Part 9 of 12 観の目kan no me
The Eye That Perceives, and the Mind That Waits
観の目つよく、見の目よわく, and the problem of waiting in 風之巻.
By MoroMoro · · 1 min read · moromoro and the Stance of Great Emptiness
Another passage from 五輪書 expresses a related idea:
「観の目つよく、見の目よわく」
The eye of 観 should be strong. The eye of 見 should be weaker.
This suggests a distinction between merely looking at an immediate object and perceiving the larger field in which that object exists.
The swordsman does not merely see “the opponent’s sword.” He perceives the entire relationship between:
- body
- distance
- space
- timing
- movement
- intention
- and possibility.
This helps us understand why an image of moromoro that seems almost to show “no stance” can be interpreted as an image of:
Readiness that does not need to advertise itself.
The body does not tell us:
“This is what I will do.”
Because deciding too early what one will do may itself become a restriction. What matters more is the ability to perceive and transform together with the situation.
風之巻: the problem of waiting
In the 風之巻 (Kaze no Maki, “The Book of Wind”), moromoro also criticizes attachment to 構 (kamae).
A stance may become a form of waiting. And therefore the problem of stance is not merely physical. It is also the problem of:
The mind that waits.
The moment one thinks:
“I am defending.”
one has already defined oneself in relation to an event that has not fully unfolded.
By contrast, 有構無構 leaves space for the body to respond to what is actually happening rather than forcing reality to conform to an image the practitioner is attempting to preserve.