David Markham writes:
> However, don't preach to me when my belly is aching cause I don't listen
> good except to the growls and gurgles and wonder when the hell the speaker
> is going to shut up and I get to eat. Have you heard Lyle Lovett's great
> song, "Church" on his Joshua Judges Ruth album? Great song about the
> preacher preaching when the congregation is "mighty hungry" and is ready
> for good corn bread.
What does it say about our culture and our mental strength if we can't
put aside our petty physical discomfort to hear a great man speak or
think deep contemplative thoughts about our spiritual existence even
if only for an hour one day a week? Instead of sympathizing with Lyle
Lovett, an individual who clearly did not put aside temporary
physical urges to contemplate important matters, perhaps we should
teach ourselves and then our young how to displace physical
satisfaction of a Maslowian need with a mental discipline.
I can remember going to summer camp in the Endless Mountains of
Pennsylvania and having to troop 2 miles to get to church every
sunday even though I wasn't religious (i tried getting out of it
claiming to be an atheist). Up hill and dale we walked regardless of
rain, sweltering heat, or brisk late summer breezes through cow
pastures, a forest, and a tree lined dirt road after lunch of
crackers and peanut butter. Somehow, after 20 years or so I can still
remember what the pastors and speakers said.
Many routinely train their minds with periods of great physical
discomfort through sitting in seiza (formal sitting), standing under
waterfalls during meditation, practicing in knee deep december
waters clad only in shorts or a loin cloth, and practicing martial
disciplines in all kinds of inclement weather. Practice in extreme
conditions makes concentrating in mild conditions like your office a
piec of cake.
This is one way to develop a strong spirit and disciplined mind. It
is common to many cultures and centuries old.
-- Charles Barclay 2404 Maile Way Dept. of Mgmt & Ind Relations Honolulu, HI 96822 University of Hawaii Fax: 808 956-2774 barclay@busadm1.cba.hawaii.edu Phone: 808 956-8545"The accounting techniques that we teach are as helpful to managers as trying to drive down the highway looking through your rearview mirror." -----