“Looking carefully at the world, we can see that there are many people who throw away their lives lightly. But do you suppose one person in a thousand would die for right mindedness?”
– Zen Master Takuan Soho.
A lesson in spiritual and intellectual wellness
As an Amazon Affiliate it is policy to inform you that this is an advertisement. However, this is still a reflection of a great book that I’ve read many times over. I believe it would benefit any who may read it. You can find the link for it in my references located at the bottom of this page.
Don’t lose your way.
The future belongs to those who can see their Grand Pattern. Now that time is your ally, you only have one enemy, yourself. Even once mastery is achieved, you could still lose your way. It happens all the time. That’s what makes none of us special.
Losing one’s focus is inevitable. Boredom makes fools of us all with enough time. You must remember to recall your focus during these times. Getting over yourself before it’s too late could save your life. But how do we know if we are in our right minds?
What does it mean to be in your right mind?
Genndy Tartakovsky’s “Samurai Jack “
Right Mindedness.
Does it mean being correct at all times? No. We have spoken at length on this. You must be okay with being wrong. The need to be correct at all times is selfishness.
Does it mean stopping to consider every possible action? No. When time is short, you should already have a plan in motion.
To be in your right mind means not having the mind stop. To remain present. To remain intensely focused on your actions, yet fully aware of the entire situation. To stop the mind is called an Affliction in Buddhism; a sickness of the mind. They say a sick mind can only see one thing. This is an accurate enough description of Affliction. It is blindness.
When afflicted, you are prone to hesitation. Take counting from one to ten, for example. When counting, the mind does not stop at any particular number. The act of counting becomes one motion. Now say you were cornered by 10 enemies. If the mind stops at just one of them, you will be cut down by one of the other nine. The act of fighting your way out must become one motion.
Sora holding back 1000 heartless in Tetsuya Nomura’s “Kingdom Hearts 2”
No panic nor insecurity.
There is no time for panic in the moment of an attack. There is no time for dread. There is no time to flinch when struck. There is only execution. The sinking feeling in times of stress is only adrenaline. Most people confuse this feeling for fear, but you are excited. The pit in your stomach is your body’s response to your brain demanding action. You need this, as it hyperfocuses you. But if you are under affliction, your judgment will be clouded, and you will make the wrong move. Right action isn’t just about responding quickly. It’s about handling the problem before it becomes a problem. It’s about knowing your power and what you have the ability to change. It’s about not becoming a problem yourself.
Say someone insults you, and you take offense. Are you in your right mind by immediately cutting off his head? No. You are angry. You are afflicted by your own sense of honor. Are you in your right mind when you make a clever rebuttal to silence the fool? No. Though you moved quickly and smoothly, you were not in your right mind. To take offense of any insult is to not be in your right mind. When you are afflicted, you are easily controlled by even the lamest of commoners.
People are always watching. They may not always care what you are doing, but someone is always going to be watching you. Would you be foolish enough to let them see you afflicted? Everything you do, even in your own home, should be done with dignity. Once tragedy strikes, your dignity may be the only thing you have left. Everyone has their secrets, but one shouldn’t hold too many. Secrets force you to hesitate. Hesitation will make your actions sloppy. Your sloppiness will inevitably expose your secrets for all to see. Know when you are distracted and recall your focus.
You are going to get distracted. It’s impossible not to. But you must never forget to come back. Not just for yourself, but for those whom you would serve. Don’t go ruining everything due to an affliction.
Right Action.
The mind is essentially free. Keeping it in one place is foolishness and is viewed by all as foolishness. In the meditative state, we can go over the same problem in many different ways. Meditation is not simply thinking of nothing; this is futile. Meditation is also not just thinking of one thing over and over; this is an affliction. In meditation, the mind isn’t empty. It is free. The mind can be free in all things. You don’t have to sit quietly, humming to a bell to do it.
To be in your right mind, to navigate according to your Grand Pattern is like moving in an eternal meditative state. In your right mind, you are just as satisfied camping under the stars as you are spending a night in a luxury hotel. You are just as satisfied with water as you would be with juice. You will need less to accomplish much more than the common. Most importantly, you will be able to do most anything well. Because your mind does not stop. There is no hesitation, only execution. Critical analysis is important to thrive. But speed is the x-factor when it comes to survival.
Sometimes, you don’t have enough time for a response. You must instead react. But even when reacting to an emergency, you must make the best possible judgment. Your reflexes come from your tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is freedom of skillset. It takes years of studying techniques and principles. If you train only in technique, you will miss opportunities to apply them. If you study only in principle, you will not have the ability to seize an opportunity. Once the knowledge has fully integrated into your nervous system, only then will you have the ability to “just do” something.
Tacit knowledge is like mastery of a weapon. It’s no longer remains just a tool of destruction. It becomes an extension of your body. If your mind slips into the past or the future, it will fall into affliction, but if you remain present, your tacit knowledge comes to a shine, and you start moving with right action.
Remaining present gives you the ability to key your spirit for confrontation. The act of confronting someone scares most people into hesitation. It is because they do not trust themselves to handle the situation with right action. However, someone who trusts themselves fully to see a situation to its ending would simply act. Confronting becomes one motion. This is right action.
Right action carries more weight than simply rising to an occasion. It settles problems in one motion. It protects not only your life but also those around you. Those who depend on you will also begin to move with right action. This sounds a lot like confidence, right? Not quite. Even idiots can be confident in their decision. And if idiots are put in charge, everyone loses time and money.
Micheal Scott from “The Office.”
A warning.
While on the topic of stupidity, smugness is a special variant you must avoid. To be smug, one must have learned quite a bit about a given skill or topic. But what makes smugness such a special form of stupidity is that the one who has learned doesn’t realize they are the ones being stupid. To be stupid is to purposefully make a bad choice for no good reason. Smugness is choosing to believe everyone else around you is stupid, which never goes well if unchecked.
When feeling superior, remember to get over yourself and recall your focus. You never truly know what the other is capable of. You may come across someone else who realized their potential, masters aren’t rare. When two masters of equal spirit come to blows, it never ends well. Victory and defeat become one and the same. Both sides end up losing everything to achieve a meaningless victory. When confronting another master it is best to use diplomacy whenever the inevitable stalemate occurs.
At the end of a thought is supposed to come action. Action is what matters in emergencies. You must remember to recall your focus in these times and clear your mind of any afflictions. Remain present in the moment of confrontation because it is your tacit knowledge that will guide you. Right action is only possible when you are in your right mind. Right action carries impact because of its ability to set new standards. And always remember to check your ego. You will never reach a level where it’s impossible to lose your way. Someone is always watching you, so why not show them how it’s done?
The Wellness Wheel.
The Unfettered Mind is very similar to the art of war, as it is short in length and doesn’t waste words. Another similarity they share is the level of focus you would need to extract the potent instructions they made look so simple. The best result is getting your own insight of what this wise man said so long ago. It’s almost hilarious how much it applies today. Makes you wonder how much has really changed over the generations. Stay safe on your journey.
References and photos
“The Unfettered Mind” – Takuan Soho,
“Samurai Jack” – Genndy Tartakovsky,
“Kingdom Hearts 2” – Tetsuya Nomura,
“The Office” – (Original) Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, (US) Greg Daniels.