Spirituality Index

“We do not inherit earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”

Red Indian (Native American) Proverb 

We have many stages of growth in life, but nothing beats the season of adolescence. Like flora in spring, life at this age blooms fully. This is an age of activity, boldness, cheerfulness, dreams, dare, expectations, learning, surprises and so much more. This adorable span of growing up shines in all creations, whether flora or fauna. The direction of today’s youth sets the future of tomorrow’s world.

What we sow today is what we will reap tomorrow. Since most of today’s population has come far from sowing and reaping, i.e. farming, it has also shed most of the principles of the agrarian era. People in the Information Age have discovered the reality behind the superstitions, myths and taboos that they had been taught for ages. Hence, they now question authority in all areas of life, including their own beliefs and religions. This leads them to follow the secular laws created by different states. What seems to be missing is self-policing.

Religions were the main motivation behind self-policing. Religion was also a force driving agrarian societies. As a result, there was a certain spirituality among the people of that era. In industrial societies, people became busier and religious practices were curtailed and shortened, thus shrinking spirituality. The Information Age and the post-industrial world further decreased the role of religion in our lives. As the chains of self-policing became loose, it led to poorer self-control.

Now, free from the chains and boundaries of self-discipline, youth sometimes seek refuge in positive activities like fashion, music arts, etc. On the other hand, some also get involved in tobacco and drugs, bullying and violence, hero worship, selfishness, etc. Family life is also in a constant state of decay. More homes are breaking up every day, so is the disintegrating social fabric in our societies. There are so many other elements at work to dismantle the castle of humanity in the absence of belief and spirituality. There is no doubt that scientific advancement has contributed tremendously to our well-being, but the lack of spirituality is creating a bigger hole. We may not see it clearly today, but in the coming decades it will be visible enough.

“The intelligent desire self control; children want candy.”

Rumi

We either need to find newer sources of spirituality or we need to restore the old ones. In short, without self-policing and self-control, CCTV cameras alone cannot be effective enough.

“Unless a powerful spiritual movement sweeps the world, psychological instability will become the norm.”

Sadhguru

Credits

Quotes

Google 

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golf

Golf – A winter Sport?

The sun shone brightly. The temperature was 45°. I was in a sparkling mood. I set the time to 1:10 at Sunset Valley Golf Course, the only available off-season near me. I was in outdoor winter gear to challenge the steeps & slopes that were aided by the chilly winds of Pompton Plains. 

I had iced Americano, water, and chocolate in my hand cart. The green shades made the green valley even greener. The leafless wilderness on the hills, under the neat blue sky, added more to the incredible landscape of the valley. It seemed as if trees and bushes on the mountains sacrificed their share of chlorophyll for the shining grass of the fairways. The hills had kept their lap, the valley green. In Punjabi, the green lap is an allegory of pregnancy. Isn’t each pregnancy a progression of life? Or maybe life is a miracle? Miracles only happen in the valley of prayers. And this valley itself is an answer to some prayers. 

The ambiance of the course, the January chill, the winter’s wind, the grandeur of the hills, sips of iced coffee, and the warmth of the shining sun made this round remarkably unique. No matter how I performed, a golf round in winter on East coast America always had a distinct fragrance and personal satisfaction. Yet it takes a certain madness to play golf in January in the New York area. However, the world is made by the wise. Only the crazy dare to seek its perks. 

“The hardest mountain to climb is the one within.”

J. Lynn

In the land of skiers and ice hockey, in the society of surfers and bungee jumpers, in the clubs of mountain climbers and peak hunters, playing winter golf is a humble participation in a collective effort. If only others could agree to a golfer’s point of view. I am proud to be a meek sharer in winter sports. 

“Go find yourself  first so you can also find me.”

