DECISION TIME!

Posted on August 2, 2016

As Americans, we each will have important “leadership” decisions to make this November: Who are the best qualified persons is to lead this great Nation? As we reflect, muster and share thoughts and ideas, the worldview offers significant challenges for our leaders. Unfortunately, amidst the chaos and confusion of aroused emotions, passions and prejudices, it may be difficult to relax, focus and develop a personal perspective concerning the conscious evolution of this great Nation. Read More

LONG, GOLF-MEDITATION BRIDGE

Posted on March 5, 2016

What is the relationship between golf and meditation? The year was 2002; and the quest was underway to experience a connection between body and mind. The initial two-year trek was study and practice of sitting meditation at Naropa University. At the time, having played golf for some 55 years, the contemplative experience at Naropa planted the seed of a lingering question: Could there be a relationship between meditation and golf?
In 2010, when opportunity arose to attend Golf Academy of America, it felt good to take Naropa mindfulness and awareness training and practice to weekly tournament golf and study of golf management and golf instruction. However, with graduation from the Golf Academy in 2011, a connection between golf and meditation remained a mystery. Going through mindfulness and awareness motions on the practice tee and golf course were nothing but an overdose of concealed conditioning and an experience of conceptual free-will. Fortunately, persistence prevailed. In 2013 during Advanced Teaching at the Golf Academy, the lingering golf-meditation seed began to sprout and the mystery began to reveal itself. Read More

What has been said about GOLFER'S PALETTE?

Posted on February 2, 2016

Inspired by a search for the connection between the body and the mind, Dr. John Edwin DeVore enables readers to become aware of the conditions needed for peak performance by offering a unique perspective of body-mind mastery skills, integrating contemplative skills with technical skills in a sport with a rich technical culture of club and body mechanics. [Jennifer Uebelhack, Bohlsen Group]
All I can say is “Wow.” I have been told since I started playing golf that there was always a mental side of the game that should be learned…I never heard anyone mention things like emotions, mind and ego…pages 51-60 were of special interest to me because a lot of it sounded very familiar to me. I have been told by family and friends, for many years, that I had an inflated ego. It has cost me loss of family and many good friends. Having read this wonderful book will make the years I have left even more fulfilling. I can read it over and over and each time understand a little better…meditation, yoga, and the inner roommate are things that I would never relate to golf. Thank you. [Ray Isaacs]
John, in my up-teen years of trying to play golf, including several golf schools, multiple well-meaning PGA pros, and more books, videos, and tipsters, I found your book to be my Holy Grail. [Larry Waters]

WHAT HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT Sitting in the Flames?

Posted on January 26, 2016

For forty years Dr. John Edwin DeVore carried the weight of war before finally removing the burden and looking closely at what it signified. Sitting in the Flames is a fascinating and thought provoking study of human character that was blinded by corporate greed, by the passion to consume, by the myth of armed conflict, and by cultural conditioning that fosters what one believes, as opposed to how one behaves. Dr. DeVore has written a critically important and timely perspective of war, and he offers a very compelling and priceless message.
In Sitting in the Flames, we live the horrors of war; however, Dr. DeVore’s disclosure is not random war stories that sell the idea of patriotism by exposing heroic actions. We see a man return home and mature into a wisdom and intellect that lead him to healing and a sense of peace and freedom that now guides his life. Dr. DeVore sees war as more than youth dying for a cause: it is a responsibility that an entire nation must bear, a responsibility for our actions, and a responsibility for those who do the battle. It is not enough to deal with the specifics of war in the pages of a history book. We must understand why we create wars and how we can avoid them. In a country that beats the drums of war with regularity, these are lessons that need to be learned. [BookSurge (CreateSpace), Amazon.com Company]
In his autobiography, Sitting in the Flames, Dr. John Edwin DeVore, describes his experience while serving in the Vietnam War, as well as his search for inner calmness after the war ended…By detailing his path of escape from emotional suffering, Dr. DeVore hopes to be an inspiration for others to take one step at a time and uncover peace of mind, purpose, and connections created on a foundation of compassion and love. [Jennifer Uebelhack, Bohlsen Group]

WHAT HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT Sitting in the Flames?

