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Mushin in Japanese and Wuxin in Chinese (無心 “no mind”) is a mental state. Zen and Daoist meditators attempt to reach this state, as well as artists and trained martial artists.[1][2][3][4][5] They also practice this mental state during everyday activities. Etymology DescriptionEdit

Mushin is achieved when a person's mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego during combat or everyday life. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is their trained natural reaction (or instinct) or what is felt intuitively. It is not a state of relaxed, near-sleepfulness, however. The mind could be said to be working at a very high speed, but with no intention, plan or direction.

Some masters believe that mushin is the state where a person finally understands the uselessness of techniques and becomes truly free to move. In fact, those people will no longer even consider themselves as “fighters” but merely living beings moving through space.

On page 84 of his 1979 book Zen in the Martial Arts, Joe Hyams claimed Bruce Lee read the following quote to him, attributed to the legendary Zen master Takuan Sōhō:[7]

  The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing,' for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death.
  When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the subconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the man's subconscious that strikes.

ApplicationsEdit

However, mushin is not just a state of mind that can be achieved during combat. Many martial artists train to achieve this state of mind during kata so that a flawless execution of moves is learned and may be repeated at any other time. Once mushin is attained through the practice or study of martial arts (although it can be accomplished through other arts or practices that refine the mind and body), the objective is to then attain this same level of complete awareness in other aspects of the practitioner's life. Dr Robert Akita claims it helps him “listen to my wife and children more closely…especially when I disagree with them, [and] in my business it has helped when I am faced with difficult decisions….”[8]

Hishiryo

Hishiryō (japonais, 非思量) est un terme utilisé dans le bouddhisme zen qui signifie « non-pensée », « au-delà de la pensée ». C'est l'un des concepts les plus importants de l’école Sōtō pour décrire l’état de conscience samadhi qui peut survenir durant la pratique de zazen[1],[2]. Cet état d’esprit ne consiste pas à couper les pensées mais à les laisser passer sans les qualifier : « Ne pensez pas à ce qui est “bien” ou “mal”. Ne jugez pas de ce qui est vrai ou ce qui ne l'est pas. Interrompez tous les mouvements de l'esprit, de l'intellect et de la conscience ; cessez de juger avec des pensées, des idées ou des opinions. N'ayez aucun désir de devenir Bouddha[3]. »

Une expression proche utilisée dans les arts martiaux japonais est mushin no shin, « pensée sans pensée »[4]. Origine du terme Penser sans penser, depuis l’inconscientModifier

D'après l'enseignement de Dōgen « Pendant zazen, automatiquement, naturellement, inconsciemment, nous suivons l’ordre cosmique. Penser sans penser, hishiryō, au-delà de la pensée. Aller de pensée en pensée entraîne la névrose, de non-pensée en non-pensée la somnolence. Si l’on se concentre sur la posture on oublie de penser et l’inconscient se manifeste. On va de pensée en non-pensée, puis de non-pensée en pensée. Courir ou s’échapper de quoi que ce soit n’est pas bon. L’état naturel, originel correspond à hishiryō. […] Cette conscience originelle, hishiryō, est la pensée du cosmos en harmonie avec le mouvement de l’univers ; et la pensée du cosmos signifie l’intuition de la profonde sagesse spirituelle. Hishiryo n’est pas une condition spéciale de l’esprit, un état particulier, c’est simplement l’état naturel, la pensée originelle qui ne repousse rien et inclut toute chose. »[5]

D'après l'enseignement de Deshimaru, « C'est l'art essentiel de zazen. Hishiryō jaillit de la posture juste et de l'expiration profonde. On ne pense pas mais l'inconscient s'élève. On pense inconsciemment à partir du thalamus, du cerveau profond. De cette manière, notre conscience s'approfondit, s'élargit et s'étend à tout le cosmos, ici et maintenant. Ainsi, notre esprit parvient à la tranquillité parfaite et les neurones de notre cerveau acquièrent la même vibration que celle de l'univers. »[6]

https://zenhabits.net/nothing/

How to Develop a Mind That Clings to Nothing BY LEO BABAUTA It’s said that one of the great patriarchs of the Zen tradition, Hui Neng, was enlightened upon hearing a single verse of the Diamond Sutra (one of the key teachings in Buddhism).

