However, I've had cause to consider mokuso. Mokuso means meditation. It is often announced/instructed at the beginning of many Japanese martial arts classes, and mokuso yama (cease meditation) if often announced/instructed at the end of those classes.
Mokuso is a life lesson that has far more usefulness than the martial arts instruction.
Mokuso is designed to prepare us to live in the moment in order to attend to what we need to attend to. We leave your troubles at the door.
I have a natural mokuso moment when I go surfing. All my troubles, and believe me I have many, are left behind the sand dunes. When I go surfing it is only me and the beach and the surf. Everything else melts away. When I return behind the sand dunes, the troubles are still waiting, but they are somehow easier to deal with. They have been put into perspective.
Mokuso can enahnce that experience. Mokuso is about consciously choosing to live in the moment. We can all think and do things that theory explains, but theory helps us do it consciously rather than haphazardly. Now when I go surfing, I close my eyes and perform mokuso so that I deliberately leave my troubles behind me.
Try it at your work desk when your personal life intrudes. Try it at your home life when your work intrudes. Try it when your entire life intrudes on your entire life.
Mokuso.
I agree with you about the power of mokuso, I find it very powerful too.
ReplyDeleteI find Mokuso a really important part of my karate training. Switch off all the outside stuff and just focus on the karate at hand. Especially important in these modern times when we all have sooooo much stuff going on - family and work and bills and housework and a million other responsibilities. I think Mokuso may well be my favourite two minutes of the week! Permission to not think about anything else other than karate for an hour and a half. Joy!
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