Rumi

“Light the fire within”

LeAnn Rimes

Credits 

Google 

Grammarly

Images: Sunset Valley Golf Course 

YouTube

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golf

Salt of the Earth

“It’s not the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”

Mohammad Ali

Logic does not live in hearts and the mind is no place for love. Passion asks no questions and reason looks for answers. A smile fills an eye and a hug doesn’t satisfy the hungry. Soil craves for seeds and the leaves don’t grow on the soul. Beauty is nothing without eyes and a flute only sings for air. Not all steps are taken for the journey and dance takes you nowhere. Rivers run one way and wind can blow in all directions. Thoughts need no tires and a song craves for ears. Not all that live need oxygen and stones do not breathe. Yet nothing is unworthy. All things have a purpose. What is the purpose of life? Golf? Hahaha.

Golf or no golf, we only live once. Yes, in life we need food, shelter and family. We should work hard for that. Yet that’s not all life is about. We can cherish life. We can celebrate it.

As Rumi saysmortal, “Every will taste death but only a few will taste life.”

Simplicity makes life easier but fashion makes it colorful. Grains are our lifeline but flowers make life more interesting. Although we need to quench our hunger in order to survive, flavor makes the meal tasty.

Money buys great comforts and good health helps you enjoy life. Those who desire more than the essentials, do work more and harder. They are the ones who cross boundaries and break records. They take risks and sometimes come so close to demise.

“Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.”

T.S. Eliot

No doubt! Doing more than the ordinary requires a bit of wildness, a bit of dare and a bit of craze. Not all who go beyond are crazy. Not all those who are mad make achievements. Somewhere there is a salt, somewhere there is a drop, somewhere there is a click, that wisdom doesn’t grasp that takes you beyond. And it’s not a normal thing.

“Normal is not something to aspire to, it is something to get away from.”

Jodie Foster

It’s alright as long as luxury remains luxury. It poses a problem when luxury becomes a necessity. It’s alright as long as we want to stand taller than the others. It creates a problem when domination grows as a habit. It’s alright as long as you govern to serve. It becomes a danger when we make it our right to govern.

“Only from the heart can you touch the sky.”

Rumi

Credits 

Sunset Valley Golf Club 

Google

Quotes 

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golf

In for the Moment

“Only you can decide what happens in the next chapter.”

Unknown

Who knows what tomorrow may bring? Living in now and today is the greatest gift. A weather app can predict the temperature, a calendar can tell us tomorrow’s date, and a teacher can give homework for the next day. A boss can give us tasks and a lover can promise a future date, but everything still happens today.

“Unless today is well lived, tomorrow is not important.”

Alan Sakowits

The pendulum of time is swinging, but today never ends and tomorrow never comes. Thus continues the laziness that makes us put off today’s tasks til tomorrow.

Ever since I was deprived of golf because of the weather, I had been planning to start walking on the treadmill or in a mall. Every night I planned to walk and every day I postponed it until tomorrow. For the last seven days I have not seen that tomorrow.

Eventually, I tried to bring together three angles: it was Martin Luther King’s Day; it was bright and shining; and all I needed was an accommodating golf club. I turned on the ‘Golf Now’ and booked myself a tee time at a Meadows Golf Club, the nearest that was open. The greens were closed and flags were displaced. I was paired with a Korean who was fond of telling jokes mostly of oriental origin. I enjoyed his great company and strange accent. He knew how to make others laugh. And I love to laugh.

He said, “A puttless round of golf is like walking a horse.”

Anyways, I was happy I could walk. The course was not in a great condition itself but I give its management credit that they kept it open in such harsh seasons.

Sometimes you gotta fill in the blanks that are out there from within yourself. A golf course on the East Coast can only offer you that much. Your patience, tolerance, smiles and wide heart can make a round much more enjoyable. Same goes with life.

“If there’s light in your heart, you will find your way home.”

Rumi

I appreciate what this day had to offer me. It’s much better to do something today than to spend it waiting for tomorrow. Let’s celebrate today while we have it like this pond appreciates the shining sun.

