Resources on Mushin-no-shin (the Mind of No Mind)

In the desire to improve in kendo and free the mind from limiting thoughts, I enjoy the practice of developing the mind and heart.  Here’s a compilation of some resources (below) in English on the subject of mushin-no-shin 無心の心 (the mind of no mind) or, in short, mushin 無心 (no mind) categorized by:

  • Mushin in General:
    • Books on Mushin – Openly Available On-line
    • Additional Books on Mushin
    • General Articles on Mushin
  • Mushin for Particular Arts and Sports:
    • Articles on Mushin in Kendo
    • Articles on Mushin in Budo and Related Arts
    • Articles on Mushin in Sports
  • On Potential Ways to Shift into Mushin
  • Quotes on Mushin
  • Articles on Related Topics:
    • Open Monitoring Meditation (OMM)
    • “We are Not Our Thoughts”

Among them, the book entitled The Unfettered Mind (below) by the Zen Buddhist priest Takuan Soho seems particularly comprehensive and illuminating.

Float more.  Steer less.  – John H. Styn


Mushin in General

  • Additional Books on Mushin
    • Joe Hyams, Zen in the Martial Arts, Bantam, 1982.
      • The chapter “Mushin: Let Your Mind Flow” on pp. 81-88.
    • Some more books which I have not read:
      • Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Christmas Humphreys, The Zen Doctrine of No Mind, 1991.
      • Ernst Vaughn, Arnold and W. Dan Hausel, Mushin:  A Right-Brain State of Awareness that is the Artist within the Martial Artist, 2015.
      • Michael Veltri, The Mushin Way to Peak Performance: The Path to Productivity, Balance, and Success, Wiley, 2017.
      • Manaka Unsui, Robert R. Gray, Kakusei-mushin:  A Research Study on the Ideal Mental State in Martial Arts, 2017.
      • Kanthrisa and Ramakrishna A V, Notes of Mushin, 2015.

Mushin for Particular Arts and Sports


On Potential Ways to Shift into Mushin


Quotes on Mushin


Articles on Related Topics:

 

 

 

 

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