unshakable mind

Calligraphy of "Fudoshin" by Hugh E. Davey of the Shudokan Martial Arts Association, who is also a prize-winning calligrapher.



Fudoshin: [whenever] someone is faced with a difficult situation, he can do as usual with [an] unshakable mind.
--Inoue Tsuyoshi Munetoshi, 18th soke, Hontai Yoshin Ryu

D. T. Suzuki translates The Mystery of Prajna Immovable, to the Buddhist concept of transcendental wisdom (the Sanskrit prajna). When applied constantly, it is the mind of Buddha, the state of ultimate enlightenment. Takuan and Suzuki further relate fudochi to the Buddhist guardian Fudo Myo-o (Sanskrit Acala-vidyaraja), the Immovable, who protects Buddhism with his sword, rope and glaring fierceness. He is the destroyer of delusion, unaffected by the seduction of worldly attractions. In his unassailable detachment, Fudo Myo-o is the steadfast image of the mind unmoved by carnal temptations. Immobility from the enlightened state is accomplished by maintaining a mind that remains detached, that is, a mind that does not stop or become fixated on any one thing.

Takuan's letter to the famed Yagyu master swordsman, official instructor to the third Tokugawa shogun, makes it clear that attaining this unfettered and imperturbable mind is at the core of true mastery. Applied in the context of the samurai swordsman, the unmoving and unstopping mind is one that will remain free from fixation on either the enemy's sword as it cuts at him, or by his own cut in defense. In such a state of mind, he spontaneously, naturally and effectively responds, without an instant's hesitation (or in less than a "hair's breadth" of time, in Takuan's imagery).

That the immovable, imperturbable mind of fudosshin was significant for all bushi (hereditary warriors) is suggested by Nitobe Inazo's ground-breaking turn-of-the-century work, Bushido: The Soul of the Samurai. In his chapter on "Courage" (Chapter IV), he writes in a footnote (pp. 32-3) that:

The spiritual aspect of valor is evidenced by composure--calm presence of mind. Tranquility is courage in repose. . .A truly brave man is ever serene; he is never taken by surprise; nothing ruffles the equanimity of his spirit. In the heat of battle he remains cool; in the midst of catastrophes he keeps level his mind.

Apparently lacking a discrete term in English for the concept, and avoiding the use of a Japanese term in this context, Nitobe is clearly referring here to the mental quality of fudoshin. He depicts it as being of quintessential significance to the samurai, and reiterates this sentiment later in his chapter on "Self-Control" (Chapter XI, pp. 104-5):

[For the bushi,] calmness of behavior, composure of mind, should not be disturbed by passion of any kind.

This mind that remains unruffled and calm is the same imperturbable, unattached and unfettered mind about which Takuan instructs his student, Munenori. It is the ultimate mind of mastery, achievable only through rigorous training, and equally rigorous soul-searching and spirit-forging (seishin tanren, in Japanese) through the confrontation and overcoming of our own fears and weaknesses.


Source:Fudoshin