Last night I was chatting online with one of my readers about having a mind block when I flipped open my laptop to scribble, and although she tried to help me with some ideas on topics to write about, I simply was not feeling IT. All night – although blank when it came to writing – my mind was racing with thoughts, worries, and stressful emotions; overwhelming surges in the mind can shut a person down completely. Is the mind something we can control, I mean truly control? They say we only utilize at most 10% of our brain’s potential. Within the 10% of power all I require is that I’m able to control levels of stress and emotional suffering. To an extent, I believe we can do a lot more than simply control those levels; practice is needed and that’s all. All my life have I suffered from emotional sensitivity; something I admit is a weakness within my character.

Reminds me from a scene in “The Last Samurai”, where Captain Nathan Algren (Tom Cruise) was practicing the art of the sword with the Samurai Ujio and losing to him repetitively. During the scene Katsumoto’s son Nobutada approaches Captain Algren -with what little English he knows – before the final draw and says “Too many mind”, before further explanation Captain Algren responds with a confused look when Nobutada says:

“Too many mind. Mind the sword. Mind the people watch. Mind the enemy. Too many mind. No mind.”

“Too many mind. No mind.” Wow. So simple, yet so effective; No Mind. Here Nobutada was referring to Captain Algren’s over occupied mind; by running multiple threads of thought it prevented him from focusing on what mattered during the situation. This simple concept can be applied to any decision-making process; in order to ensure avoiding your mind being clouded by emotions, stress, and biased influence, we must avoid “too many mind” (i.e. irrelevant distractions) and aim for “no mind” (i.e. clear and focused mind).

Of late I have been troubled by “too many mind”, but now I must practice the skill of attaining “no mind”.