I just viewed the film "The Legend of Bagger Vance" and I was struck by the profound insights to be found in the context of this screenplay.
A quick sojourn to Google reveals that Steven Pressfield's novel is actually a modern retelling of one of the greatest classics of Hinduism, the Sanskrit poem, Bhagavad-Gita.
Bagger Vance is based on Bhagavan (the supreme Hindu god)
Rannulph Junah (R. Junah) is Arjuna (the mortal whom Bhagavan assists in the Bhagavad Gita).
This simple sporting tale reveals truths that many a sportsman, business and political leader know from their own personal experience. Our thoughts and our attitudes determine the results of our actions. Mind is the determinant of our successes and our failures.
In the film, Junah failed when he concentrated his attention on himself and worried about the prospects of failure. He succeeded when he forgot about himself and concentrated totally on doing the work as well as he possibly could, by totally identifying himself with the field in which he was acting, and seeking a harmony with that field.
A quick sojourn to Google reveals that Steven Pressfield's novel is actually a modern retelling of one of the greatest classics of Hinduism, the Sanskrit poem, Bhagavad-Gita.
Bagger Vance is based on Bhagavan (the supreme Hindu god)
Rannulph Junah (R. Junah) is Arjuna (the mortal whom Bhagavan assists in the Bhagavad Gita).
This simple sporting tale reveals truths that many a sportsman, business and political leader know from their own personal experience. Our thoughts and our attitudes determine the results of our actions. Mind is the determinant of our successes and our failures.
In the film, Junah failed when he concentrated his attention on himself and worried about the prospects of failure. He succeeded when he forgot about himself and concentrated totally on doing the work as well as he possibly could, by totally identifying himself with the field in which he was acting, and seeking a harmony with that field.
The field is the universal life of which we are an inseparable part. The field is work or action (karma). The ego divides us from the world around us and creates the false sense of separateness. It makes us view even our own thoughts and actions as something different from ourselves. To be in harmony with the field is to overcome that sense of separation and see the oneness of all existence and live in the harmony of that universal play. Success arises from shifting our reliance from the outer world around us to our own inner being, relying on right attitudes, rather than on external sources of support and assistance.
In the words of Bagger Vance...
Bagger Vance: What I'm talkin about is a game... A game that can't be won only played...
Rannulph Junuh: You don't understand...
Bagger Vance: I don't need to understand... Ain't a soul on this entire earth ain't got a burden to carry he don't understand, you ain't alone in that... But you been carryin' this one long enough... Time to go on... lay it down...
Rannulph Junuh: I don't know how...
Bagger Vance: You got a choice... You can stop... Or you can start...
Rannulph Junuh: Start?
Bagger Vance: Walkin...
Rannulph Junuh: Where?
Bagger Vance: Right back to where you always been... and then stand there... Still... real still... And remember...
Rannulph Junuh: It's too long ago...
Bagger Vance: Oh no sir it was just a moment ago... Time for you to come on out the shadows Junuh... Time for you to choose...
Rannulph Junuh: I can't...
Bagger Vance: Yes you can... but you ain't alone... I"m right here with ya... I've been here all along... Now play the game... Your game... The one that only you was meant to play... The one that was given to you when you come into this world... You ready?... Sttike that ball Junuh don't hold nothin back give it everything... Now's the time... Let yourself remember... Remember YOUR swing... That's right Junuh, settle yourself... Let's go... Now is the time, Junuh...
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Golfers understand the parallels between this game we love and life itself.
Bagger Vance: Yep... Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing... Somethin' we was born with... Somethin' that's ours and ours alone... Somethin' that can't be taught to ya or learned... Somethin' that got to be remembered... Over time the world can, rob us of that swing... It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas... Some folk even forget what their swing was like...
"The Legend of Bagger Vance" isn’t just about golf. It’s about life. It reminds us of how golf is a metaphor for the search for identity.
In the film, when Junah shifts his concentration and reliance from the outside to the inside, from his acts to his true inner being. He forgets his past suffering and present humiliation; rejects thoughts of success and failure, gain and loss. He reverses his attitude once again. He makes a conscious choice to live and act in the moment as a free and true being.
Just as golf is a game played without an opponent, and every shot is a moment unto itself...at every moment we face the very same choice: to live for ourselves, meaning the selfish falsehood of the ego...or to live for Truth.
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