The Destructiveness Of Method And Technique
A human wishes to learn a skill.
Or improve a skill.
Or attain realization.
He hires an “instructor.”
Or a “coach.”
Why does he do this?
Why would he not?
After all, a human does
What other humans do.
A human’s behavior
Is created by what he sees
What he hears
What he is repeatedly told
Where he repeatedly lives.
He has no choice in the matter.
He has never had a “choice.”
This is . . .
Conditioning.
If the human is asked
“Why did you hire an instructor/coach?”
He certainly will not say,
“Because I have been conditioned by the world.
Because I have been brainwashed by the world.
Because I am a slave to the norm.
Because I am a product of my environment.”
Rather,
He will be dumbfounded by the question.
“What sort of silly question is this?
Why would I NOT hire an instructor/coach?”
What does an “instructor” do?
He Instructs.
What does a “coach” do?
He Coaches.
Therein
Lies the fundamental problem.
(Few will see it
At first glance.)
If one seeks to become great
At a particular skill
In business
In sport
Or in anything . . .
Can he be “instructed”
Or “coached”
Into that skill?
It is an innocent question.
And not a leading one.
It is a question for a human
To ask Himself.
And explore Himself.
One of the human’s most catastrophic diseases
Is Opinion and Belief.
Why shall any sensible human
Resort to wayward and insignificant things
Such as opinion and belief,
When he has the ability
To consult The Evidence.
What does the Evidence show?
Pie charts
Graphs
Statistics
Theorems
And intricate analyses
Are not required.
One needs only a basic intellect
A pair of eyes
And a pair of ears.
How many instructors are there?
How many coaches are there?
One may make it easier upon himself.
How many coaches has the human himself hired.
How many instructors has the human himself hired.
The same goes
For humans that they may know
Who have hired instructors and coaches.
Did the instruction Work?
Did the coaching Work?
If the human deems that it did . . .
If the human deems that instruction and coaching
Made him Great . . .
Then he would be silly to abandon it.
And, therefore, the remainder of this discourse
Is not for him.
He may now Leave.
How does an instructor, instruct?
How does a coach, coach?
Prescriptions.
How-to’s.
Hacks.
Methods.
Techniques.
In the world of professional sports,
Things have evolved to the point
That there are perhaps more coaches
Than players.
This is happening
In all domains.
Business coaches.
Meditation instructors.
Vocal coaches.
Art instructors.
Golf instructors.
Baseball hitting coaches.
On and on and on . . .
The coach states How To Do It.
The instructor provides the Method.
The student
Attempts the method.
The coach watches him perform the method.
Then he adjusts him
Corrects him
Changes this
Changes that.
Having contorted the student
Physical and mentally
In accordance with the “proper way”
And the “correct form and technique”
The student is no longer a Human.
He has become
A Puppet.
Understand this:
Puppets Do Not Become Great.
The student has instincts.
But he now bows at the alter of Form
And Technique.
The student/puppet has little choice but to ask,
“Is this correct, coach?”
“Am I doing it right, coach?”
“Is my technique improving, coach?”
Each time he makes a movement,
He does not consult his instinct.
He consults
The coach!
Not because he wishes to.
And not even because the coach has asked him to.
But simply because this is the Effect
Upon Any Human
Who has been brainwashed by the Belief
That method and technique
Are the road to Greatness.
The notion being . . .
If the form and technique are “correct,”
The results will be favorable.
Very well.
What does the evidence show?
The evidence shows more failures
Than successes.
The evidence shows that a professional golfer
A professional hockey player
A professional tennis player . . .
Hits infinitely more “bad shots”
Than good ones.
If the instruction and the coaching were sound
Why should this be the case?
If the method and technique were “correct’
One would, by the evidence before him,
Be forced to conclude
That the methods and techniques that athletes are being given
Are methods and techniques
To hit Bad Shots!
After all,
Bad Shots are the majority of what they hit.
One may argue,
That although the athlete hits bad shots,
The coaching and instruction
Made their “good shots better.”
This could be so.
But is this a much different result
Than one would obtain
If he “coached” himself?
After all,
BEFORE the player sought a coach,
His bad shots greatly outnumbered his good ones.
His failures greatly outnumbered his successes.
AFTER he works with the coach,
His bad shots greatly outnumber his good ones.
His failures greatly outnumber his successes.
Is there logic in this?
There is a rather horrific
And unpalatable Truth
That most professional athletes
(And anyone that has subscribed to instruction and coaching)
Never come to Realize.
The reason they never come to realize it
Is because they have been so busy
Being coached.
Perhaps it is in an individual’s best interest
To never come to this Realization.
For the pain
Is difficult to bear.
It is the Realization that
For that last 20, 30 or 50 years . . .
The human has Not been devoted to Himself
Or to his Greatness.
For that last 20, 30 or 50 years . . .
The human has been Enslaved
To correcting
The technique
And pleasing the coaching establishment!
Oh how many potential Artists
Are being destroyed each day
In all domains
Around the world . . .
Talent and potential
Are a terrible thing to waste.
Kapil Gupta is a personal advisor to Kings, Queens, CEO’s, Professional Athletes, Celebrities, and Performing Artists around the world.
His books include:
Atmamun: The Path To Achieving The Bliss Of The Himalayan Swamis. And The Freedom Of A Living God
A Master’s Secret Whispers: For those who abhor the noise and seek The Truth about life and living
Direct Truth: Uncompromising, non-prescriptive truths to the enduring questions of life