II. Beyond Technique: The Artless Art
Reprint from Black Belt Magazine, June 1979
Eugene Herrigel, in his classic, Zen in the Art of Archery, expressed the significant relation between all arts and the state of receptive awareness of being more fully alive expressed in Zen:
A swordmaster who had been approached by one of the Emperor's guards for lessons felt that in some way this stranger was already a master and remarked, "Do you fool me? I know my judging eye never fails."
The stranger replied that he was not attempting to fool him. "But still I am sure you are a master of something," the swordmaster said.
The stranger replied, "There is one thing of which I can say I am a complete master. When I was a boy, it occurred to me that as a samurai I ought in no circumstances to be afraid of death, and I have grappled with the problem of death now for some years, and finally the problem of death ceased to worry me."
""Exactly," replied the swordmaster. "The ultimate secrets of swordsmanship also lie in being released from the thought of death. I have trained over so many hundreds of pupils along this line, but so far none of them really deserves the final certificate for swordsmanship. You need no technical training; you are already a master."
D.T. Suzuki said in his introduction to Herrigel's book, "If one really wishes to be master of an art, technical knowledge of it is not enough. One has to transcend technique so that the art becomes an artless art growing out of the unconscious."
To become a master is to become a master through some given art or science of the energies in the universe. There are slow forms of energy (what we call matter) and faster forms (light, cosmic rays and other high-energy particles, etc.). One masters one's life through mental alertness on both the sensing level, being more sensitive to the process of change (in martial arts, sensing the opponent's attack before it is obvious) and on the level of mind aware of but unaffected by sensed process and change.
The highest formm of mastery is beyond technique. It is the mastery of one's own self. Mastery of one's own mind and body, through centering and focusing mental and physical energies, precedes and is prerequisite to this self-mastery. It was this kind of mastery the Zen masters of old exuded and which so attracted the famous samurai to follow them and seek their guidance.
III. The Relation of Martial Arts and Meditative Disciplines
Reprint from Black Belt Magazine, June 1979
The relation between meditation and martial arts is little realized due to the misunderstanding of both. Meditation is not merely passive navel contemplation, and martial arts are not merely methodological systems of violence or merely sport. They are only reduced to this when practiced improperly and incompletely.
Meditative disciplines, regardless of whatever other effects they may have, are methods of producing a focus and a unity in thought, activity and purpose, in most cases for improving perspective and all aspects of living. This simply means that some stimulus, thought or activity is made the center of attention either to the exclusion of an awareness of distinction or differences in thought or sensation or for focusing in order t merely observe but be unattached to surroundings.
The practitioner becomes totally engrossed in or becomes one with the object or activity of attention and usually does this through some pre-established technique and discipline.
A few examples of meditative activities or disciplines are concentration on a visual object or an imaginary object, on a sound or a mental sound, concentrated movement, breath counting or breath concentration or even reading.
These activities or disciplines have a variety of effects, but all initially produce one common result; focus or centeredness.
What does the focusing allow? What is significant about it? Such concentration and focus allows the normal mental activities to subside or cease (if the meditation is done well) and allows for "just being here now." This in itself has certain more well-known benefits (e.g. reduction of stress, tension and anxiety; regulation of body functions: lowering of blood pressure and heart rate, to mention a few). But more important is the rest we get from our habits of mind.
What is perhaps most misleading about meditative disciplines are the metaphysical doctrines associated with them. Metaphysical doctrines are beliefs about what is ultimately real and what we ought to do in light of that reality. We find some traditions that use meditative disciplines that say all we see around us is illusion and all involvement in the world of perception and pleasure and pain should be avoided. Others encourage activity and participation in life from a more enlightened point of view than our typical state of mind.
The problem with some of the metaphysical doctrines based on the experience of mystics is that they take mystical language too literally; e.g., reality as void or the sensed world as illusion is taken literally instead of as an expression of the relation of consciousness to the object of consciousness.
