Can You Trade without Mind ?

Mushin (Japanese: English translation “no mind”) is a mental state into which very highly trained martial artists are said to enter during combat. They also practice this mental state during everyday activities. The term is shortened from Mushin no Shin, a Zen expression meaning the mind without mind and is also referred to as the state of “no-mindness”. That is, a mind not fixed or occupied by thought or emotion and thus opens to everything.

The origin of the Mushin concept comes from Muga-Mushin. Muga means no-self (derived from the Sanskrit anatman) and Mushin no-mind (also from the Sanskrit acitta). Muga and Mushin point to the same thing, the state of egolessness, but from different perspectives. Muga refers to the negation of the physical state, Mushin to the mental state of empirical existence. It is somewhat analogous to flow experienced by artists deeply in a creative process.

Mushin is achieved when a person’s mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear or ego during combat or everyday life. There is an absence of discursive thought and judgment, so the person is totally free to act and react towards an opponent without hesitation and without disturbance from such thoughts. At this point, a person relies not on what they think should be the next move, but what is their trained natural reaction or what is felt intuitively. It is not a state of relaxed, near-sleepfulness, however. The mind could be said to be working at a very high speed, but with no intention, plan or direction. Mushin is the state where a person finally understands theuselessness of techniques and becomes truly free to move. In fact, that person will no longer even consider themselves as “fighters” but merely living beings moving through space.

[This fascinating insight has been contributed by Vibhor. The art and practice of ZEN has been a source of inspiration to me. For Traders, the achieving of Mushin may be the final frontier – the way to excellence in trading.]