Have you experienced a mushin moment? What exactly is it? Rie Takeda explains what mushin is and how people can achieve it.
Nick: This kind of leads to another amazing Japanese word, mushin. So would you like to explain what mushin is?
Rie: Mushin is the zen word written with two kanjis. So the first "mu" means emptiness, or nothingness, and "Shin", you can call it Kokoro: it's the heart, mind, feeling, the center intuition, and also spirit and soul.
So it's got a really diverse meaning and mushin is a transparent, clear mind. So the body and mind become one and you become aware of your own energy and can make your energy flow lighter and smoother.
Nick: Sounds like a good place to be. So how can we achieve or experience mushin?
Rie: I ask my students what is your mushin moments after I explain what mushin is and how to. I'm sure many people have some moments of mushin. Maybe not every day, but very often.
Because in order to sense mushin, we need to relax as much as we can. We can focus on breathing and letting our body tension go very slowly, little by little. Then we can slowly become aware of our senses and pay attention to the fine sensorial feels.
So it is like meditation. For some people, even if they like to taste and have a cup of tea, it can be a mushin moment. Or when they do any.. like playing music or drawing -- it could become a mushin moment.
Nick: It reminds me of a word that I've recently studied, yutori. It seems like if you have yutori, you could then have mushin. So yutori is this idea of space or I guess space or you're not worried, you're not stressed, you're quite calm. Then I guess if you had that space, you could then maybe have these mushin moments.