live in the tension between our will and reality. Sometimes with great effort and expertise, we can change reality or bend it to our will. At other times--also with great effort and expertise--it is we who must change by coming to accept the limitations of the world and of ourselves. How we do this--how we deal with the hazards of life--is quite akin to how we deal with the hazards of a golf course.

Sooner or later golfers who stick with the game long enough will almost always come to see it as a metaphor for life. But the word metaphor fails to do justice to all that golf has to teach us. I would go even further and say that, in its own way, golf is life and, not only that, life condensed. If we choose to use it as such, I believe that golf, next to marriage and parenthood, can routinely be the greatest of life's learning opportunities.

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An enjoyable experience for a non-golfer

*****
I really enjoyed this book, although I am not a golfer. I read it because I enjoy the M. Scott Peck's other work. I found that it excited me about golf at whatever level I end up being involved with it in the future---as a spectator, as a friend of a golfer, or even as a player someday.

As a golfer's adult daughter, I confess that in the past I have thought that golf was just a "silly rich man's game" done for the amusement of those who have nothing better to do. This book blew apart my misconception that was, frankly, based on a total ignorance of the game. This book explains the connection between golf and life, the mysticism involved in the game, and how golf can be a great game just in itself, and too, as so much more.

M. Scott Peck uses his design of a fantasy golf course called Exotica as a literary device to muse about what he has learned from many years of playing. He starts with the first hole, describes it, and writes related things about golfing and life and relationships and mysticism. As he goes, he explains the game so that people like me who have no idea about golf terminology can follow and appreciate what he is saying. He brings in a religious focus too at times, but an intensely personal one (he is a Christian and calls God "Her"), so that each reader can evaluate his religious ponderings in light of their own religious beliefs and see what would hold true for them.

This is not a book about golf tips or instruction, although there is some of this that is really interesting; it is a unique view of golf through the eyes of a long-time golfer that I admire. He is not an especially good golfer (although dedicated) and he is older (60's), too; I loved this perspective as it is where I will be if I do indeed learn to golf! I have learned much from the author in this book, and am eager to become more involved in the world of golf (which surprises me greatly)!

One thing I have already done is bought the book used on audio tape from Amazon to listen to, and am looking to hearing it all again---it's that type of book---I expect to get even more out of it the second time around.

If you are considering taking up golf, or wonder why people play it and think of yourself as just not that type...perhaps you are even a "golf widow" or golfer's adult child...then this is a great book, especially if you are spiritually or intellectually oriented, or if you like Peck's other work.
*****

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A Hole In One!

I listened (more than once) to the very well read audio tapes while traveling. You must pay attention the detail is superb.

As a golfer for 46 years and earning three letters at Indiana University, I can attest that golf can teach a great deal about life, pursuing happiness, developing patience and spiritual growth if you go beyond your score. Especially as you take the competition out of golf can you realize what this game has to offer and how you can grow as a person from it.

Peck designs a wonderful exotic golf course with all the hazards and obstacles similar to which you find in life. He provides great analogies, excellent knowledge of the game which can help someone unfamiliar with the sport, and makes it all very interesting. The tapes are excellent because you can go back again and again, each time gaining new insights to golf and yourself.

A great companion reader to Golf and the Spirit tapes is Pecks book, "The Road Less Traveled." Happy reading and Spiritual growth.

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quite good, better than expected

I loved this book, having just gotten into golf a year and a half ago, and being somewhat of a Christian mystic, with shades of being a Zen Buddist, which he was, and sortof still seems to be. The book was so intriguing that I chose to read it slowly, wanting to savor it. I would say that it even was helpful to my golf game, though he offers not so much advice on how to play, technically. They say, whoever they are, that one's true nature is revealed on the golf course, and that is what this book was so helpful in revealing. quite a lovely read, very thought provoking, very spiritual, and very respectful towards a wonderful game. and most important, perhaps, very funny.

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Peck makes the cut

If you like Peck and like to play golf, this book is a tap in birdie. More about life and golf as spiritual journeys than about technical golf, Peck connects golf (life condensed) and our spiritual side. Very readable and humorous at times with basic practical tips for golf and life woven in throughout the round. It may inspire you to approach your next round differently and possible apply some of the ideas to your non-golf life. Great book for spiritually alive golfers.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

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