Tuesday, September 15, 2009

The Path to Zero


It seems we need technique or form in our lives and budo because we have not reached a state of no-mind or Mushin, in the bujinkan we refer to this state as being zero. If we can achieve Mushin then we will lose our need for the Attachment to a result therefore releasing the ego or desire and eliminating our need for technique. To me no-mind is really about clarity. Only with this clarity of thought and emotion can we truly read and see the Kukan. If you are in a state of Mushin then you will be free to move correctly because you will be free from fear. Fear is a state of attachment. We have to learn to let go of our attachments. Now when one thinks of letting go, I believe they only think about letting go of the negative states, but to be truly Zero, you have to let go of what would be considered the positive as well. To be in Mushin you can not be attached to the ideas of winning or success. Only by letting go of everything can you reach Mushin. This is martial arts homeostasis.
When the body is + or – it is not in a healthy state, but when it is neutral or zero it is healthy and at its greatest potential. Body and mind are the same.

So now the question is, “How do I reach this No Mind or zero”? I think maybe this is the point of training. If we could really reach zero would there still be a need for training? It might be that training will bring us closer to it and the more we train (correctly) the closer we get. I do have to say that I don’t believe just training is enough, you have to live it. To reach this super consciousness or Mushin there has to be an integration of life and training. There can not be any separation; they should be one in the same. By living what you train and training what you live, you will be closer to the path of Zero knowing that the journey to it might just be more important then destination. What lesson might we learn about the self if we look to remove what typical humans define themselves by (thoughts, feeling, emotions) and leave only actions, spontaneous actions based upon unison with our environment and space (Kukan) with no judgments or attachments. Now I don’t think to reach Mushin we have to be devoid of the human condition, just not ruled or controlled by it.

IF you could erase all fear ad doubt and left with just yourself in your natural form, free, zero, what potential might you have? To be zero is the ability to move in all directions in life with no barriers; maybe this is one of the secrets of happo hikenjutsu.

So in conclusion, when in doubt let go of technique and take the path that leads to nothing…..




3 comments:

  1. fantastic caligrpahy, especially the one "hyperlinked" 8-). As for talking about "munchin' about mushin", I dunno... I cannot comemnt because I experienced such state only on several occasions and the only thing i noticed is that pondering it was contradictory to the state itself. When I asked 6 years ago, my teacher gave me an advice about getting "there": just keep training consistently and things will happen... i see that he was right.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ^^^ well that just proves your teacher right and you wrong, maybe you should stay off the net and train more instead of ruminating and offering b.s. conjecture about what you "think" this art is.....neh?

    so, does 'shut up and train' work for you? or do you have to overanalyze and debate that too???


    some ppl are just too goddamn 'smart' for their own good...

    ReplyDelete
  3. some students are just too damn smart for their own good, always overanalyzing and debating every last detail.....just shut up and train already.....or just train more.....jeez

    ReplyDelete