How to Train the Mind the Samurai Way

Miyamoto Musashi

Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵, circa 1583–1645) was a Japanese Samurai swordsman, strategist, artist (who drew Hotei Watching a Cockfight shown above), and writer who became renowned through stories of his unique double-bladed swordsmanship and undefeated record in 62 duels [3][a].

Musashi is considered a kensei ("sword saint") of Japan [4]. He was the founder of the Niten Ichi-ryū (Nito Ichi-ryū) style of swordsmanship, and in his final years authored The Book of Five Rings (五輪の書, Go Rin No Sho) and Dokkōdō (獨行道, The Path of Aloneness). More

• Buddhism — A Method of Mind Training (Bodhi Leaves 24)
• Mind Training in Buddhism and Other Essays (Buddhist Publication Society, BL 101)

How to train the mind to obey | MM Method

(Presence & Blade) Samurai swordsman Miyamoto Musashi trained the mind to follow commands instead of emotions.

• Miyamoto Mushashi: Samurai legend
• Mastery of the heart-mind: 21 Rules for Life from a Legendary Master Samurai | HighExistence
• Psychology | Musashi, as both a warrior and philosopher, understood that mastery of the self is greater than mastery of the sword | Facebook
• No-mind (Wikipedia)
• Resistance is Futile

Scholar holds magnifying glass

This method comes from Japanese philosophy about life and works by reshaping the power of the subconscious mind, where resistance, excuses, and hesitation are born. Learn:

• How to stop negotiating with the mind
• Why most people fail at self-control despite motivation
• The real strength and weakness of discipline in mental training
• Simple Japanese meditation techniques that build inner authority
• How this approach reflects the eight Japanese habits that can change life
• A practical way to understand how to maintain discipline in life consistently.

This is not about forcing the mind. It is about training it so that obedience becomes natural.

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  Miyamoto Musashi 宮本無三四

  Taming the Mind: Discourses of the Buddha (Wheel 51, BPS)

• 00:00 – The hidden reason the mind refuses to obey
• 00:45 – When we realize our mind is in charge (David’s awakening)
• 04:10 – Musashi’s core revelation: We are not our mind
• 07:40 – Forging obedience the Samurai way (training through resistance)
• 12:10 – Why big commands fail and small commands win
• 15:30 – Cutting off escape routes before the mind rebels
• 19:10 – Training immediate action (no delay, no debate)
• 22:30 – Ending the civil war inside our head
• 26:00 – What a fully obedient mind looks like in real life
• 28:40 – Retraining disobedience into absolute control
• 31:18 – The path forward: Command or be ruled.

When Buddhists Attack (Mann)

Some scholars like D.T. Suzuki see the term wu-nien (無念, "without thought," "without recollection," with nien possibly rendered as smṛti, "mindfulness," "memory") as being synonymous to wu-xin [2, 12].

Furthermore, while wunien is common in the texts of the Southern School of Zen, the texts of the Northern School prefer the term "freedom from thought" or "freedom from conceptualization" (離念) [13].

#MiyamotoMusashi #SelfDiscipline #JapanesePhilosophy #PowerOfSubconsciousMind #PresenceAndBlade

 

💬 COMMENT: Where does your mind disobey you the most right now?

 

Just do it (without paralysis by analysis)

No-mind (Mushin calligraphy/cathexis-life)

NO-MIND: The term 無心 contains the Chinese character for negation, "not" or "without" (無), along with the character for heart-mind (心).

Likewise, in Sanskrit, the term is a compound of the prefix a- (negation) and the word citta (mind, thought, consciousness, heart).

In China, the term came to mean a state in which there is no mental activity, or a mind free of all discrimination and conceptualization, making it similar to the Buddhist Sanskrit term nisprapañca [9] and the Sanskrit term nirvikalpa [10].

The Zen zero is the enso.

Another similar Sanskrit term is amanasikāra ("non-thinking," "mental non-engagement"), which is found in the works of the 11th century tantric Yogi Maitripa [11].

Some scholars also offer other Sanskrit terms as being the source of the Chinese term wunien, including: a-cintya, a-vikalpa, or a-saṃjñā [2]. More

• Presence & Blade, Jan. 9, 2026; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven, Pat Macpherson, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

My "Last Hurrah" - Bebe Rexha (video)

Bebe Rexha, "Last Hurrah" (video); CC Liu, Crystal Q., Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

Nirvana? I'll get to it next weekend.

"I'm done with my karma"? Is it feminism to dress like an angel and feel like a "bad girl," a she-demon or dominatrix taking drugs and drinking? Lady Sativa, will she miss us? This song is so silly but deeper than most pop hits. "Maybe tomorrow I won't feel this pain," maybe. But why would it be any different? Of course, there'll be new pain tomorrow because the cause is still in place. All the wishing otherwise or willpower won't do a darn thing. We need a better plan or map to actual nirvana. But Bebe has heard of that: "I'm done with the heartache, I'm done with the demons. Can't wait to be normal, right after this weekend. I'm done with the drama, I'm fixing my karma [oh yeah, how?]. One more night up your nirvana." Nirvana means "the end of all suffering." That's why Kurt Cobain called his band that. He was miserable, and it was the ideal. But then what did he do but mope, get high, hang around with addict Courtney Love, and sing slacker anthems of self-pity? Great songs. Pearl Jam and the other Seattlelites must have been jealous. Bebe, what gives? This non-plan isn't going anywhere but another and another weekend of partying...the next hurrah. But, of course, that's probably the point of pop hits. :) xoxo

Will my cyborg meditate for me?

I. Rony, Seth Auberon, Pat Macpherson, Wisdom Quarterly; MindfulCyborgs.com

Does she remember me? Is she meditating without me? (mindfulcyborgs.com)

  

IN THE FUTURE we will be rich then we'll have time to do the things we don't do now as wage slaves and sidelined automatons in the post-industrial age.

In the future, cyborgs -- sensitive, half-human, half-machine humanoids -- will do it for us.

Robotic lotus (dreamstime)

In the future we will say, "Siro, do a half hour of mindful breath-awareness to get into absorption, emerge, then give me a good 25 minutes of vipassana, you know 'insight contemplation,' and wrap it all up with five minutes of loving-kindness."

"Do you want a relaxing massage afterwards," Siro will ask, "or how about some soothing genmai tea for your nerves? Also, remember to call your mother. It's been awhile." "Siro, call her for me," we will add, "and make my tea extra strong.

Now 
In the present we aren't rich enough to meditate -- you know how much those zafus and zabutons cost, and who has the time?
 

In the present we're plugged in and on the move 24/7. What if someone texts us and thinks we're ignoring them when we don't text right back?
  

He remembered!

In the present we say, "Siri, am I free to sit for 15 minutes?" She answers, "Only 15 minutes, yes, you have lots of 15-minute openings on your calendar."

"No, Siri, I meant an hour -- then, well, with getting set up and cleaning up -- an-hour-and-15-minutes."

"No, you don't have any 75-minute openings, unless you..."

"OH, too bad! I was really looking forward to having a good sit like Siddhartha. Well, maybe in the future. Siri, sext my girlfriend."
 

What's that? - They say in the future this devi will meditate for us. (mindfulcyborgs.com)

(Mindful Cyborgs) Hosts Chris Dancy and Klint Finley with guest Kate Darling on "Extending Legal Rights to Social Robots") Episode 32: Emoji-ing Robots Seek to Fathom Their Origin