Unlock Your Mind: Zen Teachings from a Master to a Master Swordsman

UFO6: 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...

United States on Nov 22, 2021

Mikal: This book contains *utterly profound* wisdom, that goes as deep as you can dive.

If you're considering buying it, just go for it. Even if you're deep into philosophy, spirituality, martial arts, even psychology- you should find something to contemplate in this short book.

If you buy it and find no use of it, you can potentially change someone's life by giving it to them. This is the real deal, no nonsense.

Germany on Apr 15, 2021

Mr. J. Goodman: My son was very happy, thank you.

United Kingdom on Jun 20, 2020

Max: There are three essays or letters here and I found each of them to be very insightful. An excellent introduction to a type of thinking which is non-dualistic but does not reject dualism. He teaches this by means of analogies. Especially humorous was Takuan's comment that ghosts or apparitions are those who were overly attached to the world.

Canada on May 24, 2018

Sreekant Sreedharan: My review of 'The Book of Five Rings' apply to this book as well. It is among the 4 classics on strategy that I carry with me at all times. I prefer the print version because I tend to annotate the text with my observations over time.

Required reading for the most refined study of strategy (business, marketing, martial art, war, politics, or anything else that can be interpreted as conflict), along with Sun Tzu's Art of War, Musashi's Book of Five Rings, and Lao Tzu's Tao-Te-Ching.

India on Mar 02, 2016

Lars: For every martial artist, it does not matter if you do karate, aikido, judo or anything else. This will strike a chord with your if you have progressed long enough for the technical aspects of your art to routine.

United Kingdom on Jan 18, 2016

brownieman: 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...

United States on Oct 29, 2011

Ronin: 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...

United States on Jun 03, 2009