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Buddhism gives me new zest for rugby says Jonny
Mark Blunden19 Sep 2008
Rugby star Jonny Wilkinson is sporting a new shaggy haircut and says he has been reborn as a Buddhist after reading quantum physics books.
The 2003 world cup winner, 29, saw his confidence and happiness dip after victory in France and was dogged for years. He said: "I did now know what it really meant to be happy. I was afflicted by a powerful fear of failure and did not know how to free myself."
Within 24 hours of world cup success he felt a sense of anti-climax and could only manage sporadic club appearances in the four years he was injured. But he experienced a revelation after reading about a famous scientific riddle posed by an Austrian physicist, which Wilkinson discusses in his new book, Tackling Life.
He saw the conundrum called Schrodinger's cat as a metaphor for the human condition.
He told The Times: "The idea that an observer can change the world just by looking at it, the idea that the mind and reality are somehow interconnected ... it hit me like a steam train."
When quantum physics made the star realise he was "creating a destructive reality", he turned to Buddhism for answers. Now he says he feels more relaxed and liberated. On Sunday, Wilkinson returned to score 22 points for the Newcastle Falcons after four months recovering from another injury.
