Walking a desert trail in the vicinity of the newly laid rail of the Union Pacific Railroad in the southwest, a Japanese laborer named Tazo comes upon a Navajo Indian by a fire next to a fork in the path as it turned south. The Navajo speaks to Tazo saying, “You’re not American!” Tazo replies, “No I’m not, but why do you care?” The Navajo answers, “The Americans are crazy!” They say they think with their heads. No sane man thinks in the head.” Tazo gazes down at the weathered Sage and smiles as the Navajo goes on to say, “You and I are different, I know!” “We think in the heart.” – adapted from a reference to a C. G. Jung mimeographed report of five lectures given under the auspices of the Institute of Medical Psychology in London in 1935 as published in D. T. Suzuki’s “Zen and Japanese Culture” (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973). 185.
the principles of Zen to mental training for cycling competition, I’ve been
studying the Bushido culture of feudal Japan. The great 17th century
Samurai swordsman, Miayamoto Musashi, would understand the exchange between
Tazo and the Navajo as it deals with the Japanese term kokoro. “Kokoro is a very comprehensive term. It first of all means the physical ‘heart’,
and then the true ‘heart’ (conative and emotional), ‘mind’ (intellectual), ‘soul’ (in the sense of an animating principle),
and ‘spirit’ (metaphysical). In the
case of the swordsman, the kokoro has
rather a conative sense; it is the will in its deeper significance.
“In distinguishing two kinds of kokoro: one
is the physical ‘heart’ and the other
is the ‘true’ heart. The heart susceptible
to emotionality is the first kind. When it is kept down below the navel, it
becomes immovable. Unless this takes place, all the skill the swordsman may
have acquired is of no use.” ① Ibid, pg. 185. So to
benefit from this application of kokoro, we must center ourselves on the “true”
heart, moving our thoughts and actions away from all “emotionality.” But how is
Musashi writes in his “Book of Five
Rings”, “In the science of martial arts, the state of mind should remain the
same as normal. In ordinary circumstances as well as when practicing martial
arts, let there be no change at all-with the mind open and direct, neither
tense or lax, centering the mind so that there is no imbalance, calmly relax
your mind, and savor this moment of ease thoroughly so that the relaxation does
not stop its relaxation for even an instant.
“Even when still, your mind is
not still; even hurried, your mind is not hurried. The mind is not dragged by
the body; the body is not dragged by the mind. Pay attention to the mind, not
the body. Even if superficially weak-hearted, be inwardly strong-hearted, and
do not let others see into your mind.” Miyamoto Musashi, trans. by Thomas Cleary “The Book of Five Rings” (Boston: Weatherhill, 2006) cover.
This is a
technique I am applying to the rigors of training and racing.