Takuan Soho was a Zen Master of the Rinzai School of Zen Buddhism. There is important wisdom in what Takuan is saying in "The Right Mind and the Confused Mind." We are used to the congealed mind. It is the lens which shapes our taken-for-granted perspective on ourselves and the world. It leads to a clear, but rigidified sense of ourselves.
Something else is possible – when we are less tightly wound, when we “melt” or flow more with life. Takuan is giving us a glimpse. The uncongealed mind is indispensable for intimacy and creativity. Good therapy, friendship, and Eastern somatic and contemplative disciplines help us access this state of being.
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