The Unfettered Mind: Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman Paperback – June 12, 2012

The Unfettered Mind, a scant 100 page document written by a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman about the importance of right mindedness. Soho most likely couldn't have envisioned his treatise would be poured over after some 400 years had past. Yet, it has been since first writing it. Westerners have devoured his work just as much as Easterners.A quick search for the Unfettered Mind will net the potential reader many possibilities from different translations as well as many reviews. I do not have the audacity to think mine will be something new, but, after all, it is my perspective.William Scott Wilson is the translator on my edition; he also translated The Book of Five Rings and Hagakure both of which I suggest reading in addition to The Unfettered Mind. This completes the most common "trilogy" of Japanese thought during the height of their renaissance. There are others of course, but these three are the most accessible to western thought and frankly the easiest to get.The Unfettered Mind is broken into three smaller books or essays: The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom, The Clear Sound of Jewels, and Annals of the Sword Taia. Each of these deal with the right mind in the double context of Buddhism and Swordsmanship. Soho draws on many different aspects of Buddhist thought but basically the thing is and the thing isn't; for example, "One may explain water, but the mouth will not become wet. One may expound fully on the nature of fire, but the mouth will not become hot."Other such jewels of Buddhist wisdom seem to be tailor made for the martial arts. The ideal of no contemplation on the action of cutting down the opponent is taken into consideration in many different places of The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom. In one such place Soho describes being of no mind by quoting an old poem,To think, "I will not think"This, too, is something in one's thoughts.Simply do not thinkAbout not thinking at all.Many times Soho uses Buddhism's mystical nature to bring the reader into the right frame of mind and does so rather effortlessly. This is the nature of the Zen Master, to uncomplicated complicated thought. My hat is off to Takuan Soho.Finally, I will say that I have enjoyed this small book of Immovable Wisdom. I will be giving as gifts to those on the path to right mindedness. It is a piece that should be read then reread a few years down the road. And, finally, reread a decade down the road. I am sure I will come back to it again to find more truth than I did this time.To all potential readers, take your time, understand that you might not, and above all else, enjoy.

Takuan is one of my sources for inspiration, and I value this work. He was born during the Warring States period in 1573 into a Samurai family of the Miura clan, and entered a Jodo-sect Buddhist monastery when he was 10. He joined the Zen Rinzai sect when he was 14, and made history by becoming the abbot of Daitokuji, one of the major temples in Kyoto, at the young age of only 30.He was a prolific writer who composed over 6 major volumes, of which this is but a small fragment. The three works contained here were all written to great sword masters including Yagyu Munenori, and last piece was possibly to the head of the Itto school of swordsmanship, Ono Tadaaki. The purpose of these works is to unify the spirit of Zen with the spirit of the sword. To transcend the physical duel and have unbroken awareness of everything in the moment.This is not a book to read quickly and hope to find entertainment or a lesson in history. This is deep martial philosophy written by an absolute genius and master of some of the highest arts in ancient Japan. The book contains a few images of his art and calligraphy, but unless you know what to look for it is hard to see just how great his work is. I bought a repo scroll of his calligraphy when last I was in Japan. There is a standout quality about his style in that his scripting appears three dimensional. In fact, it is almost impossible for at least my mind to follow some of the path. Never seen anything like it. I own an original Tesshu who was a great master, but there is something unique and special about Takuan's style that suggests he may have indeed been operating on a whole different level."The unfettered Mind" is very advanced stuff. This is not a casual read, and it will appeal to experienced martial artists willing to work with it and apply deep meditation to the many concepts that may not be apparent at first glance. This is one of the greats.

I had never heard of Takuan Sōhō - not even the pickled daikon radishes that bear his name - until the mid-'90s when I read the 1935 novel "Musashi" by Eigi Yoshikawa, sometimes called "the Gone With The Wind of Japan." In relating the fascinating life of the legendary sword master Miyamoto Musashi, Yoshikawa tells of a similarly-fascinating character, an itinerant Buddhist monk named Takuan who was advisor to emperor Go-Minuzō, Shōgun Tokugawa Iemitsu, to a number of famed swordsmen, most notably the Yagyū family of the Nara area - and (in the novel at least,) to Musashi himself.So I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised at how fascinating and enjoyable I found "The Unfettered Mind," despite its being essentially an instruction on applied Zen Buddhism addressed to 16th-17th century martial artists, and the fact that there's much to disagree with philosophically. Certainly there is a boatload of esoteric, often inscrutable content in this book, but there is nonetheless a wealth of valuable instruction to be had here - on things like temperament, mental discipline, misguided vs. correct action, and the importance of training and self-education as a constant, lifelong thing.And of course the fact that you're reading the very words of a legendary figure from some four hundred years in the past is fascinating in itself. This is something I will likely read several more times, because there is a lot to absorb and ponder.