Itsutsu no Kokoro
五つの心
The Five Minds
Shoshin: (初心) Beginners Mind
Zanshin: (残心) Lingering Mind
Mushin: (無心) No Mind
Fudoshin: (不動心) Immovable Mind
Senshin: (先心) Purified spirit; enlightened attitude
There are 5 fundamental minds or spirits of budo; shoshin, zanshin, mushin, and fudoshin, and senshin. These very old concepts are largely ignored in modern dojos.
Budoka who take the time to understand the lessons of these 5 spirits will mature to become a strong and competent martial artist and a potent human being.
These concepts apply not only to martial art but can be also applied to work and business and life in general.
There is a misconception that the 5 minds is a continuum and that you can or should progress through each one and never drop back to a previous level.
This is not a helpful understanding. Each of the minds has uses and circumstance where it may be the most appropriate thought process. The progression is in the learning, practice and mastering of each level so that the appropriate thinking can be called upon when needed.
Shoshin: (初心) Beginners Mind
Shoshin can free a student from a frustrating plateau of learning, giving him the sight to see what they would not see before.
The state of shoshin is that of a beginners mind. It is a state of awareness the remains always fully conscious, aware, and prepared to see things for the first time. The attitude of shoshin is essential to continued learning. The student must play an active role in every class, seeing with a shoshin mind, in order to learn the basics. Students should be looking for the mechanisms that make techniques work.
“Don’t expect me to teach you. You must steal the techniques for yourselves.” Morihei Ueshiba
Zanshin: (残心) Lingering Mind
Zanshin can raise one’s total awareness enhancing all areas of training.
The spirit of zanshin is the state of the remaining or lingering spirit. It is often described as a sustained and heightened state of awareness and mental follow-through. However, true zanshin is a state of focus or concentration before, during, and after the execution of a technique, where a link or connection between uke and nage is preserved. Zanshin is the state of mind that allows us to stay spiritually connected, not only to a single attacker, but to multiple attackers and even an entire context; a space, a time, an event.
Mushin: (無心) No Mind
Mushin can release a student’s anxiety under pressure enabling better performance during testing.
Mushin is defined as “No mind, a mind without ego. A mind like a mirror which reflects and does not judge.” The original term was “mushin no shin”, meaning, “mind of no mind.” It is a state of mind without fear, anger, or anxiety. Mushin is sometimes described by the phrase, “mizu no kokoro”, which means, “mind like water”. The phrase is a metaphor describing the pond that clearly reflects it’s surroundings when calm, but whose images are obscured once a pebble is dropped into its waters.
Fudoshin: (不動心) Immovable Mind
An immovable mind and an Indomitable spirit is the state of fudoshin. It is courage and stability displayed both mentally and physically. Rather than indicating rigid, inflexibility, fudoshin describes a condition that is not easily upset by internal thoughts or external forces. It is capable of receiving a strong attack while retaining composure and balance. It receives and yields lightly, grounds to the earth, and reflects aggression back to the source.
Fudoshin, can provide the confidence to stand one’s ground in the face of overwhelming physical attacks. The serious martial artist should find ways of incorporating these budo spirits in their daily training and more importantly, daily thinking
Senshin: (先心) Purified spirit; enlightened attitude
Senshin is a spirit that transcends the first four states of mind. It is a spirit that protects and harmonizes the universe. Senshin is a spirit of compassion that embraces and serves all humanity and whose function is to reconcile discord in the world. It holds all life to be sacred.
Fully embracing senshin is essentially equivalent to becoming enlightened and may well exceed the scope of daily martial arts training. However, the first 4 spirits are probably attainable to any serious student through awareness and hard training. Embracing these states of mind can reward the student in countless ways.