What is it?

[Steve RA]

And the circle rolls on !

[benos]

If you agree without believing, you will live without suffering.

[Dranoel]

On 9/23/2019 at 4:55 PM, benos said:

If you agree without believing, you will live without suffering.

 

If you don't KNOW what you are doing, neither Zen nor any other discipline will help you. You can only work within the knowledge you possess. If you don't KNOW, beyond any shadow of doubt, there is no religion, discipline, gadget or magic that will improve your performance.

[GOF]

"Use The Force, Luke!"

That's actually not a snarky statement. If you have drilled & trained, then at the BEEP, let it flow without distraction. Be the bullet.

[benos]

On 10/4/2019 at 7:06 PM, Dranoel said:

 

If you don't KNOW what you are doing, neither Zen nor any other discipline will help you. You can only work within the knowledge you possess. If you don't KNOW, beyond any shadow of doubt, there is no religion, discipline, gadget or magic that will improve your performance.

Yes. The magic is in knowing.

[Eric802]

I’m new to USPSA. I walk the stages, I listen to how more experienced shooters are planning the stage, I come up with a plan. When I hear “Stand by...”, I try to stop thinking about it. I can’t plan it any better at that point. All I try (without “trying”) to do is just be still and wait for the beep. I’ve practiced my draw enough that I don’t have to think “Grab the gun, release the retention, bring it up...” etc. I “try” to just have a blank moment before the beep triggers action. 

 

Just ordered “Zen mind, beginners mind”. Interesting topic I’m wondering how I can apply it to work (litigation/management). 

[benos]

The best solutions appear when you are wide open.

[Rob72]

The concept of zen is not new, nor related strictly to West Asian philosophy.

John 3:8 "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

 

Musashi: “The true science of martial arts means practicing them in such a way that they will be useful at any time, and to teach them in such a way that they will be useful in all things.” 

 

Seneca: “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested. But when it is wasted in heedless luxury and spent on no good activity, we are forced at last by death’s final constraint to realize that it has passed away before we knew it was passing. So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it… Life is long if you know how to use it.”

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by Rob72

[Seery]

Great thread with lots of helpful insight. Thanks. 

[ADI-inventor]

Mushin. It allows you to go from Jeff Cooper's awareness code yellow straight to black, bypassing orange and red. I say black because when in this mental state you are no longer in a fight. You are the fight. There is an effective planning progression built into Cooper's system up to red. As progression occurs to the next awareness level, logical planning and preparation can take place. In most defensive situations this reliance on a plan, even if hastily conceived, will save your life. We should give Cooper due credit for this. But in those circumstances where there is no time for planning, going into Mushin (black) brings your impromptu mental abilities to bear upon the situation. Not in Mushin, the mind logically takes steps, "if this then this." First you think, then you do. Think of it as an action - reaction cycle. In Mushin, the mind is emptied so that the adversaries action and your reaction meld together. That action - reaction cycle is broken. You're not thinking what to do. You do. - You do. - You do. It saves your life because it harnesses incredible speed and it halts the adversary's decision making process. There is a similar experience we all know of when our finger touches the hot pan and without thought our body moves. Your adversary's actions can't keep up and It makes you almost indescribably fast to any observer. When the fight ends, you often don't know what exactly transpired and have to rely on memory to piece together what you did.

How this could be applied to competition shooting, I'm unsure of specifics. Because there is application in all of life for Mushin, I'm sure that it can manifest itself in sport. I think of it as an unusual but effective component of Zen. If I decide in the future to enter into competition, I'll certainly explore Mushin's application. I've only experienced it in the self defense realm.

[Hunter91]

On 9/20/2019 at 11:37 AM, GrumpyOne said:

Sparky, Sparky, Sparky...When did I say Buddhism was not a religion? This thread is about Zen....

 

Zen is not a religion, it is a way of thinking...

 

Agreed. 

[ShredderTactical]

Reviewing the threads in this section I am perplexed...  Wondering if everyone has drifted away from searching for mindfulness and Zen as a way to relax and improve high performance shooting skills?  I would think this subject would be gaining traction in the hectic high tech lifestyles that most folks live today.  Perhaps the concept is too much to handle with everything the world is grappling with?  Seems ironic as it would seem we need more of this in our lives, not less.  Just some thoughts on the subject as I continue my own journey...