question: what about tennis ?
swami rajneesh:
very retarded and very damaging to the body !
in the osho resort some retards have made something called zennis
just put zen in front of anything and it looks intelligent
it is such a stupid game !
you are becoming right handed…
your whole power is rushing to the right…
you are disturbing the whole balance of the body
your body is not a machine…it is a very sensitive mechanism
your spine…the skeleton…the framework
it is held together by muscles and tissues
the energy finds a flow to move through it
and creates a balance for the brain
this tennis is a right handed aggression
the whole energy is moving to the right
you are disturbing your spine
you are becoming twisted
you are disturbing your heels…your ankles …your knees…
you can see those people who play on hard courts
their knees get damaged…their pelvic gets damaged…
their spine becomes twisted…
and they become right handed aggressive macho people
you can see golfers too
their whole body is twisted
they have destroyed the natural balance of the body
especially after doing meditation…
if you play tennis you are taking all the psychic power into the right hand…
feeding the left brain
this is how it balances…all male aggression
and it is all about winning…smashing…hitting…running…chasing a ball…
it is physically damaging
life needs balance
doing…non doing
male energy…female energy
upward movement…downward rooting
expression…settling
everything is in balance
higher…lower…left…right…
then you are in equilibrium
that is your life force
now you can place tennis within this framework
and you can see it is physically harmful to the body
suddenly here…suddenly there…
your mind will become agile
your mind will become stronger…the body will become twisted
so the mind will become more twisted
you cannot have balance…equilibrium…harmony…
running is a beautiful sport
swimming is a beautiful sport
anything that equally plays right and left
and that gives you rest and silence and stillness
then you do not damage the body and it is meditative
tennis is right handed
it cannot be meditative and it damages the spine
the kundalini will turn
the right body will harden
you need to become hard to hit
and you will lose the open muscle
the softer your body is the more life is flowing through it
the moment you harden the body you are bringing death
because life will stop moving in it
you can see the body of a child…soft…absolutely like butter…
so soft because nothing has hardened as yet
a soft body like a sponge…with life flowing through it
i cannot find one good reason for tennis at all
and it is simply aggression…hitting some stupid object
oof…what a retarded game…
try running…it is beautiful…
you catch the rhythm…you are in the rhythm
it is life affirmative
try running on one spot…
it is even more empowering to the body
swimming is beautiful and in deep harmony
in water your whole body has a buoyancy
it removes the weight from the body
you feel the gravity disappearing
and the spirit in you can expand
swimming is one of the most spiritual movements
in fact swimming is so beautiful though i cannot swim
but when the body is in water it displaces the gravity
and you have to use each and every part of your muscles to swim
you cannot leave any muscle unattended
you have to use the whole muscle in total flow and harmony
to attain to that movement in swimming
so your whole body gets a deep inner massage
i know swimming because i swim on land
i call it tai chi
i am a tai chi master
i am swimming with air
i am floating in the air with no gravity
what they experience while they are swimming…
i experience while walking on land
because surrounding me is not air
it is thick life…it is aura gripping me
it is thicker than water
you see this hand ?
it is moving as if in water
this empty space around you is your aura
once your aura becomes dense and thick…
even the trees will support it…
everything supports that physical form
you become weightless because everything around you
is pulling you and holding you
so i feel the same experience while walking
moving my body as one would feel while swimming in water
swimming is one of the great spiritual exercises
you are born in water
eighty percent of you is water
the womb is water
you were a fish once upon a time when the beginning of life began
water is the perfect medium for spiritual growth
you see what i am talking about
this tennis…this football…my god where am i living ?
i have to answer all these type of strange things
sitting in the mountains for fourteen years i never thought
i would be answering tennis and football and all that…