Why warriors meditated

Picture a samurai kneeling on the floor, eyes closed, his sword laid down beside him. From the outside it looks like pure calm. But for Japanese warriors meditation was not mainly a way to relax. It was a way to prepare the mind for the next fight, and, in the end, for death.

Today meditation is often seen as a relaxation method, and that has its value too. The roots of meditation in Japan, however, lie in esoteric Buddhism, Zen, Shugendō, Shintō and shamanic Daoism. As someone who has practiced martial arts since I was 13, including Ninjutsu with Grandmaster Taguchi in Osaka, I find it fascinating how closely these traditions were connected with the warrior's path.

Zen and the sword 無心

The connection between Zen and swordsmanship grew over centuries. One key term here is mushin 無心, the mind without attachment. It describes a state in which thinking falls silent and action comes directly from perception, without the detour through analysis, doubt or fear.

In a sword fight there is no time to think. If you start wondering in that moment whether to dodge to the left or to the right, it's already too late. Seated Zen meditation (jap.: zazen) was one of the ways warriors cultivated a calm mind that would hold even under the pressure of a drawn sword.

The Zen monk Takuan Sōhō (1573–1646) wrote a famous letter to the sword master Yagyū Munenori about this, known as Fudōchi shinmyōroku 不動智神妙録, roughly "the mysterious workings of immovable wisdom". In it he explains that the mind must not get stuck anywhere, not on your own sword, not on the opponent's sword and not on the thought of winning or losing. The phrase ken zen ichinyo 剣禅一如, "sword and Zen are one", is often connected with this teaching. It is also interesting that Takuan names his text after Fudō, the Immovable One, which brings us directly to Shingon.

Shingon, mantra and mudra 真言

The esoteric Buddhism of the Shingon school works with three means at the same time, the three mysteries (jap.: sanmitsu 三密): body through hand gestures (Skr.: mudrā), speech through mantra, and mind through inner focus.

Many warriors turned to the Immovable Wisdom King Fudō Myōō 不動明王 for protection, and his mantra was widely known. You can easily understand the effect of such a practice even without any mystical explanation. Someone who calms their breath and focuses their mind with a mantra enters a different state from someone driven by fear and racing thoughts.

The mantras and mudras themselves come from Indian tantric Buddhism. In Japan they merged with Daoist practices from China, with Shintō and with the hand signs of the mountain ascetics of Shugendō. Put simply, Shingon in Japan became a meeting point where several currents flow together. You can see this especially well in Kuji Kiri, which developed in Japan over centuries into a system of its own.

Shugendō, practice on the mountain 修験道

The mountain ascetics (jap.: yamabushi 山伏) of Shugendō practiced a form of spiritual development that included the body. They walked through the mountains for days, meditated under cold waterfalls and fasted, with the aim of strengthening the mind by going to the limits of the body.

Some warriors also went to the mountains to practice, and the mountain ascetics were known for their endurance. If you have learned to breathe calmly under an icy waterfall, it is easier to keep your composure in other extreme situations too.

Shugendō grew out of the very old mountain worship of Japan and joined it with Daoist techniques, Shintō reverence for nature and Buddhist rituals. Its legendary founder is En no Gyōja, who is said to have lived in the 7th century.

Ken zen ichinyo, sword and mind are one 剣禅一如

The phrase ken zen ichinyo says more than "practice Zen so that you fight better". It means that the way of the sword and the way of meditation are basically one way. Ideally, in the moment of the cut the same thing happens as in deep meditation: the self steps back, and the separation between the person acting and the action disappears. The old masters called this state muga 無我, "without self".

What this means for you

You probably don't carry a sword. But you face distraction, doubt and a lot of noise every day. For me the meditation of the warriors is an invitation to take your own practice seriously, as something that carries you through the day.

That doesn't mean standing under waterfalls or fasting for days. It means practicing regularly and staying present, even when it's uncomfortable. This kind of seriousness is also part of Shingon Reiki. What does your practice look like on a day when everything goes wrong?