That verse can be translate in various ways, but the key line in it goes something like, “Develop a mind that clings to nothing.”

Imagine having a mind like that — it doesn’t get attached, it doesn’t need things to be a certain way, it doesn’t need people to behave in particular ways. It’s a mind at home everywhere, because it doesn’t need to be anywhere in particular.

All of our difficulties would be eased:

If someone irritates you, it’s because you are attached to a particular way you want them to behave, and when you don’t get that way, you are unhappy. If your mind didn’t cling to what you wanted, you would be fine with how they were acting. In fact, you might have compassion for them, as you could see they are suffering. If you are stuck in traffic, or a long line somewhere, you can become bothered when you want your life to be different (to not have traffic or a long line). Your mind is clinging to how it wants things, and doesn’t like not getting its way. When someone is upset with you, you can become defensive or angry that they’re acting that way, because you’re clinging to wishing they would treat you a certain way. If you let go of clinging, it wouldn’t excuse their bad behavior — nor would you have to allow yourself to be abused. But you would not have to be upset, you would just protect yourself by not allowing yourself to be abused (if necessary). And again, you might have understanding for their suffering. Every difficulty is caused by this clinging: stress when you’re overwhelmed, procrastination when you don’t want to work on something difficult or do uncomfortable exercise, loneliness, shutting your heart down in an argument, overeating, bad financial habits, and much more.

Let’s look at how we’d react in one situation, if we could have a mind of no clinging. Then let’s look at how we might start to develop that no-clinging mind.

Example: Dealing with a Difficult Situation with No-Clinging Mind Let’s say you have a loved one who is addicted to drugs, and you really want to help them. But you’re stressed about how to help them, about them going down this path, and about whether you’re even able to help.

The stress is caused by clinging — how you want them to behave, wanting things to turn out the way you want them to turn out. You have a loving intention, but at the same time your clinging is causing you some suffering.

Their drug addiction is also caused by clinging. They ran to drugs to get away from their difficulties, which were caused by clinging. They enjoyed the high and found it to be a comfort from their difficulties, and clung to that feeling. Over time, that clinging hardened to addiction, and their clinging causes them to stay addicted. They are suffering, and we can see that and have a genuine wish for it to end (without clinging to needing that outcome to happen).

So seeing all of this, you start to let go. You don’t need them to be a certain way, you just love them. You just show up for them, with acceptance and compassion. You open your heart to them, without needing things to change.

And you offer help, of course. You share ideas for seeking counseling, for meditation, for drug addiction strategies and treatment centers. But you are not attached to them actually doing those things — they are offered lovingly, as a gift.

This is one way a non-clinging mind might deal with a difficult situation. There are many others, but you can see that this non-clinging can be tremendously helpful in any situation.

How to Develop a Mind That Clings to Nothing I’m not going to pretend that I never cling, nor that it’s easy to develop a mind that clings to nothing. This is something I’m still working on, and I’m not attached to having it develop overnight (or ever getting there, really).

To the extent that we practice, it is helpful.

