Karma Yoga: Being ‘In the Zone’ Always

The racquet seems like an extension of hishand. The opponent seems to be playing exactly the way he wants him to play. Theshots he selects are the best possible shots for the situation. The ball seemsto travel exactly where he wants to put it. For that period he can do no wrongand the entire game is totally under his control.Atennis player calls this being ‘In the Zone’. For the period for which he is inthe zone he is the game, he is the player, he is the racquet and he is theball.Whilehe is in the zone, is he excited about being so close to a championshipvictory? Is he mentally spending the money that the victory will gain him? Ishe, maybe, thinking of how his coach and cohorts will laud him or how his girlfriend will reward him at night? Or, maybe, he is thinking of winning the Grandslam this year?Perhapshe is afraid of losing that lucrative sponsorship deal if he loses the match?Afraid that his uber-cool girlfriend would leave him if he lost? Angry at theopponent for putting it across him in the Australian open and wanting revenge?Afraid of how the Press would write him off as a has-been with one more defeat?Yeah!Right! The correct answer, as you have guessed it, is none of the above. Atleast when the player in ‘in the zone’ none of these thoughts can cross hismind. Whether playing the game without a thought for consequences is asufficient condition for entering that state of mind called ‘being in thezone’, I do not know, but it certainly is a necessary condition.Whatevergame! Anything you do if you can do it without a thought for the consequences,at least for as long as you are doing it, it improves the possibility ofentering the zone. Believe me, the times when you are operating in the zonegives you an ineffable pleasure quite apart from what you can materially getout of doing it. This, probably, is what was meant when they said, ‘Work is itsown reward’. (Not the ‘if you do good work you will be rewarded with morework’, which is the common interpretation in corporate life).KarmaYoga talks of work with detachment. Work, as in the definition of Karma Yoga,is whatever you say or do every moment of your life and not merely the time forwhich you punch the clock. Whatever life throws your way to be, to say or to doshould be carried out without any expectations or fears of consequences. If youcan detach yourself from hopes and fears, I believe that you can be perpetually‘in the zone’! Thus, a tennis player who is ‘in the zone’ is, for that period,a Karma Yogi.Tobe a Karma Yogi 24x7 is not given to us mortals. What we can strive to achieveis to increase the possibility of taking joy from work i.e of being in thezone. Firstly, it is best to choose an area of work where you do have interestif not passion. Secondly, even if consequences do matter, the work should alsomatter. Thirdly, while doing the job take pride in doing a good job regardlessof whether the incremental efforts will lead to commensurate material rewards.Toexemplify it, let me take the community of bloggers. When you choose to writewhat you have a passion to write and not what you think will get you the mostfootfalls; when writing for a competition, you take up the subject and writewhat you feel about the subject and don’t try to write what you think thesponsor would most like and, while you are writing, you are lost in the act ofwriting and not in thoughts of the prizes you are more likely to be ‘in thezone’!Thebiggest problem that comes in the way of people doing their best even in their ownchosen area of work is that they feel a better job redounds to the benefit ofthe employer, who will take the benefits without so much as a ‘Thank you’! Ifthat be the case, my only advice is ‘Screw the Employer, don’t screw up yourwork!’ Shoddy work does not give one a sense of self-worth and a lack ofself-worth spoils everything in life.Beinga Karma Yogi 24x7 would be ideal. Even traveling the path to the ideal isrewarding. Material rewards, as well, for obviously you do a good job when youare ‘in the zone’ and you cannot keep a good man down, can you?