Sensei's lecture
Heijōshin (平常心)
Ordinary mind, even under pressure. What we mean by "stay natural".
Contents
At a recent class one of you told me: "Sensei, I try to stay calm, and all I get is tension." This post is my answer — to all of you. Heijōshin is Japanese for literally "ordinary, everyday mind": a state in which you do what is needed without adding a story about yourself on top.[1][2] It is not about feeling nothing. It is about feeling — and still seeing your partner.
The question I want to explore with you is this: why does "ordinariness" disappear exactly when we need it most — under a faster attack, after a correction, before a grading? And what to do about it on the mat, step by step.
1. What heijōshin is not
Let me clear up three misunderstandings, because I see each of them regularly in the dojo:
It is not autopilot. "Doing what I usually do" often means replaying a familiar movement instead of responding to this particular partner, here and now. An old Chan dialogue puts it sharply: Zhaozhou asks about the Way and hears that "the ordinary mind is the Way" — but when he tries to go toward it, he learns that the very going takes him away. Presence, not routine.[3]
It is not a mask of calm. A stony face, stiff shoulders, pretending "this doesn't touch me" — that is the opposite of heijōshin. A teacher sees the difference: one is contact with the partner, the other is posing. Chan teaching likewise offers no ready-made formulas for calm — the master answers the concrete situation, not the student's image of himself.[4]
It is not lack of emotion. Nerves before a grading, anger after a failed ukemi, shame after a correction in front of everyone — that is normal. Heijōshin begins the moment you feel anger or shame and still manage to check: where is my partner, is he safe, what do I do now.
2. Three situations from our mat
First: a faster attack. Uke speeds up, and your body cuts the technique short — arms stiffen, you stop seeing. Ordinary mind here means: slow down by half a tempo, return to contact (hand, hips, distance) and finish the form. Slower but complete and with the partner — instead of faster but past him.
Second: a correction. I correct you mid-exercise and I see two extremes: defending ("but I did it like last time") or blind copying without understanding. Neither. Try this instead: listen, do it once exactly as I show, check with your partner whether it works — and if anything is unclear, ask right away. A correction is not a judgement of you. It is information about the movement.
Third: the uke role. Heijōshin concerns the attacker too. An unagreed, too strong or badly timed attack is not "courage training" — it is lack of attention. Good uke speaks plainly: "this pace is too fast for me" or "I wasn't ready." Either of you, at any moment, may stop and start again. Your partner's safety matters more than finishing the technique.
3. Your task for this week
Over the next three classes, check one thing: am I responding to what is happening, or replaying what I know? Each time you catch yourself on autopilot — stop, breathe, make eye contact with your partner and restart the technique. No anger at yourself. Noticing itself is already heijōshin in action.
And one more thing, off the mat: the same mind works identically at work or at home. Spotted an error in data you sent? Name it clearly and fix it instead of worrying how you look. Answered your child or partner unfairly? Acknowledge it, listen, repair what you can. Composure does not erase consequences — but it lets you repair them instead of covering them up.
Ordinary mind does not exempt you from further learning — quite the opposite. Wumen adds to Zhaozhou's story that thirty more years of study remained after awakening. Treat this post the same way: as the start of work, not a ready-made answer. See you on the mat.
— Oskar Szrajer
Sources
- Kotobank — 平常心: Digital Daijisen (Shōgakukan) and Seisenban Nihon Kokugo Daijiten. Everyday composure; Buddhist use and the reading byōjōshin.
- Jisho — 平常心: readings へいじょうしん and びょうじょうしん and their meanings; JMdict data.
- BDK America — Three Chan Classics (PDF): Wumen's Gate, trans. J. C. Cleary, Case 19, "The Ordinary Mind Is the Way", printed pp. 85–86.
- Peter D. Hershock — Chan Buddhism, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: section 4, on the situated nature of Chan teaching.