“Sever the edge between before and after. - Takuan Soho
A good martial artist doesn’t hate Mondays. In fact, a good martial artist doesn’t see a difference between Monday or any other day of the week. A normal person gets to think, “I hate Mondays” as they live for the weekend or some other day where they think their lives would be better. This type thinking, that a normal person a gets to have, is called a discriminating mind. A discriminating mind has the luxury of judging things as being happy, sad, mad, or tied to any other emotion. A true martial artist doesn’t allow themselves the luxury of judgement and is supposed to have cultivated something called fudoshin (不動心) or “an immovable mind.” An immovable mind doesn’t mean “unmoving” in a fixed sense but rather that the mind isn’t moved or swayed by any one thing in one way or another. In his book, The Unfettered Mind, Takuan Soho called this fudoshin mindset “no-mind” and he wrote, “When this no-Mind has been well developed, the mind does not stop with one thing, nor does it lack any one thing. It appears appropriately when facing a time of need.” This demonstrates that one of the highest levels in Budo is to develop a mind of equanimity. Having an equanimous mindset means that our minds should be even keeled, mindful and always present which enables us to act appropriately to any given situation. This is opposed to a discriminating mind which mindlessly reacts to every little mosquito and also one which hates Mondays. Miyamoto Musashi might have understood this and valued it so highly that he put “Accept everything just the way it is” as his number one “rules of life” in a treatise called the Dokkodo. Honestly, I can attest that having an immovable mind is easier said than done and it is something that takes years or even decades to cultivate and I know that I am not personally there yet. Having an immovable mind is a practice and like all good practices, there will be good and bad days. The first step to attaining this high level is to become aware that there is no difference between Mondays or Fridays or any other day of the week. This is perhaps why Takuan Soho said, “Sever the edge between before and after.” Every day in practice, we are confronted with some obstacle or uncomfortableness. This uncomfortableness ranges from the doldrums of Mondays to getting struck in the head. The more we accept that which confronts us, the more our minds can become immovable and then no opponent or adversity will be able to upset our mind’s balance. When this happens, our minds will become calm as the smooth surface of water which can clearly reflect the perceptions from the outside world. A good martial artist doesn’t let their minds get swayed by any one thing. Thus, don’t hate Mondays, but don’t love them either. Mondays are just another day for us to put our training into practice.
Today’s goal: Train your mind to see Mondays as just another day.
Watch this video to better understand Mondays