Not the Tiger A New Age Parable - Page 3

Perceiving the Tiger

In the decades that followed, Fred spent years in the wilderness, seeking guidance before the Tiger appeared again. In the late 90s, he witnessed, through the media, the meteoric rise of Tiger Woods, golf champion, as he appeared on the covers of magazines, televised weekend golf tournaments, newspaper sports columns and the like. No fan of the golfing game, Fred still thought that Tiger made the sport fun to follow. After all, this golfing superstar was exciting to watch and broke nearly every record in the book: winning four Masters tournaments from '97 to '05; winning consecutively, all four major golfing titles and beating nearly every competitor by a wide margin. Clearly, Tiger far out-classed the field.

Coincidentally, this is when Fred decided on Lasik surgery. To a humble seeker of truth, it seemed like destiny when Fred found a special clinic to improve his eyesight. There, in his doctor's Maryland suburban office, Fred saw the photo endorsement of Tiger Woods and the Vision Center doctor who performed the operation. As the 10 Bulls teaching instructs, Fred was 'perceiving the Tiger' right before his eyes. Thankfully, the procedure went well and in his exit interview, Fred asked Dr. Steiner for the naked truth.

"Say, your clinic performed Tiger's operation, right? So, will I golf that well when I recover in a few weeks? You know, improve my handicap so to speak?"

"Fred," the Doc weighed in, "not if you didn't golf that well before you came here. But your handicap will improve. We've given you perfect eyesight."

"Let me try another angle," Fred pleaded. "Have you ever thought of adding a psychologist to your staff? You know, for out-patient counseling?"

"I'm not sure I understand," Doc Steiner replied.

"It's simple," said Fred "and you could make a ton of money. Guys like me, we've been near blind our whole life and now that you've given me 20-20 vision and a glimpse of the Tiger, I can clearly see that this world is much more screwed up than I'd ever seen before. A psychologist could really help a patient like me."

"Let me get back to you on that," said Doc Steiner.

Fred sighed, thanked the Doc and the staff and strolled out the door, back into the wilderness.