Friday, April 17, 2009
Aprreciating being bad.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Gracious Winners
Being better than the opponent.
The cream rising to the surface.
But playing a game created by a god sets standards higher thatn most.
Bowling offers no competitiors except ones self, ones limitations.
Amenhokit's game does not offer the temptations so prevalent in sports in the 21st century. The taunting, bragging and me-ism's was never a part of the creation of Amenhokits Bowling Competition.
The olden ABC's was tuned with humility.
The game has a perfect game, and adds to that perfection personal virtues.
Use the opponent to build your game, but do not build success on the faults or misfortunes of another.
In honoring the game, honor Amenhokit with the excitment of victory coupled with the calm knowingness of good fortune, of skills manifested, and a higher thought in mind.
Amenhokit's game is to elevate all who play.
It is a honor to win, honor yourself by honoring your opponent being the gracful winner.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
down-home old soul.
“AMENHOKIT rarely visits commercials lanes. He, like the great god Pan, maintains his grace and love in the simple places. The revival of non-commercial bowling in the form of Bocce, where no ball returns can be kicked, and outburst of anger unimaginable, and excellence is rewarded with Amenhokit’s presence, is growing.
“Those of us who have gone away from the game have returned with new eyes.
“We do not ask AMENHOKIT favors or take his name in vain. We are thankful to play and have the opportunity for perfection.
“To have that which is round and smooth in my hand, travel by my stroke and strike that which I aimed for, is rolling my soul to god. I am like a child again. I am one.
Friday, January 16, 2009
Amenhokit Channels
Friday, December 26, 2008
Striking in Life
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Sacred Geometry at the Bowls
The geometry reflected in the Great Pyramid of Cheops.
It rises and flattens at the same time or maybe timelessly.
The Monster of Stone wraps itself around you as you approach.
Senses are disturbed, and there is a message.
Then look to the wisdom the SAGE garnered and place in the magic of the Tarot. The value suit of the Tarot, the Pentacles, and all encased in balls and even some of the vision has both royalty and commoner preparing to roll. Take this wisdom to the lanes and feast in geometry of magic.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Imagery Replace Thought
The transmission is on a vibratory level that requires a soft relaxation to tune into the vision.
1-Relaxing the middle finger allows the body to relax.
Relax, Pay Attention, then see the shot, be the shot, enjoy of the oneness of the explosion of pins and the magic of striking.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Pendulum Theory
Push away toward the target then relax and let the weight of the ball swing freely and if the push away was on line the ball will hit the target. But Amenhokit theory was, as good and practiced as one became, an exact sameness would never be achieved.
There is a gradience in good shots and all shots.
Few observers could see the differences in shots, but Amenhokit intoned it was not necessary to always make the best shot. Sometimes the best shots were too powerful leaving single pins on ‘perfect hits’
We find similar spaces in music, dance, crafts, even communication where knowing at the top of each note, before each step, prior to the brush stroke or next word, there is extra space, the same space musicians ‘jam’ within. Thousands of times on the lanes I found that same space as the pendulum swing descended and the shot, if needed, could be corrected.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Images of Amenhokit
READERS QUESTION: Was there a representation of Amenhokit?
ANSWER: Yes, many times. Painted, carved or in totem form, Amenhokit appeared to be on the mind of other Gods. In the picture below, Amenhokit is raining communication upon ATEN, one of the greatest striker of the times. This was part of the Bowling As Lessons of Life (BALL). ATEN, became part of the origin of our concept of ATTENTION..
The picture below is Amenhokit picking up one bowlings’ more exacting spares, a baby split. Because of the divine nature of the game Gods were used in most of the Amenhokit depictions.
This third picture is Re, Sun God, with the presence of Amenhokit in the preparation mode, with the game at top of mind awareness.
Amenhokit (pronounced Aim and Hook It) was not only the founder of Bowling, but inspiration to those ball games that have lead to revelatory insights into the nature of humanity and life it self.
Ball games introduced and taught concepts such as competition, sportsmanship, win/win, for me a reason to be.*
Balls were part of the grandest gift of the Gods, the pride of the muses, Attention. This was a way Amenhokit opened the child to the challenges and rewards of paying attention.