Credits

Meadows Golf Club

YouTube 

Google 

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golf

Stimulation of the Simulation

“Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.”

Ralph Marston

Suitable weather is the utmost prerequisite for playing golf. This winter, I am stuck in New York. And the weather this year is unusually harsh here. That makes golfing out of the question. Although I am used to playing golf on almost frozen grounds, this year either I am feeling the effects of aging or the cold weather is more unfriendly.

So the only option that remains is the simulators. Golf is fun, an addiction, a satisfaction and a fulfillment. I admit so. Yet it is also a liturgy, a practice.

“Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.”

Martha Graham

When we have the time and the weather refuses golf, that’s the biggest disappointment. Thanks to technical advances we have simulators now. I reserved a spot there yesterday. The staff at the simulator hall was very friendly. My cabin was fresh and ready for the round. I changed and got completely tip-top in my golf attire, wearing a half-sleeve and shorts. There was no better way to take revenge on that colder weather. I asked the attendant to set me up at Cypress Point Club at Pebble Beach, California. The greatest advantage of virtual golf is that we can play anywhere we want, short of going there physically.

Brushing my hair with my right hand I got my one wood out. Placing the ball at the right point, I waited for the go light to turn green before I took off. Playing at the simulator is more challenging than the actual golf. I finished that round at 101. In about one hour and 45 minutes. Putting is the real challenge here as well.

“Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me

Other times, I can barely see

Lately, it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it has been.”

Truckin’ by Grateful Dead

Songwriters: Jerome J. Garcia / Philip Lesh / Robert C. Christie Hunter / Robert Hall Weir

Today’s scientifically advanced human brags about their inventions, among many others, high-resolution cameras, three-dimensional movies and virtual golf. Yet humans’ love for virtuality goes far back. The history of daydreaming, fantasy and visions is as long as human existence. They just have learned how to create visual effects according to their fantasies. On top of that, artificial scenes are more colorful than the original. Their younger generation likes to see things online more than in their actual shape, like playing online football, etc. Playing golf virtually and on simulators is very convenient and attractive. It is growing on me fast as well. It is convenient, safe, handy and indoors, where temperature and possibilities are controlled. We can neither lose a ball nor drown one. Instead, we lose fresh air, getting in touch with soil, seeing birds, fragrance of the outdoors, the environment and the walk on the fairway, the walk that makes it worth the while.

“Shut your eyes so the heart may become your eye, and with that vision look upon another world.”

Rumi

Credits

Google

YouTube 

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golf

Snow & Smog

It was the second Sunday of the last month of the year 2022. Without being predicted by the weather app, sleet began to fall. It gradually picked up the pace and turned into snow. From there, white flakes continued steadily for hours and hours. 

An unusual snowfall brings abrupt changes in activities and mood of the people.

When it falls, snow comes scattered and fragile. On the ground, however, it displays enormous unity and becomes a singular white force. Maybe it learns on the way from the skies to earth that divided, snow merely flakes, but united, it becomes a powerful entity. 

Temperature aside, snow takes over the entire atmosphere and whitens the cold ground. 

The branches of the trees that stand sad and leafless get covered by the snow, once again allowing the trees to make the landscape more pleasant. 

Not only does it cover the trees, snow also affects the colors of the landscape, the texture of the ground, the mood of the area, what it feels like to walk, and how people drive on the roads. Snow has its own set of rules. City governments and highway authorities have to sprinkle salt to keep the roads open. Snow trucks clear the paths, and people shovel in front of their homes. The whole outdoor lifestyle revolves around the snow.

Snow, in a way, resembles how fog affects Lahore. Both snow and fog disrupt the regular lifestyle. Fog lasts for weeks, however, while snowfall is mostly brief. Only the fog blinds; the snow merely hides. In fog, minds skid; and in snow, cars do. 

Fog represents cleverness, and snow encourages chivalry. Of course, no one has to agree with this analogy. It’s how I feel about these two weather conditions. 

