The Five Spirits of Budo There are five fundamental minds or - TopicsExpress



          

The Five Spirits of Budo There are five fundamental minds or spirits in budo. The student who understands these spirits in his heart will not only mature but also understand and become a humble being. SHOSHIN - The Beginners Mind It is a state of awareness where the mind remains always fully conscious, aware, and prepared to see things for the first time. The attitude is essential to continued learning. The student must play an active role in every class, seeing with this set of mind, in order to steal each day’s lesson. ZANSHIN - The Lingering Mind It is often described as a sustained and heightened state of awareness and mental follow-through. However, true zanshin is a state of focus or concentration before, during, and after the execution of a technique. Zanshin is the state of mind that allows us to stay spiritually connected, not only to a single attacker, but to multiple attackers and even an entire context; a space, a time, an event. MUSHIN - No Mind A mind without ego. A mind like a mirror which reflects and does not judge. The original term was “mushin no shin”, meaning, “mind of no mind.” Is a state of mind without fear, anger, or anxiety. Mushin is often described by the phrase, “mizu no kokoro”, which means, “mind like water”. The phrase is a metaphor describing the pond that clearly reflects it’s surroundings when calm, but whose images are obscured once a pebble is dropped into its waters. FUDOSHIN - Unshakeable Mind An unshakable mind and an immovable spirit is the state of fudoshin. It is courage and stability displayed both mentally and physically. It reflects aggression back to the source. Rather than indicating rigid, inflexibility, fudoshin describes a condition that is not easily upset by internal thoughts or external forces. It is capable of receiving a strong attack while retaining composure and balance. SENSHIN Senshin is a spirit that transcends the first four states of mind. It is a spirit that protects and harmonizes the universe. Senshin is a spirit of compassion that embraces and serves all humanity and whose function is to reconcile discord in the world. It holds all life to be sacred. It is the Buddha mind. Fully embracing senshin is essentially equivalent to becoming enlightened. However, the first 4 spirits are probably attainable to any serious student through awareness and hard training. Embracing these states of mind can reward the student in countless ways. Shoshin can free a student from a frustrating plateau of learning, giving him the sight to see what he would not see before. Zanshin can raise one’s total awareness enhancing randori and free-style training. Mushin can release the student’s anxiety under pressure enabling better performance. Fudoshin, can provide the confidence to stand one’s ground in the face of overwhelming physical attacks. The serious Budoka should find ways of incorporating these budo spirits in his daily life & training.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 13:14:50 +0000

Trending Topics



Recently Viewed Topics




© 2015