*I love baseball metaphors.
“Baseball has been very very good to me.”
I discovered baseball one spring day. It was the epiphany for life to began making sense.
There is a purpose. A reason for others-so you can play catch.
There are things you can hit without getting in trouble, even rewarded for hitting.
The lessons were many.
Baseball only exists in present time.
There is lot of time in baseball when nothing is happening so you can get prepared.
You can learn to anticipate. You can determine tendencies. You can see patterns that repeat.
You can use the feint.
You are rewarded for hustling.
Baseball is where I first built the will and attention muscles.
“Shake it off” the coach tells the batter after striking out. A lesson in self-forgiveness in a game that encourages forgiveness of others.
You must forgive the umpires calls, the opponents taunting, and your teammates errors.
Those whose attention fixes on their failures, didn’t learn the lesson of focusing attention-“keep your eye on the ball”-they failed, weren’t chosen to play, and eventually quit and made baseball wrong and boring.
Baseball was how sportsmanship and fair play lead to learning compassion.
Baseball builds buddies to buddihood on the base paths to Buddhahood.
Baseball is a game about going home.
Baseball was where I first tasted success, winning and built self-esteem. I was a very shy kid. I was scared to talk to others off the field, but my teammates and opponents respected me between the foul lines.
At age twenty-one, I read Hesse’s novel, Siddhartha, and the Brahma asked Siddhartha what skills he possessed, Siddhartha replied, “I can think, fast, and wait.” At age nine I could reply, “I can hit, throw and field,” with the same enthusiasm. Between the foul lines, I had no fears. I learned to wait on a curve ball, run the bases with speed and cunning. I could fake out infielders and bunt. I could catch on the run, set up throws, hit the cut-off man, hit to the opposite field, play any position, chatter on defense, be coachable, and encourage teammates.
Play fair, congratulate your opponent, and keep your ‘dauber up’. “No whiners allowed,” said the coaches.
In A League of Their Own Tom Hanks lays a huge curve ball on us when he says, “There’s no crying in baseball.” It is only a game, a game that offered lessons and patterns in my life and my work.
“And now batting number one Buddi…’
Play Ball!
Namaste
Gary
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
A Secret to Better Bowling
It was a message from Amenhokit that came disguised as an audit by the State Franchise Board. A sales tax audit. The gist was they wanted to know where all the products we purchased came from, went too, and the dollar amounts. Since my records were quite disjointed I needed 3 months to put my records in order, to create ledgers for the auditor.
A voice in my head, must have been Amenhokit, spoke saying us the 13 column bookkeeping sheets and stay home every Wednesday to recreate the records. Coincidently Wednesday was my league bowling night.
By day I crunched numbers into tiny squares 3/16 of an inch square and found that night when I bowled my target, a one-inch board was huge.
It was a case of setting a standard, 3/16” and focusing on it for a number of hours and then moving my perspective to a larger target.
I experienced an incredible freeing of attention, a relaxed swing & stroke, and great scoring success.
It became a technique I used in a number of tournaments where accuracy was key.
Let me repeat the technique, before bowling spend at least 30 minutes doing miniature work. Work where your focus is small, anything that requires attention to small details where you are active.
Reading small print, studying a picture does not work as well as engaging your hands, vision and creating a goal driven result.
This type of work, moving and changing your point of view, is excellent for maintaining Brain Plasticity, and a key to a long healthy mind.
Monday, September 1, 2008
The Game, An Illusion
Is it the nature of of consciousness, the playground of life we share, to oppose itself?
Whether it be how molecules interacts or the divine nature of limitations the Gods create, whatever we believe we also believe its opposite.
Perhaps it is in our communication, because words are in relationship to there opposite.
We would not understand no with yes.
Something is nothing without nothing evoking something.
Black/white. Good/bad. Open\/closed. Life/death. Happy/sad. Real/false.
One of Amenhokits illusions was that Bowling, is a game.That there were frames that totaled into a game. That games evolved into series, leagues, tournaments, thus establishing competition as a means of learning.
Written on the tablets of Amenhokit, in small etching toward the bottom left hand corner were the words:There is no game. There is only one shot.
