C.S. Sloan's Integral Strength

“Attaining the way means attaining it completely with the whole body. With this awareness you should practice immovably.” ~Dogen Zenji      In this essay—as odd as it might seem at first—I want to use a couple of quotes from Dogen’s classic Zazen-Gi (which can be translated as “Principles of Zazen,” and is itself a book within his larger Shobogenzo or “The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye”) to look at how we might, from some practical perspectives, have the correct mind while practicing budo, and that this mind will lead us to fudoshin, or “immovable mind.” How do we cultivate this immovable mind so necessary for the practice of true budo?      To begin with, we need to have the correct attitude before we even start our training, and before every practice session that we undertake. Before you enter the dojo, dojang, or kwoon, you need to let go of the thoughts and worries of the day, and anything that is just bothering you generally in life. You may hav...

  Embracing the Pain and Hard Work of Budo Zen      Real Zen training sucks.  Real budo training sucks.  And that’s okay.  In fact, that may be the point.      Another fact: If your training, in budo or in Zen or in the combination of the two, doesn’t suck—at least some of the time—then you might not be training correctly.      First, both disciplines suck because they require hard work, and this is especially so if you’re combining the two.  Lots of hard work!  And this isn’t something that should just be “passed over.”  You need to embrace the pain, and embrace the hard work if you want to succeed, which is exactly, by the way, how it should be.  If you’re going to succeed at budo, at Zen, or—even better—at both, then you need to understand this early on in your training, and you need to embrace it early.  If you do, then something will happen that doesn’t suck : ...

  A “Nothing to Do, Nowhere to Go” Practice for Contemporary Budoka      In my last “Budo Zen” article on hard work, I mentioned at the end how a lot of practitioners don’t like—or, at the very least, don’t know what to make of—the goalless practice in Zen of “nothing to do and nowhere to go.”  If there is nothing to do and nowhere to go then what is the point? This is a common enough refrain, and it’s what I would like to explore a little further here.      Goals are needed in life.  That’s the first thing that needs to be understood.  You are not going to achieve much (in many aspects of your life) if you don’t have a clear goal, and a means to get there.  Often, when it comes to lifting, I discuss on this blog how too many lifters—bodybuilders, strength athletes, and, yes, martial artists, too—will often allow the means to justify the ends .  This is the wrong approach.  If you allow the “means” (...

Budo Zen, Just as with the Martial Arts, is Hard Work but It's Worth It! In my last essay on Budo Zen, I discussed how Zen, real Zen, is hard work. I would like to explore this idea a little more in this present essay, especially as to how this applies to, and is good for, the budoka or other martial artist. Martial practitioner or not, most who take an interest in Zen don’t stick with it. Not once they realize the hard work that is involved. This shouldn’t surprise anyone. Not really. That’s just human nature. But what does surprise me is when actual Zennists, or perhaps practitioners of any form of Buddhism, believe that more and more people in our modern world will become keenly interested in the dharma. Some believe that Zen will somehow grow into one of the west’s most popular religions. I’m not buying it. Never will. If it does become that popular then trust me, it won’t be real Zen of any type. Apparently, I’m not the only one that feels this way. I...

  Never, Never, NEVER Stop Training Don't worry, this image will make sense shortly. I was raised by parents from East Texas.  I say this at the beginning so that you can be as bemused—or perhaps befuddled—as much as I am that my mother, Texan through and through, has a deep, abiding, and often (for me, at least) confusing love of all things British.   British movies, British novels (my mother is a novelist, so that might be part of the problem), British mysteries whether in print or screen (small or large), British tea; well, the list could go on and on and on.  She even has a deep love for the Royal Family, which is the most confounding of all to me, and which I gladly point out at a lot of July 4th celebrations.  As a Texan myself, who has made his home in Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, and (mainly) Alabama, I’m proud that my ancestors fought the British, and kicked their tails back “across the pond.”  But, hey, I’m also proud of my ancestors that fought...