Snow melts, but the cold persists. 

On the same planet, there are so many similarities and so much disparity. It is summer in Australia and winter in Asia. It’s freezing in New York, and it’s comfortable in Nairobi. Such differences are how nature likes to operate on this planet. The variety in weather conditions shows the breadth of the mind and imagination of its creator.

“Be melting snow, wash yourself of yourself.”

Rumi

Perhaps change is the language of nature, or change may be the song of ecdysis that nature likes to sing repeatedly. Not all white things that fall are snow. Some are even colder. And one is what we see in our hair as we age. The whiteness in our hair is the first sign of a decaying body. The news is that time is flying, and we are spending it unceasingly. We are not here forever. Let’s cherish this planet while we are living on it.

A Winter Bluejay

Crisply the bright snow whispered,

Crunching beneath our feet;

Behind us as we walked along the parkway,

Our shadows danced,

Fantastic shapes in vivid blue.

Across the lake the skaters

Flew to and fro,

With sharp turns weaving

A frail invisible net.

In ecstasy the earth

Drank the silver sunlight;

In ecstasy the skaters

Drank the wine of speed;

In ecstasy we laughed

Drinking the wine of love.

Had not the music of our joy

Sounded its highest note?

But no,

For suddenly, with lifted eyes you said,

“Oh look!”

There, on the black bough of a snow flecked maple,

Fearless and gay as our love,

A bluejay cocked his crest!

Oh who can tell the range of joy

Or set the bounds of beauty?

Credits 

Sara Teasdale

Weather App

Google 

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golf

Mystic Saturday

“The work of the eyes is done. Go now and do the hard work on the images imprisoned within you.”

Rilke

Today the weather was relievingly better, touching 50° F. I browsed for tee times, and GolfNow led me to the Spook Rock Golf Course in Suffern, NY, at 1:30 p.m. I was ready to tee off. There was no one else golfing at that time, despite it being a sunny Saturday. Finally, I had the privilege of playing alone. Although a few flights were already gone, at my tee time, I was taking off solo. 

The first tee was a dogleg. I played a required shot to perfection. A chilly wind was blowing toward me, but my first shot thoroughly warmed me up. I made a comfortable boogie. Since the golf course was preparing for a winter shutdown, the sign boards were taken off from all tees. There were no permanent sign stones on that course, which most courses do have. However, we technically don’t need those signs any more, because GolfShot caddies best. 

When God is the only fan present, and you have the fairway all to yourself, you perform so well. 

My shots and putting were surprising, even for me. I loved playing solo. 

Autumn is a sad season. The more naked the trees become, the more layers of clothing we have to put on. Happily, this was an unusually sunny Saturday. The green shades of vast fairways were uniquely conspicuous under the lines of shadeless trees, as if it was the striptease show of the once-green trees. My eyes were receiving millions of rays, while my brain was conceiving images from mystic dimensions.

I am a regular golfer, yet today’s round was much more than a routine. This solo flight was so revealing and mystifying. I can hear the rhythmic sounds of naked trees praying for a tolerable winter. The poetic alliteration of dry shrubs and the humming of yellowing grass appealed to the mercy and grace of the Lord. It is frightening entering into the North American winter!

The shining sun in the blue sky, however, spread the news of warmth. Sending out heat and light, it conveyed that the Lord loves the world, and he is the most merciful of all. 

The water in the ponds was already singing songs of gratitude. It had been frozen last night, and the next morning it was liquid again. The golf ball and I were also enjoying our journey of joy under the bright sun. 

I wanted to sing aloud the song of indebtedness in unison with the rest of nature at the golf course. This blog is one way of doing so. 

The walk on the course was so fulfilling. How could one shank or miss a putt when body, soul, soil, time, and weather were synchronized so well. 

No doubt, it was a soulful round on a sunny Saturday. Let’s hope we have a peaceful and sunny winter. 