This is one of the Gifts of the Game
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Amenhokit & Ross Packard
is or was the PBA REGIONAL LEADER IN VICTORIES. He is phenomenal,
a wizard, simple, effective, repetitive and high scoring.
Ross dominates PBA regional action.
He is a sportsman extraordinaire.
Ross has a hairline that looked to this writer as a pharaoh or Egyptian high priest look.He goes about his business with a religious insanity the Pope would die for. Ross bowls like Sinatra sang. He works the pins to submission with unrelinquishing accuracy, tremendous strike carry, precise adjustments, resulting in consistent high scoring.
He is not a large man, intimidating, snobbish, or unfriendly in any manner. He is a gentleman with great humor and empathy for all. Marsha, his wife, is wonderful and supportive to
everyone, especially good bowling. Bowlers and spectators all love her.
Spring and summer 1997 were my best tournaments to date. I won on Mothers Day at Rocklin coming from third place in the final position round and shooting 279 to pass John Habien and Sam Carter.
Two weeks later I led the tournament at Auburn for 23 games before Ross overtook me. I had been doing an Egyptian Pyramid meditation as a focusing point. Leading by 160 pins, something about me, the BOSS ball, and the lanes changed. I shot 160, 200, 200 and finished third behind Ross.
Next, at Tracy, California I again made the finals and before my match with Ross I told him I was writing an esoteric history of bowling. I had experienced the ancient Egyptian God of bowling, AMENHOKIT, and that I was using him as a role model. "Roos", I said, "Your hair looked so Egyptian’s I think it's like Amenhokit looking the mirror.
It was the best PSYCHE ever. I won the match 257-236. Aoss still won the tournament.
“AMENHOKIT was sure here today,” I said after the match.
I don't think Ross knew the power a divine being can have over a match, but I gained a lot of respect that day, for Amenhkit and the power of divine distraction.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Amenhokit Channelling
I took on a viewpoint that either the game had descended from a higher source, or the collective consciousness of millions of bowlers contacted or created a bowling God.
A chicken of egg question.
In a world where 'there are no accidents.' A random creation of such magnitude seemed as unlikely as the creation of consciousness, questions and alarm clocks. (I digress with alarm at awakening with fear, an wonder where is the Opportunity clock that awakens possibilities).
Did the bowling habits of millions create a bowling God, or did a bowling God create millions of bowlers? As with a great deal humanities insanities there seemed only to interest in scoring. It seemed the map was greater than the territory. I found no one interested in this question until one day,
“I met an elderly Boccie player at the Valona courts in Crockett. He told me of the league of AMENHOKIT. He became my link, my channel to AMENHOKIT.”
He spoke to me one warm afternoon’ “AMENHOKIT rarely visits commercials lanes. He, like the great god Pan, maintains his grace and love in the simple places. The revival of non-commercial bowling in the form of Boccie, where no ball returns can be kicked, outbursts of anger are unimaginable, and excellence is rewarded with the feel of the AMENHOKIT’s presence.
"Those of us who have gone away from the game have returned with new eyes. Our ages do not matter. The strength required feels like that of a butterfly. The bowling feels effortless and the ball returns never get stuck. We do not ask favors, or take his name in vain. We are thankful to play and have the opportunity for perfection.
“To have that which is round and smooth in my hand, travel by my stroke, and strike that which I aimed at, becomes like rolling my soul to god. I am one.”
How could I make contact?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
How Bowling Was Driven Underground
levels of consciousness.
The better the bowler the fewer laws and limits were placed on them, thus raising those bowlers to god likeness. This may have been where AMENHOKIT troubled Pharaoh and the game became outlawed, and was forced indoors and underground or into alleys.
Bowling removes limits, it teaches letting go, affirms goals, and acknowledges success.
In bowling the unacceptable must be accepted.
Perfection is possible.
Sportsmanship & teamwork is universal.
Its all an investment in attention.
Anyone who has ever thrown a strike experiences a type of power. To be able to create an outcome from sixty feet. To obliterate the foe. To clean to deck. To jump up and down for joy as the fallen pins are swept away, and then automatically reset. Then the ball returns, usually.
