I have been an avid follower of ‘Dragon Ball Z’ series since I was 10 – 11 years old. The 6 – 6.30 pm tv slot on Saturday was a no-brainer for my family. My television had its max- volume tests on those days.

Dragon Ball Z series has taught me a lot of life lessons that education couldn’t teach me. Until this day, this series has always fascinated me in many ways. I have learned to be compassionate, stay humble and learned you can always be better and there is no constant in development.

There is another anime series called the ‘One punch man‘ that I am eagerly waiting for season 2. It is a fantastic series.

One of the many highlights of Dragon ball z series is the constant evolution of the main character ‘ Goku’, his friends and enemies. Characters constantly improve their current fitness level for their survival. If you have watched the series you will be familiar with terms like sayian, super sayian etc.

There is no limit in evolution.

Just when you think this is the most powerful evolution that Goku has reached, you will be surprised.

In Dragon ball super series, episode 110, there is something strange that happened. Fast forward the episode, Goku transforms himself into a state called ‘Ultra instinct’. This surprises everyone. A form/state that no one has attained before. Even the gods (This series has gods, angels and even gods of destruction) are surprised.

Ultra instinct that Goku attains has got people around the world talking about similarities that it could be achieved in real life too.

Before getting ahead of ourselves, let’s not run wild with our imagination that we could become like Goku in real life.

Ultra instinct form is referred to a state wherein a person has mastered a state of mind called ‘Mushin’ (in reality).

We have approximately thousands (conservatively) of thoughts running through our day and night. Despite this, studies say that we don’t use more than 15% of the total capacity of our brains. Nevertheless, ‘Mushin’ state of mind is true according to martial arts.

This subject of brain activity with consuming (substance) something was depicted in the movie called ‘Limitless’.

With all the above references and series of infinite link-hopping activity on my laptop, I found some material of Mushin on the web and realized that there are so many names to it and people have always talked about for ages.

Mushin to me is an empty state of mind where you need not consciously think and act instead you do it on your own. I thought that most of us do many small things in ‘Mushin’ state of mind.

Daily activities such as having a cup of coffee or tea when reading or watching the news, when we go to a particular place, say groceries, we do not navigate consciously etc.

I realized that when I cycle to work, I take a particular route, accelerate or de-accelerate my speed based on already familiar incline or decline of the road subconsciously. I have been doing this for years now and realized that the act is automatic.

I listen to podcast or audiobooks while cycling. My mind is so focused on what I could learn while I cycle, I don’t make an effort to navigate or vary my speed to reach the destination.

My gut says that there is much more than just ‘muscle memory’. Going with my gut, my quest to determine what exactly is ‘Mushin’ will begin now.

Some sources I watched to quench my curiosity are below: