A Warrior Acts With Composure
One goal of budo training is byodo (平等) or “equanimity.” To have an equanimous mind means that when something happens, the warrior merely observes and then mindfully acts with appropriateness instead of reacting mindlessly and possibly inappropriately.
The Zen master Hakuin was praised as being someone who lived a pure life. One day, a girl from the village whose parents owned a restaurant discovered that she was pregnant. When her parents became angry, out of fear she said that the father was Hakuin hoping that his venerability would calm her parents down. With anger, the parents and villagers marched to Hakuin’s temple. After hearing the accusation, Hakuin replied contemplatively, “Is that so?” When the baby was born, they brought the baby to Hakuin and asked him to take responsibility. He again said, “Is that so?” and took the baby in and lost his venerable reputation. From that point, he took care of the baby and was often seen playing with him. Almost a year later, the grief stricken mother could no longer stand it and went to her parents and confessed that the true father was a young man from the fish market. Both families rushed to the temple to get the baby back and apologized and begged for forgiveness. Hakuin again contemplatively replied, “Is that so?” and returned the baby. Using the words, “Is that so?” allowed Hakuin to remain equanimous and maintain his composure because he knew that sooner or later the mother would confess. From the standpoint of budo, we can use the phrase, “Is that so?” whenever we are confronted to give us the space to also act mindfully and appropriately. Calmness and equanimity are habits that we cultivate in our training because a true warrior never acts rashly. The best warriors allow thoughts and attacks to flow by. They don’t let anything faze them because their minds are balanced and centered.
Today’s goal: Try using “Is that so?” before a thought or to interrupt a thought so that you can change the way you act in any given situation.