Bowling teaches the magic of numbers.
Bowling is a lesson in visualization, coordination, timing, practice & forgiveness.
The winners were not always the strongest, quickest, youngest but those who could feel the subtle energies.
Finesse
Touch
Stroke
Swing
Release
Observe
Reinitiate
The adherents of Amenhokit entered the Zone.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
THE FINDING OF THE AMENHOKIT SCROLLS
What can only be described as an ancient bowling bag with
shoes(two tone sandals) granite ball and league sheet were uncovered in
a quarry south of the site of the ancient city of Memphis. Preserved
under sand for over 7,000 years the ‘league sheets’ chronicles the ideals
of AMENHOKIT, described as the Egyptian God of balls or bowling.
The bag contained the Egyptian symbol of mastery.
A press conference ensued:
How did the master ‘grip’ the ball?
Did they hook the ball?
Did they have sponsors and were their names of their shirts?
Did they wear bowling hairstyles?
Was the bald style of the eunuch to look like their favorite ball?
Were the shoes two toned?
Was the bowler right or left handed?
What was the dimension of the alleys? Were there standards?
(No, It was one of the biggest adjustments the masters had to make. Length of lanes, size of pins, pin cage all varied.)
The pin dimensions were equal in all layouts. The ball was ½”
larger than the space between the pins. The longer lanes were where the
obsidian balls were used.
The balls came from rock quarries. The rarest were made of
obsidian. Pockets or bubbles of gas escaping the granite left fissures
in which lava flowed in and cooling rapidly form the black or smoky
Glass balls.
When the quarries were worked the fissure lines became fault lines opening and exposing the obsidian. Craftsman shaped the glass balls for use on quarry lanes where friction was greatest. These balls had great length on the lanes whereas the granite unpolished balls
over reacted on the rough quarry surface where friction was premium.
The lanes of Memphis, used olive and almond oils to ease the
friction smoothing and speeding the lanes were the favorite of the
rougher granite balls.
Caravans were commissioned to go and search for the heartwood
of the Ebony tree. They traveled as far as Siam. Woodsmen shaped the
pins from the trunk and limbs. The wood was hard and heavy and
finished with gold gilt.
Pharaoh chose the players. All Egyptians were given there
position, as Pharaoh gave lives to them. Scribes, priests, carpenters,
musicians, physicans, astrologers, masons, cooks, poets, warriors all
were guided by their talents into the apprenticeship of pharaohs choice.
Those chosen to be bowlers were initiated into the rites of
imitation, competition and magnetism. They were taught how to learn
and how to teach others to learn.
Each of the crafts, talents and skills were a metaphor for making
their work into love made visible. The masters taught a channeled piece
called innergy. It was imitative, modeling behavior, using ‘image-feel’,
to attain mastery.
Pharaohs system turned those who failed into quarry workers,
builders of pyramids, farmers, eunuchs and donors of body parts. It was a system that gratefully exhorted play, the power of the game, and the importance of relaxing and excelling.
Amenhokit was the God who ran this school. The one who balled. The roller. The striker. The spare one. Who taught the apprentice. Who channeled the lessons. It was he who established the perfect game.
The apprentices worked shaping the pins and the balls. They built the lanes. Then watched with awe as the masters displayed the rhythm, grace, effortlessness, eye and touch achieving the zone of perfection. They became one with the pins.
***
Thursday, August 7, 2008
The First Balls
Arriving on the flats.
There they are rolled by man.
Induced by the stones,
the men rolled them.
Water descending down hill,
the stone too,
flowing down to round.
Matter IMITATING Motion
The creation of the ball
(Without the ball)
The Grip
The Swing
The Release
(Have no Purpose)
Who’s Channeling?
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Where the GAME began
Fell from high
on the mountain
finding paths of ease and distress
where by gravity
chosen stones
fall upon the path.
L
O
N
G
F
A
L
L
S
S
L
O
W
M
O
T
I
O
N
The stones descend with friction
Arriving on the flats.
Induced by the stones,
the men roll them.
Water descending down hill,
the stone too, flowing down to round.
it became the game to roll.