Bend it like Beckham and mend it like Football!

This was an article that had appeared in Times of India on 8th July, 2006. Amazing philosophy! Hope you'll like it..

Spirituality seldom dribbled with soccer, until the ‘Hand of God’ came into play during the quarter-final match of the 1986 World Cup football between Argentina and England. Diego Maradona claimed that divine intervention had helped him score the controversial goal.

A short film made in 2003 by Mike Walker — Does God Play Football? — explored the relationship between God and Tommy, a seven-year-old football fan. Tommy’s only desire is to have a father of his own to play football with. In the absence of a real Dad, he adopts God as his father with the help of a local priest — very like how the human soul longs for communion with the Universal spirit.

An individual remains unfit for spiritual journey without the requisite physical and mental strength. Vivekananda said: “You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Bhagavad Gita”. A player’s patience and perseverance is tested on the football field at every moment; the ability to wriggle out of tough situations and hold on to one’s nerves in tight situations. A seeker, too, has to undergo such trials during the inward game of realisation.

Look at football as a metaphor for life. The ball is the individual’s ego. Team members are family and friends; trust in teammates is the foundation of a good relationship and helps the player win the match of happiness. The opposition players are obstacles like anger, pride, hatred, that must be overcome to reach the goalpost. The goalpost is the universal consciousness to which a person must ultimately submit the ego, to achieve true bliss. The coach is the guru who teaches the way and the player learns from his mistakes on the field. The referee is the law of karma that reinforces the correct rules for playing. The audience is society that reacts to performance on the field. As in life, a game that has started must end. As long as the person is in the game, one gets the illusion of limited time and space. Only when the game gets over, does one realise the limitlessness of time and space.

Every player is assigned a particular role on the field according to his skills — forward, midfielder, defender, or goalkeeper. Similarly, in life we have designated roles. Our capabilities and choices determine the contribution we make to the world through our work. Like a player who can manoeuvre the ball on the field, a person has the free will to choose his thoughts, words and actions. Football is meditation ‘on the run’. A player is always ‘in the moment’ for the entire duration of play. The player has no thought of past and no use for future, as all the scoring opportunities are created in the ‘now’.

Football teaches one to be a good spectator, one who watches the game with passionate detachment. For him, an exciting football match is only that — a game. Wins or losses, even for his favourite team, do not bother him. A good spectator is like a joyful observer of life; he witnesses events around him as they come and go, and remains detached as he is always centred in truth.

Today, football is a faith binding a legion of followers across the world. People, irrespective of their religions, nationalities and cultures, are tuning in simultaneously to watch live football. If this is not universal brotherhood, what else is?