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What could be the connection between Kyudo (Japanese archery) and Zen?
October 2, 2014, 8:31 amIn Zen we quieten our busy mind as Rinzai Zenji described: "Without form yet manifesting in all 10 directions." It is our original mind before ego and any form existed, completely embraced by the whole universe, there is no space which this mind cannot reach. Because awakening to this original mind is zen, that is why Kyudo is not Zen. Yet if people practice Kyudo and are still confused within, it will never become true kyudo. That is why martial artists come to practice Zen, to experience the immovable state of mind, and from there it can be said: Kyudo and Zen are one. The same is true for Judo, Kendo, flower arrangement and calligraphy.