What would the translations be for each? Thanks I have learned the kanji for each, but since my mother tongue is neither Japanese nor English, I can only try to hint at a translation: "shin" is written in all three cases with the character also pronounced as "kokoro", meaning "heart/mind" "so" is the character which the online Kanji dictionary translates as "principle" or "prime (number)", I understand it also as "essential, without any additions", so maybe soshin = essential mind "kaku" (not kako) means to wake up, like in "alarm clock" so maybe kakushin = awake(ned) mind "cho" is written like in "to clear, to become transparent" so maybe choshin = clear/pure heart/mind the idea is that of a lake without ripplings so that you can see through to the ground I have been taught the kanji by my hanshi, but possible errors in the attempts at translation are mine I hope this helps. Best regards to all readers (this is my first post in this forum). deshi