One aim of meditation is to experience things directly instead of through our beliefs, to become unattached to our concepts of the world. This does not mean, of course, to give up concepts or activity. To the contrary, it is to use concepts and beliefs for the world.
There is an old Zen saying that we should not mistake the finger pointing at the moon for the moon itself. In other words, we should not mistake our concepts of the world for the world. When we meditate diligently, we gain new perspectives by "going inward" or by "becoming one with an object or activity." It is something we may do anyway in the normal course of things but not long or deeply enough or with the right motives to get the break of continuity in the normal habits of mind; i.e., we do not break with our normal preoccupation with what captures or plagues our attention. By meditating we can see with new eyes, with a kind of fresh outlook, like waking up in the morning refreshed, but more alert, because we never went to sleep. We were observing ourselves all the while, yet not with the normal habits of mind which are dependent on our preconceived notions and beliefs about the world. This kind of alertness and perspective can also occur following intense intellectual questioning or concentration.
Imbalance leads to greater imbalance unless it is checked with some stabilizing, focusing experience like meditation. But many things can be stabilizing and focusing, like music or reading or physical activity. Yet it is our attitudes and motive which make them more stabilizing and deeper experiences. This attitude usually requires searching, discipline, and guidance to foster and maintain it.
Each of the techniques of meditation cannot simply be put into practice by a novice with proper and immediate results. Although it is possible to be one's own guide at a later stage, as in most other things, it is usually necessary to receive guidance and preparation from one who is already familiar with such discipline and the variety of possible experiences arising from it.
The guide is one who sees the meditative discipline as only a technique for and a stage in the process of self-awareness and growth and that the end result, if any can be characterized, is not an escape from the world of pain and pleasure, but an overcoming of or release from the narrow ways of living and thinking to which we are usually committed. Proper meditation results in more enlightened, focused, and effective activity, not passivity.
Of those who try meditation, many accept too quickly the dogma which may accompany it and idolize the guide or instructor. Equally to be avoided is the rejection of the technique because of the dogma and teacher. The technique can be considered independently and one's own conclusions reached at a later, more appropriate time. To accept the dogma too quickly or to reject the technique can be a great mistake. The first experiences are apt to be rather undisciplined and lacking in focus, as are most first attempts at such things. This is true of martial arts. The student can only encounter his own habits of thought until he begins to progress and change. In the sustained practice of meditation, he reaches the point where intermittently he begins to have quiet moments when he is not thinking, yet neither sleeping nor dreaming, and this state of mind increases with diligent practice just as one's martial art skill deepens with effort and practice. Although one can lose much of the perspective and insight gained by means of meditating (or just being alive), there is usually a residual effect.
Martial arts can be meditative because focus is necessary to learn them and focus is produced by performing them. Any discipline that is meditative can have the effect, if we follow it through well and far enough, of waking us up to life by stopping the normal assumptions and habits of mind long enough to allow a genuine and permanent growth in perspective and sensitivity. Motives and attitudes, however, make a critical difference. If a technique is practiced merely from some motive of personal aggrandizement, the deeper benefits that focus and concentration can bring are jeopardized. Ultimately, technique can be transcended and life itself is meditation. But here meditation now means living with a fresh, alert, and receptive attitude.
To sum up, there is a focusing and concentration which occurs in meditation that results in a centering and alertness which can lead to greater sensitivity and awareness in our normal activities, provided the attitude and motivation are right. This can ultimately lead to a mastery of self. It does not eliminate all life's problems, but it drastically affects how we deal with them.
A master of meditation is a master of life (and the thought of death). Life itself is his technique of meditation; i.e., he has transcended technique. All of his experience becomes harmonious and supportive to his centeredness, not disruptive, as it can be for those not well focused. Meditation can be the starting point for this kind of mastery.
Legend has it that Buddha was asked,
"Are you a saint?" He answered, "No."
""Are you god?" Buddha answered, "No."
""What are you?" "I am awake."
— Dean Pickard 1979
