Shisei wo tadashi! Mokuso!
These “commands” should sound familiar to most Kendoka. Sometimes the order to straighten up isn’t included, just plain “mokuso.” According to my dictionary it simply means “meditation.” But what is it that we’re supposed to do before and after practice? The common explanation its for getting rid of your thoughts, clearing your mind, or/and emptying your mind. All this seems kind of difficult to perform, especially after the last jigeiko when adrenalin is rushing through your veins and there is a throbbing in your head. Still, you have to clear your mind and don’t think.
Now I know for sure that I’m not alone when I say that it’s impossible to clear your mind completely. I’m also sure that there are people out there who practice Zen meditation or something that includes a meditative element. The only person I knew was a self proclaimed master of Zen. Kendo for him was quite a struggle and everyone who encountered him. He couldn’t stand to be hit whilst not getting a grip on how to hit others. He stayed for quite some time but in the end retreated to his own Zen meditation school. The last I heard was that he was giving lessons and workshops to help managers clear their mind. I asked him when he was still around what one should do during mokuso. I never have gotten a satisfying or otherwise helpful answer from him.
Kozaki Sensei from Southern Germany on one occasion took the time to make us clear our minds. He explained that the trick was to relax your body and concentrate your thoughts. To help us with this he gave us the following exercise: you had to count the time of your breathing and the time that you hold your breath. It is helpful to find a timing that is comfortable for yourself to do whilst trying to clear your mind. He taught us the rule “to multiply with 4 and 2.” In my case it would mean that I breath in through the nose for 3 counts, hold my breath, pushing it down and try to hold it in my hara, while counting to 12 (3 times 4), then breath out through the lips counting to 6 (3 times 2). All the while your hands should rest in your lap with the fingers joined together. It’s important that the thumbs should only lightly touch each other. He assured us that if you keep the thumbs against each other you will fall asleep.
In my case I’m comfortable to count to 3 when I breath in, but that can be longer for others who have a bigger lung capacity. It was very relaxing to learn mokuso this way. If you concentrate only on the breathing there is – in my experience – some clearing of the mind and the wild thoughts that haunt me after the last jigeiko. It also helps me to get my breath back. This was his helpful trick to clear the mind. He also said that if you are getting better at this then you don’t have to count and you can gradually clear your mind without any device. I haven’t reached this stage and I’m still counting until the command “Mokuso yame!”
Maybe all this is just a particular way (my way) to deal with mokuso. I’m actually anxious to know what others do during mokuso, and does it really help to clear your mind. Are there any Zen masters in the house?
Mokuso actually means “quiet thought”. Which is a bit strange really, since we’ve all be taught not to think about anything during it! A Zen Buddhist would say not to struggle with not-thinking but let thoughts come and go, “like clouds passing in the sky”. A really effective and quick way to calm your mind is to be aware of all the sounds happening around you as you sit.
The breathing you describe is different to the breathing I was taught for zazen, which was basically to breathe naturally through your nose. This kind of breathing OTOH is more connected to raising ki rather than instilling calm or achieving enlightenment. So it seems to me to be quite an active kind of breathing, with a self-conscious and quite immediate outcome.
I usually do the kind of breathing you’ve described, as it produces some benefit and is directly applicable to kendo. Sitting in zazen for 30 secs really isn’t. Interesting post Fonz. b
Just to add to what I do during mokuso; I simply concentrate on my breathing. I don’t think about it or count, I feel it (if that makes sense). I breath in from my nose, filling myself with breath from the bottom up slowly, and exhale at the same speed out my mouth, all the while feeling my heart beat in my chest and listening to the blood pumping in my head.
I’ve also received the advice to count when breathing in and out a few times now. I also recently did a short introduction to sazen and the teacher there mentioned that its a good thing to help beginners concentrate, but rather than count in for 7, our 7 (or whatever) he said to breathe in and out normally but just count each in/exhale and attempt to reach 100 (at that time you start again). If you lose your concentration part way through then reset to 1 again.
Personally I tend to sync my breathing with the movements I am doing (or not doing), so I am most conscious of my breath not just during mokuso, but also when doing any part of reiho. Recently i’ve started experimenting with breathing mechanisms more deeply.
I was thought to breath in normally then exhale slowly untill i feel a slight contraction just above the navel(seika tanden) and breath in again, i do the latter while trying to stay aware of my whole body and surroundings. Oh and kudos for those who can sleep while in seiza.
There’s no formal mokuso in Yagyu Shinkage-ryu practice, but 21st soke Yagyu Nobuharu recommended susokukan (breath counting) for 30 breaths as part of one’s individual pre-keiko preparation. This is done Rinzai style, with eyes open, fingers of one hand resting on the other, with thumbs barely touching. Erect posture a must. One breath is one natural inhale and exhale, through the nose. Not being distracted is rather quite a feat, as while you are doing this there are typically other people doing suburi with fumikomi, or even doing kumitachi all around you.
Perhaps surprisingly, given Shinkage-ryu’s well-known connection with Zen, not everybody does it. I personally do not feel any difference when I do it vs. when I don’t. However, if I’m upset, worried, or otherwise discombobulated by the world outside the dojo, I find the breathing helps get me in the right frame of mind for practice.
I once asked a Japanese friend if the word “mokuso” was ever used outside of its kendo context. After pausing for a moment to think about it she replied that it was something which might be said to you by your parents as they sent you to your room for misbehaving.
Mokuso is still practiced before classes at some schools in Japan. There really isn’t that much to it in my opinion, it’s just a method of preperation for an activity. 明鏡止水 – still water is a clear mirror.
I don’t know a lot about Zen, but I do practice rarely. Interestingly the zazen described by Dogen Zenji in 普勧坐禅儀 (fukan zazengi) describes the method for doing zazen and then mentions 不思量底を思量せよ。不思量底如何が思量せん。非思量。此れ乃ち坐禅の要術なり (think about non-thinking. How is non-thinking not thought? Nonthinking. This is an important technique in zazen.) A commentary I read on Dogen (Buddhist Religions) stated that his approach was not actually letting thoughts pass by freely, but actively deconstructing them through this process of ‘nonthinking’.
I certainly think there are benefits to be gained from practicing a breathing activity like mokuso or zazen. They are very different activities though, the goal of mokuso being in my humble opinion to be as a mental preparation for an activity, while zazen is the goal and activity rolled into one action.
It is also worth considering the influence of mikkyo, particularly activities like 阿字観 (ajikan – seed syllable contemplation) and 月輪観 (gachirinkan – moon disk contemplation) and their influence on koryu.
@Jeff Martin
Mokuso as punishment for misbehaving, and we do it voluntarily? That makes sense in a weird way I guess. Sit down and think about what you did wrong. Now there’s a cleansing if ever I saw one.
Heh! Sounds like my post keiko mokuso!