Self Mastery

ACHIEVING A STATE OF FLOW AND PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH MUSHIN (無心)

ZEN AND THE ART OF CULTIVATING YOUR INNER DRAGON

In the first post of the series ZEN AND THE ART OF CULTIVATING YOUR INNER DRAGON, we looked at “SHOSHIN” or “The Beginner’s Mind.” In the second post, we looked at “ZANSHIN (残心)” or “The Remaining Mind.” In this third post, we will be looking at “MUSHIN (無心)” or “No Mind.”

“MUSHIN (無心)” or “No Mind” is followed by practitioners of Zen Buddhism and martial arts.

What is Mushin or No Mind?

Mushin (無心) is the shortened form of Zen Buddhism term Mushin No Shin (無心の心), meaning the mind without mind.  Mushin is state where the mind is not fixated on any specific thing. D. T. Suzuki, an author and scholar of Zen Buddhism translated Mushin as being “free from mind attachment”.  

The state of “no mind” does not imply ignorance; in fact it’s quite the opposite. No mind or Mushin implies a mind empty of all interfering thoughts in the form of distractions, worries, anxiety, conscious planning and fixations.

Attaining the state of Mushin is the Zen equivalent of the mind being in a state of flow in the present moment without resting upon anything. This is also popularly known as being in the zone, a heightened state reported by athletes and artists.

When you are in the state of Mushin, you experience timelessness and a state of the mind where anything is possible.

Being in the state of Mushin means you go around with a mind of no expectation. There is no pre-meditated action. Your conscious thoughts become still, and without interference from your thoughts you act spontaneously to the unfolding situation.

When one eye is fixed upon your destination, there is only one eye left with which to find the Way.

An Old Zen Saying

In the state of Mushin, your mind becomes like a mirror. When anything comes in front of the mirror, it reflects it immediately without waiting. When the moon rises, all the rivers and seas instantly reflect the moon. There is no waiting or deliberation.

When you become used to acting spontaneously in a state of Mushin, there is no deliberation, dithering, or hesitation. There is no anxiety. You live absolutely in the spur of the moment, and your behavior is natural and matured.

Bruce Lee, the legendary martial artist, actor, director, philosopher, and founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy, refers indirectly to the state of Mushin when he says in an interview: “Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now, you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”  

How can you embrace “Mushin”?

Through the practice of Zazen

Mushin is believed to have originated from Zazen, a seated meditative discipline, which is the heart of Japanese Sōtō Zen Buddhist practice. The aim of Zazen is just sitting, that is, suspending all judgmental thinking and letting words, ideas, images and thoughts pass by without getting involved in them.

Through the Practice of Walking Meditation

In walking meditation, we become aware of the contact between our feet and the ground, all the while synchronizing our steps with our breathing.  We diffuse our thoughts by opening up to the sounds and the sights around us.