Training the Mind (series)

I have written/spoken of the importance of training the mind along side the body yet you have to wonder just how do we train the mind. To do this we need to have a basic understanding of how the mind works.

First before we go there I want to connect the training of the mind to the kenpo gokui. It is apparent in the gokui and its extensions that all things are in pairs or "yin and yang." So, what is the mind. The mind is that which we create thought a process within our brain. The brain, from my perspective, is the "yang" while the mind is the "yin."

Within the brain we have, a simplistic analysis comes here, the left side that establishes the body as a distinct entity from the world around it and the right side indicates where the body is compared to features in our environment. The left side came to focus on sequential and linguistic processing while the right side specialized in holistic and visual-spatial processing.

It is known that although they are separate halves and the mind and brain are also separate they both function, the brain and mind; the left half and right half, as "one" entity. Yin and Yang as the "one" or the Tao. Here is where we start to see connections to our practice.

In order to train the mind we should understand how the brain works so that we can influence the brain thus change/train the mind. Scientists are now studying this process by connecting two separate processes, i.e. buddhism and neuroscience. The brain is constantly changing and growing so it is believed, and I believe, that we can influence the brain thus the mind. Ergo, training the mind.

If we do this, as we have done with out focus on training the mind, then we can consciously influence our training in the fighting/martial arts.

I plan on doing additional postings on this as I believe we have accidentally gone into training only the "yang" half of our brain and mind in regards to our art. As I have discovered in my studies and training to neglect one half of the whole throws us "off balance" and results in a lack of "one" wholehearted way.