Posted on January 21, 2016

As reviewed by New York Times best-selling author Ellen Tanner Marsh…
Much has been written about the Vietnam War. We’re all familiar with the brutal carnage, the heroics of soldiers under pressure and the endlessly heartbreaking entries in our history books. Is there a way to extract some good from the tragic war, and if so, how can we put a human face on it?
Author Dr. John Edwin DeVore has written a grippingly personal story of his experiences in Vietnam, an astonishing revelation of how those experiences led him on a spiritual search that transformed his life for the better. Like many veterans, DeVore was forever changed by his time in Vietnam. Overwhelmed with dark memories for 40 years, he struggled to find and create something from the pain. His intense, spiritual journey is the basis of Sitting in the Flames: Uncovering Fearlessness to Help Others, a shining and ambitious addition to the genre.
In clear, heartfelt prose, DeVore describes a brave and unflinching confrontation with his past, made necessary in order for him to have a more meaningful future. War, he realized, isn’t just one man’s experience—it’s the sum total experience of an entire country. To stop wars, he argues, we must understand them and why we seem to need them.
Beautifully told, DeVore’s book is an important and unforgettable addition to the literature of Vietnam-important in helping to erase the still troubled conscience of America and unforgettable for its moving confirmation of the belief that human beings can emerge from the most shattering experiences with their spirit still intact. Above all, this is a finely rendered and heartfelt account of one man’s inner journey to peace.

STATINS BEGONE

Posted on January 4, 2016

For several years, the plethora of literature about the damaging effects of statins on the human cellular system has generated a lingering desire to abandon what today is 30 plus years taking prescribed statin drugs…Mevacor, Zocor, Crestor and Lipitor…for control of inherited high cholesterol. Just yesterday, it felt really good to deliver a “statins be-gone” game plan to a personal physician. For the first time in 30 years I am looking forward to feeling what normal really feels like! Read More

EVOLUTION…Creative Visualization

Posted on December 4, 2015

Having committed the past few months to becoming more aware, understanding, practicing and playing golf using the art and science of creative visualization, intuition is offering that imaging is quite simply another body-mind mastery skill that we need to learn, practice, experience and commit to trust when making shots on the golf course. Working with creative visualization reminds of a memorable experience while in Gangtok, Sikkim India in during the Fall of 2003. Read More

OPTIMUM CELLULAR WELLNESS

Posted on November 14, 2015

Life is a precious gift; and we each need to accept 100% responsibility for the care of the remarkable human systems that need optimum cellular health and wellness for a good quality of life. As Bruce Lipton offers, “Inherent in our essence is the power to create an inner environment that is not susceptible to disease and illness.” The purpose of this blog is to offer a learned prescription for optimum cellular health and wellness. At the outset, it is important to offer that I am not a medical doctor and my perspective is drawn from background, interest and experience. Read More

TWO SHANKS FROM INSANITY

Posted on October 22, 2015

As Fred Shoemaker suggests, a purpose of games is to help us learn about life and our relationship to this exceptionally wonderful gift. However, an on-going experience is that a really tough challenge is to be “awake” for the multitude of messages these games, including golf and the occasional two shanks in a row, have to offer us. The purpose of this blog is to share a recent on-the-course experience and the subsequent re-awakening.
Sunday’s round of golf was total chaos, buried irritation and unrecognized physical tension! As a diehard perfectionist-reformer and dinosaur of our American culture and the culture of golfers, it would be easy to blame the playing partners for the distractions. However, as Michael Brown eloquently reminds, Read More

PACE-OF-PLAY & CREATIVE VISUALIZATION

Posted on October 7, 2015

A frequent question wrestled with on-the-course has been what impact the use of creative visualization has on pace-of-play. A recent personal experience has been that concern with maintaining pace-of-play can be a major distraction when attempting to use imagery during the pre-shot routine. When pace-of-play is of concern, my choice has been not to take the time to either be the ball or be the golfer. My experience has been that it is much easier to forgo the visualization process; go through my normal pre-shot motions; and just hit, pitch, chip or putt the ball.
As discussed in Golfer’s Palette, slow play is the most perplexing problem in golf today. A slow player can ruin the day for all players. In the interest of all, players have an obligation to play at a reasonable pace. An added variable in the pace-of-play equation is the number one revenue producing item on the golf course: green fees. Course management has an obligation to its board to fill as many available tee times with foursomes as possible. From this perspective, pace-of-play becomes a team effort between golfers and course management. Read More