“In winter the bare boughs that seem to sleep work covertly, preparing for their spring.”

Rumi

Credits 

Google 

YouTube 

Darlington Golf Course 

Instagram 

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com 

YouTube: Morning with Golf

Changing Weathers

It’s getting very cold. Chilly winds, lower temperatures and frosted grounds rule the golf courses. Many of them are already closed. Some are about to do so. Golfers, who play with conviction, or maybe with addiction, are really in limbo between weather & golf. Doesn’t matter what we wear, it gets chillier. 

It finally began to snow, the first of the season. Although only a trailer here near the NYC area, it was five inches or more upstate near Buffalo, where all the golf courses got buried under snow.

“Be Melting snow, wash yourself of yourself.”

Rumi 

A few years back an unusual snowfall of such magnitude also hit Murree, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. This summer, Europe faced fierce heat waves which caused  multiple fires. South East Asia also faced unusually heavy rainfall last monsoon that led to unprecedented floods. These are only trailers of what nature has in store for us in times to come. Global warming is on the rise.

The COP27 annual UN talks on environment this year were held at Sharm Ul-Shaikh, Egypt. The summit there was grumpy and shambolic, despite knowing that the southern Pacific Ocean’s La Niña that usually ends in a year or so strangely and worryingly stretches into the third year. Supposedly that will cause havoc — floods, droughts and fires, in many continents.    

The world’s sluggish and feverish behavior towards climate change continues. In the meantime, some regional, provincial & local governments are trying for clean energy. Free solar panels program in Massachusetts and Roof Replacement in New Jersey are good examples.

On the other hand, we must admire the enthusiasm of technology companies. Tesla is a great example. PepsiCo Australia, the local arm of the world’s biggest supplier of snacks and drinks, will test a new sort of vehicle powered not by a dirty diesel engine but by fuel cells, devices that convert hydrogen to electricity while emitting only water vapor.

Another example of good news is the “UN fund for loss and damage.” This week, some  wealthy countries are coming around to the idea of compensating poorer ones for climate change. 

At COP27 UN climate Summit, G20 Bali Leaders Declaration 2022, narrated again the importance of a collective response to food security and environment protection. Yet mere addresses at summits alone would not help. The sooner the world translates its leaders’ speeches into action, the better the environment protection gets.

Credits

Google 

TikTok 

YouTube 

Image: The Economist

National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

World Meteorological Organization.

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golfaa

November Golf

“Don’t be in such a hurry. That little white ball isn’t going to run away from you.”

— Patty Berg

Calm, composure, collectedness, and cool are a few of the ingredients of a correct golf shot. Posture, positioning, preparation, and practice are some flavors that help in hitting a perfect one. 

Focusing on these elements has improved not only my golf game but my performance in all areas of life. I am an amateur golfer, yet playing golf has matured me a lot in life. 

For me, walking for golf is an opportunity to be one with nature. I have learned so much about the world around me, such as the names of so many flowers, plants, birds, and other species. I have discovered my physical capabilities and limitations. 

I know my mind doesn’t like to concentrate on one thing. I naturally begin to belong to things that come across my path. My heart owns so many spots at so many courses in so many cities. Here are a few:I love the green at hole number 3 at PAF Skyview Lahore. I crave the fairway at hole number 7 at Lahore Gymkhana. I can sit for hours without a blink at the chairs at the midway hut at the end of hole number 7 of Margalla Greens Islamabad. I love to play at Swansea Country Club in Massachusetts. The grand, distant looks of Manhattan from the veranda of New York Country Club and the long, curvy lakeside fifth fairway of the LPGA International Hills course in Daytona, Florida, leave me stunned every time. Overall, I am in love with golf. The fun and learning goes on. 

“If the light is in your heart, you will find your way home.”

