My class starts every Friday at 7:30 PM. Yesterday's class was my third class. It sounds crazy to have a class on Friday evenings doesn't it? When most of the world is busy partying, we, bunch of crazily dedicated people gather for our martial arts class. Our class is little different than a usual martial arts class. Of course there is physical aspect but there are other aspects of BudÅ and Zen. It took years for me to find the right class ... but I found it and finally ...
Yesterday's class was like out of dream. We were practicing, there were four people practicing bokken or japanese wooden sword and we three were practicing a kata which would be foundation for sword techniques. I could hear rhythmic sounds of bokken hitting and our rhythmic kias, occasional corrective remarks from the master, sweat trickling down my back ... and for a moment the whole scene seemed to have transported to another dimension ... as if time had stopped ...
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
No Mind ...
There was a question from my Dad about no mind and he said he would like it in question answer form rather than a lecture. I remembered couple of years back I was answering questions on no mind, so I copy pasted the conversation here ...
1/25/08 Jay
No Mind?
Ever wonder about that? How to be in that state of mind? Great Samurai Warriors were known to have achieved the skill. It is a very useful skill to develop for not only martial arts but any kind of work one would do. I have always been intrigued by it and have been looking for some clues in books on Zen, Tao, martial arts etc. Recently came across some information which is quite interesting. I would share if anybody is interested.
2/11/08 ARAVIND
on NO MIND..
that will be most interesting. Iam an AD guy (not that am good anyway) and a few of my good works were born when I really wasn't involved in conscious thought. They simply came to my mind. Shedding the process of conscious thought really helps, but how shall one arrive there?
2/11/08 Jay
No Mind is actually a Normal Mind as Yagyu Munenori describes in his book
From Book of Family Traditions - Book 1 - The Killing Sword by Yagu Munenori :
" The Normal Mind "
A monk asked an ancient worthy, "What is the Way?"
The ancient worthy replied "The normal mind is the Way."
This story contains a principle that appplies to all the arts. Asked what the Way is, the ancient worthy replied that the normal mind is the Way. This is indeed supreme. This is the state where the sicknesses ot the mind are all gone and one has become normal in mind, free from sickness even in the midst of sickness.
To apply this to worldly matters, suppose you are shooting with a bow and you think youre shooting while you are shooting; then the aim of your bow will be inconsistent and unsteady. If you areconscious of wielding your sword when wielding your sword, your offense will be unstable. If you are conscious of writing while writing, your pen will be unsteady. Even when you play the harp, the tune will be off if you are conscious of playing.
When an archer forgets consciousness of shooting and shoots in a normal frame of mind, as if unoccupied, the bow will be steady. When using a sword or riding a horse to, you do not "wield a sword" or "ride a horse". And you do not "write"; you do not "play music". When you do everything in the normal state of mind as it is totally unoccupied, then everything goes smoothly and easily
Whatever you do as your Way, if you keep it in your heart as the only thing of importance, then it is not the Way. When you have nothing in your heart, then you are on the Way. Whatever you do, if you do it with nothing in your heart, it works out easily."
To be continued ...
2/12/08 Jay
Aravind,
You are right, great work is born when there is no conscious thought. But that doesn't mean that mind has stopped working. In fact it is working most normally and that's what no mind is - mind without conscious thought. Arriving to that stage is the challenge. Practising Zen methods provide some help. First of all one should be aware of conscious thought. Zen meditations help bringing that awareness. But be aware of the fact that removal of conscious thought it self can become a conscious thought and one has to get rid of that too. It really means to perform naturally and with freedom. With respect to martial arts, the techniques have to be learnt so thoroughly that they are almost into one's body and there is no conscious thought involved while performing. If one tries to remember technique while in a match then he looses his focus from the present moment and eventually would loose. So it boils down to perfection of basic techniques and having no conscious thought. Conscious thought is not only the thought of performing better but any distraction can become a conscious thought. But avoiding distraction does not mean more concentration, because concentration is again a conscious thought of excluding everything else but what one is doing. It is really mind being aware of everything without being taken by anything.
2/13/08 ARAVIND
Jay,
Does this really boil down to 'practice makes perfect' kind of thing? or when one is so into what one does (or is extremely in love with it - to the point of obsession) that the whole process becomes an extension of oneself? So doesn't it become necessary for me to be in love with what I do, first and foremost?
