Mushin

Taken from the Wikipedia description:

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.

And a quote from Zen master, Takuan Sōhō:

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.

Contrary to what many people believe, thinking clouds your judgement. Thinking turns to overthinking, which turns to paralysis. You don't act when you overthink. You relive scenarios which never materialize over and over again until the opportunity to act has passed. You create only anxiety and inner turmoil.

Realizing the limitations of the thinking mind is not the same as ignorance. Ignorance is when you believe the current content of your conscious mind is all you ever need. Ignorance is when you believe your understanding of life and yourself constitutes absolute reality. Ignorance is the act of "ignoring." You ignore the other planes of consciousness available to you at every moment of your life.

Do you know what the difference is between humans and all other animals? We're aware of our vulnerability. We're aware of our mortality. And we do everything in our power to stave off the inevitable death we all face. We use our limited intellect to assess the various ways to navigate any situation to cause us the least amount of harm. Most of the time, it's our own minds which hurt us the most. Overthinking makes us stressed and anxious, making every possible decision look as hellish as the next.

Mushin can be thought of when people say, "in the zone." Mushin is a state of hyper-awareness. Mushin is when you are fully aware yet detached from the thinking process which hinders you. You are fully present, fully capable of destroying obstacles and opponents, and your mind is free from fear of death.

Accepting death is freedom. You're truly alive when you live as though you are already dead. Inability to accept death is where fear takes over, and robs you of life.

You achieve mushin through awareness. You become aware that you are not your thoughts, you are not your feelings, you are not your personality, and you're not your vices. You become aware that you are pure consciousness, unattached to earthly trappings. You are aware that you will one day die, but you don't fear it, because when it is your time, you will know. Mushin is when your entire focus is on the action you need to take.

When Miyamoto Musashi was asked how he defeated 60 samurai in 60 duels, and many more in battles he fought, he replied:

Think only of cutting.

Martial artists meditate and practice their movements with full attention to attain Mushin. Through practice, they are able to flawlessly perform movements both in practice and in combat.

The stress of combat and everyday life hinders people from preparing themselves and using their greatest gifts to their advantage. Rather than being aware, they're see through a haze of anxiety and endless thinking.

Mushin is the way to free yourself. It requires practice and discipline, but it leads to you becoming victorious over life's obstacles.

Cultivate Mushin and get everything you've ever wanted.

This is the highlight of my day:

I know, it's ugly right? Like what's up with that fruit design? And not only that, when you hold it you see it's rather cheaply made. It's noisy when you spin it, it feels light and fragile in my hands, and it's got scratches on it. I found it near the checkout lane in Winners in a beaten up package. I could tell someone had taken it out already. Many people had obviously passed up on it, and I highly doubt anyone would want it. Children probably picked it up, become enamoured by it, ask their mom for it, their mom would look at it and say no because it was beaten up and not worth the $5 (my mom bought it for me no questions asked).

As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it. I walked around with it for a bit and wouldn't put it down, so I was taking it no matter what.

This was really uncharacteristic of me. I'm usually the type to critique everything I buy, and not get it unless I think it's absolutely perfect. But this was different. I knew it was far from perfect, or even ideal by my standards. What could have possibly made me want it other than the fact I have a thing for fidget spinners?

As I said before, it was clear no one else wanted it. If I didn't buy it, perhaps it would get put on clearance hoping someone would take it out of the store's inventory; and if it still didn't sell, possibly get tossed in the trash (what happens to items in stores which never ever get sold?).

And now, here I am with this thing, as it makes its annoying, high-pitched racket as it spins, and I'm totally in love with it.

I was always a quiet and shy child (less so now), and because I didn't talk much, it gave me a chance to be ultra-observant of others. I could easily pick up on little quirks like the tone of their voice, their body language, which filler words they used etc. etc. This would give me often accurate insights into people's psychology. However, this perception mixed with cynicism and occasionally narcissism later on in life and made me rather judgemental; a quality which hasn't served me positively. I'm trying to be better, but still I catch myself placing unfair judgements upon my family and friends, the very same people who should be receiving my love and acceptance instead.

I feel like this fidget spinner is a reminder that even though someone or something can be far from perfect, they're still deserving of love. It's no amazing feat to love someone with lovable qualities, and often times, we, including myself, get caught up in loving people with these qualities we seek, as if we're rewarding them. But the people who are hard to love are often the people who need it most, because they're easy for others to pass up.

I don't know if that's the underlying reason for me getting this fidget spinner, or if I'm just a sucker for cute things, which I am. But either way, I feel there will be interesting insights to come.

There's a tranquil beauty in the cold darkness under the night sky, where the stars watch a troubled soul from high above where there are no faults.

FIrst post in a while

It's been a year since I wrote my last post. There was really no rhyme or reason for it, I simply lost motivation. But I find writing is therapeutic for me, and perhaps this is a good way to connect with whoever may be reading. I'm not going to say much more than that today, but expect new content soon.

I'm sometimes a master of spreading negativity. I have my own whimsical views born of something I don't understand, and I take these with the full intention of trying to make you believe them. Why? If you're happy because you believe in something that gives you the strength to make it through the day,  who am I to try and sap that light out of you?

Maybe it's I who needs to listen to you and not the other way around.

Why do you feel good?

I'm talking about you, Procrastination, you literal horse with wings that distracts my attention every time I try to find the moon. My duck that watches me and intensifies my anatidaephobia.

Seriously, if you didn't feel good, I probably wouldn't always be chasing you and trying to find out what you feel like, would I?

Maybe someday I'll learn the truth about you. Someday…

My treatment for writer's block

Ever since I was a child and discovered my ability to write, I took advantage of every opportunity I could to put my inner world on paper. I had such a vivid imagination, that I found the worlds I could create within my own mind even more fascinating than the real world. I would create fantastical stories in my mind, and I would draw them when possible, but when I discovered that I could narrate an entire story right from my heart, it ignited a blazing inferno of desire within me.

For some reason, in my teen years, my writing sort of came to a halt. I'm not sure why, but I felt like everything I wrote down wasn't good enough, To put it simply that's about the whole truth. Anyone else who I allowed to see my writing (which they were very few) thought the craft I put out was amazing. I, however never saw it that way. I always felt like something was missing, and that some feeling within myself wasn't being let out properly.

A lot of people would call this writer's block. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. I suppose whatever I was feeling does fit the definition of writer's block, but I feel the term "writer's block" feels like wood in my mouth as the words come out. It seems so dry and superficial, like it doesn't articulate any actual valuable details as to why I couldn't write. It just states the obvious.

But thinking back on it now, it goes way beyond writing. There has been many times where I've held off from expressing myself because I didn't think it was very good. With drawing and painting for example, I didn't think my work was all that good, so as a result I rarely drew or painted.

And looking back on other aspects of my personality, I see that I've been very self-critical, for seemingly no good reason. It's such an irrational state of being. I could have put out the most amazing masterpiece, and I still wouldn't think it's any good. Why? Why did I feel that way? I'm hard on myself for seemingly no reason, and while it leads me to have high standards at some times, it can also be very damaging.

As I result, I'm working to undo that self-critical nature I have of myself. Rather than staying in the dark trying to make something that I think is worthy, my form of therapy is to put myself out there and just let everyone's eyes see it for their self. I guess you can say this post is the very start of that.