— Rumi

Today while I was playing at the third hole, a par three, at Valley Brook Golf Course, I saw a blue jay whistling hard. I know blue jays often warn other birds of a predator, so I thought there must be a hawk nearby. The players I was paired with were no less than a hawk themselves. They were so absorbed in their golf game that they paid no heed to the blue jay’s warnings. 

I was trying to look upward to spot an accipiter. All of a sudden one of the golfers jumped, shouting, “Snake, snake!” I stopped right there. I heard a movement in the cluster of fallen autumn leaves but never saw a snake. I was wondering, ‘How could there be a snake in New Jersey in November?’ Yet I was wondering if the blue jay’s warning was for us and not for fellow birds. Later on at home I googled and found out that snakes could come out of their hibernation in above 60° temperatures. Amazing!

Credits 

Google 

LPGA International 

Valley Brook Golf Course 

Golf Quotes app

Image: Dr. Azhar Chaudhary 

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golf

Botanical Stanza

Although Hudson Valley has its own reputation in terms of its scenery and landscape, the colors of October are uniquely magical and mesmerizing. With green trees turning red, pink, maroon, yellow, and off-white, the valley resembles an Indian bride. Where the river, lakes, and the sky add blue to the scene. Black curvy country roads, along with the yellow stripes, snake through the hills around the Hudson. It seems as if purple asters, multicolored dahlia, yellow mums, and dominating stonecrop sedums are the actual dwellers in the front yards of the country homes. Butterflies, usually monarchs, add another version to the driveways of these beautiful homes. Deep under such colorful transitions of the weather, the sad story of separation and withdrawal goes on in full swing. 

Seven Lakes Road, a parkway in Hudson Valley is place to visit in all seasons yet drive in October is one of its kind. In my SUV, the idiocentric melody of Jagjit Singh, ہاتھ چھوٹے بھی تو رشت نہیں چھوڑا کرتے, plays, which inspires me to write this piece: “Separation shouldn’t end the relationship.”

Autumn is the season of separation. The detachment between trees and leaves. Migration of the seasonal birds, and hibernation of obligate hibernators. Dormancy of so many species. No one else celebrates departure as trees and leaves do. They try to form a colorful landscape, as does the rainbow in the sky. 

“Autumn is the second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

Albert Camus 

Trees tell us that on the grounds of mutual respect, how beautiful letting go can become. The journey of the falling leaf is another life it lives and that is the life of freedom and wonder. 

“Autumn leaves shower like gold, like rainbows, as the winds of change begin to blow.”

Dan Millman

A leaf lives through another life of service after it departs the stem. It hugs the soil that fed it for months. It lets go of the sun that it always pursued and persuaded. 

Yet it never stops serving its family. From dust, it comes and to dust, it goes. It eventually becomes fertilizer

to add flavor to the soil, to the roots, and to the seeds. It rides the air experiencing flying. It tries to learn dance. It spends the nights on pavements, on benches, and on the windshields of cars.  

“Fall is my favorite time of the year. To me, it exemplifies the victory of the spirit over matter.”

Stephen King

The tree on the other hand sheds its cover and tries to stand naked, fearlessly. As if it didn’t sin. It proves that it stands on its roots. When we long for warm clothes, it dares to take them off. It accepts to face the freezing winter with its open branches. The tale of an autumn tree is a beautiful story of shades, stripes and stripping. Autumn is a beautiful stanza of botanic poetry. The fall season is a melody of color and closure. And Hudson Valley is a great stage of nature to launch the equinox in October. 

“Inside of us, there’s a continual autumn. Our leaves fall and are blown over the water.”

Rumi

Credits 

Seven Lakes Drive Harriman & Bear Mountain 

Google

YouTube 

Images: Ahsan Jamil 

By

Ahsan Jamil 

Golfer, Blogger, Entrepreneur, Author, Poet, Wanderer, Photographer, Rebel. 

Email: Golfaij@gmail.com

Website: Golfaij.com

YouTube: Morning with Golf