2/13/08 Jay
Aravind,
It is really freedom of mind such that one can respond instantaneously and spontaneously. Mind occupied with thought will always lag - you will see a gap between an event demanding response and the response. In state of No Mind, there won't be any gap. It is not just being quick. It has much more widom than that. It is like being at the right place at the right moment. When there is a dominant thought, mind is captured by that and the moment is missed but when you are not thinking anything in particular you are able to respond appropriately and instantaneously. Sounds like no discipline? Actually it is much greater discipline. To make mind free to this level is not easy. Methods to achieve No Mind focus on freeing mind rather than controlling mind.
...
1/25/08 Jay
No Mind?
Ever wonder about that? How to be in that state of mind? Great Samurai Warriors were known to have achieved the skill. It is a very useful skill to develop for not only martial arts but any kind of work one would do. I have always been intrigued by it and have been looking for some clues in books on Zen, Tao, martial arts etc. Recently came across some information which is quite interesting. I would share if anybody is interested.
2/11/08 ARAVIND
on NO MIND..
that will be most interesting. Iam an AD guy (not that am good anyway) and a few of my good works were born when I really wasn't involved in conscious thought. They simply came to my mind. Shedding the process of conscious thought really helps, but how shall one arrive there?
2/11/08 Jay
No Mind is actually a Normal Mind as Yagyu Munenori describes in his book
From Book of Family Traditions - Book 1 - The Killing Sword by Yagu Munenori :
" The Normal Mind "
A monk asked an ancient worthy, "What is the Way?"
The ancient worthy replied "The normal mind is the Way."
This story contains a principle that appplies to all the arts. Asked what the Way is, the ancient worthy replied that the normal mind is the Way. This is indeed supreme. This is the state where the sicknesses ot the mind are all gone and one has become normal in mind, free from sickness even in the midst of sickness.
To apply this to worldly matters, suppose you are shooting with a bow and you think youre shooting while you are shooting; then the aim of your bow will be inconsistent and unsteady. If you areconscious of wielding your sword when wielding your sword, your offense will be unstable. If you are conscious of writing while writing, your pen will be unsteady. Even when you play the harp, the tune will be off if you are conscious of playing.
When an archer forgets consciousness of shooting and shoots in a normal frame of mind, as if unoccupied, the bow will be steady. When using a sword or riding a horse to, you do not "wield a sword" or "ride a horse". And you do not "write"; you do not "play music". When you do everything in the normal state of mind as it is totally unoccupied, then everything goes smoothly and easily
Whatever you do as your Way, if you keep it in your heart as the only thing of importance, then it is not the Way. When you have nothing in your heart, then you are on the Way. Whatever you do, if you do it with nothing in your heart, it works out easily."
To be continued ...
2/12/08 Jay
Aravind,
You are right, great work is born when there is no conscious thought. But that doesn't mean that mind has stopped working. In fact it is working most normally and that's what no mind is - mind without conscious thought. Arriving to that stage is the challenge. Practising Zen methods provide some help. First of all one should be aware of conscious thought. Zen meditations help bringing that awareness. But be aware of the fact that removal of conscious thought it self can become a conscious thought and one has to get rid of that too. It really means to perform naturally and with freedom. With respect to martial arts, the techniques have to be learnt so thoroughly that they are almost into one's body and there is no conscious thought involved while performing. If one tries to remember technique while in a match then he looses his focus from the present moment and eventually would loose. So it boils down to perfection of basic techniques and having no conscious thought. Conscious thought is not only the thought of performing better but any distraction can become a conscious thought. But avoiding distraction does not mean more concentration, because concentration is again a conscious thought of excluding everything else but what one is doing. It is really mind being aware of everything without being taken by anything.
2/13/08 ARAVIND
Jay,
Does this really boil down to 'practice makes perfect' kind of thing? or when one is so into what one does (or is extremely in love with it - to the point of obsession) that the whole process becomes an extension of oneself? So doesn't it become necessary for me to be in love with what I do, first and foremost?
2/13/08 Jay
Aravind,
It is really freedom of mind such that one can respond instantaneously and spontaneously. Mind occupied with thought will always lag - you will see a gap between an event demanding response and the response. In state of No Mind, there won't be any gap. It is not just being quick. It has much more widom than that. It is like being at the right place at the right moment. When there is a dominant thought, mind is captured by that and the moment is missed but when you are not thinking anything in particular you are able to respond appropriately and instantaneously. Sounds like no discipline? Actually it is much greater discipline. To make mind free to this level is not easy. Methods to achieve No Mind focus on freeing mind rather than controlling mind.
...
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