No Mind

[Don Niederfrank]

Any thoughts on a "no mind" calligraphy scroll at--

http://www.orientaloutpost.com/shufa.php

The description is--

In Japanese, this word means innocent, or one with no knowledge of good and evil. It literally means "without mind".

We haven't had a chance to fully research this word since this was a special request for a customer. It apparently has a good meaning in conjunction with Chan / Zen Buddhism in Japan. However, out of that context, it means mindlessness or absent-minded. To non-Buddhists in China, this is associated with doing something without thinking.

Use caution and know your audience before ordering this selection.

Personally, I like it b/c it speaks of non-dualism, especially with regard to judgments, and has sort of an oblique reference to "become like a little child."

[Jun]

無心 mushin

mu = nothing
shin = heart/mind

Mu is a fundamental Chinese Taoist concept that snuck into Buddhist thought. It's the Taoist term for absolute non-existence, from which all existence arises and to which all ultimately returns. This merged with the Buddhist philosophy of emptiness (空 ku) especially in Zen.

In Zen however nothingness is not a state of non-existence as opposed to existence but an absolute, transcending the opposition of existence and non-existence.