So here’s how I would practice:

Start by just noticing when you are clinging. It’s hard to see at first, but once you start to see, you can notice it all the time. When you don’t like the way your food tastes, that’s clinging. When you need to have your coffee, that’s clinging. When you overeat, procrastinate, get frustrated, lash out, run to your favorite distractions, shut someone out … those are ways of clinging. Just start noticing, without judgment. Notice how it feels when you’re clinging. What do you notice about your mind? What do you notice about the sensations in your body? Get curious, and start to fine-tune your attention so that you can notice the smallest details. Practice daily meditation, in the morning, for 5-10 minutes for at least a month. Extend it to 10-15 minutes after a month. Notice when you are putting off meditation (clinging to wanting to check your phone), or when you are wanting to get up from your seat before meditation is over, or when you are clinging to anything during the meditation. Practice letting go. It’s a kind of relaxing of the tightening of your mind and body. It’s a relaxing of your grasp on how you want things to be. It’s easier when you don’t care that much, so practice in easier situations at first. It’s saying to yourself, “I don’t need things to be my way. I don’t need them to be any way. I’m content either way, because no matter what happens, the universe is freaking amazing.” Notice the self-centeredness of clinging. When you are clinging to something, it’s because you are at the center of your universe. You want things to go your way, to meet your desires (or avoid your aversions), to be the way you like it. This is when we put ourselves at the center of everything. This is not judgmental, but just a noticing of perspective. Expand your perspective beyond your self-focused view, to get out of the clinging. See the other person’s perspective, understand that they are suffering, understand that in their suffering and clinging, you are alike, you are connected. See that you and all others are interconnected, affecting each other, supporting each other, and to the extent that you can wish for an end to others’ suffering, it benefits you as well. Expand your heart to wish for an end to the clinging and suffering of others, and not worry so much about your own desires and self-protection. This is a helpful thing when it comes to clinging, because when we expand, we no longer need things to be our way. See the beauty in everything, the immense, profound awesomeness in every little thing. When we cling to things being one way, we ignore the amazingness of the things around us, because if we saw that amazingness, we wouldn’t need things to be one way. All ways are incredible, in their own way. Appreciating that is helpful. This won’t get you all the way, but it gets you a lot closer.

The real way to develop a mind that clings to nothing is to first, continue to let go. Moment after moment, notice the clinging and then let go. Over and over again.

And then to expand yourself beyond your narrow perspective, to see the interconnectedness of all things, to appreciate the beauty in all around us, to not see yourself as separate from everything else but a part of it all, in it together, and fall deeply in love with that fact.

Philosophie indienne

* La philosophie indienne admet qu'un élément de discours qui peut être A ou non-A puisse être à la fois A et non-A. Les contraires peuvent s'unir sans se détruire. Les opposés peuvent se conjuguer …

* Schrödinger publie un essai en 1925: La Quête du chemin. Il y décrit son cheminement de pensée et sa vision métaphysique de la science. La pensée indienne l'a fortement influencé.

Mushin in Japanese and Wuxin in Chinese (無心 “no mind”) is a mental state. Zen and Daoist meditators attempt to reach this state, as well as artists and trained martial artists.[1][2][3][4][5] They also practice this mental state during everyday activities. Etymology DescriptionEdit

Mushin is achieved when a person's mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear, or ego during combat or everyday life. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is their trained natural reaction (or instinct) or what is felt intuitively. It is not a state of relaxed, near-sleepfulness, however. The mind could be said to be working at a very high speed, but with no intention, plan or direction.

Some masters believe that mushin is the state where a person finally understands the uselessness of techniques and becomes truly free to move. In fact, those people will no longer even consider themselves as “fighters” but merely living beings moving through space.

On page 84 of his 1979 book Zen in the Martial Arts, Joe Hyams claimed Bruce Lee read the following quote to him, attributed to the legendary Zen master Takuan Sōhō:[7]

  The mind must always be in the state of 'flowing,' for when it stops anywhere that means the flow is interrupted and it is this interruption that is injurious to the well-being of the mind. In the case of the swordsman, it means death.
  When the swordsman stands against his opponent, he is not to think of the opponent, nor of himself, nor of his enemy's sword movements. He just stands there with his sword which, forgetful of all technique, is ready only to follow the dictates of the subconscious. The man has effaced himself as the wielder of the sword. When he strikes, it is not the man but the sword in the hand of the man's subconscious that strikes.