How much of our life is being lived on an automatic pilot? We see, hear, smell and start feeling good or bad, or indifferent, and then we act. We move closer if the feeling is good, we move away if the feeling is bad, and we ignore what we are indifferent to. Our mind is constantly sorting things into these three piles: 'yes', 'no', 'who cares'. And the older we are the faster we can assign every new thing into those three categories. Even when we are young we do not enjoy the uncertainty, we strive to be able to label experiences quickly.
The multifaceted, the shaded, the ephemeral all piled up. How about taking every thing that comes and looking at it as if for the first time? Tracing it's shape, smelling it's smell, tasting it's taste? Without pre-judgement, without the 'knowing' that your mind serves you. Without fear or greed. Just getting to know the world as if for the first time. Because it is for the first time. Go with it play with it, use it. Refresh your mind, remind yourself of the treasures of beginners mind.
The Beginners Mind
Every moment is new. - MargotteThis is the collection of wisdom from the Mindfulness Matters groups. Browse through it, get inspired:
By Dr. Rick Hanson:Another important part of developing the beginners mind concerns getting rid of the "Been There, Done That" concept that seems so prevalent in today's society. It may be true that you have been there, and you may have done that, but perhaps your conception of reality was not the whole concept, "the big picture" if you will. Here is a poetic version of another famous story that may help us in our quest for understanding the beginner's mind:
One of the most profound secrets of learning anything new is keeping what has been called a "Beginner's Mind". What is Beginner's Mind? Well part of it is described very well by the famous Zen story known as:
Empty Your Cup
A university professor went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor talked about Zen. The master poured the visitor's cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The professor watched the overflowing cup until he could no longer restrain himself. "It's overfull! No more will go in!" the professor blurted. "You are like this cup," the master replied, "How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup."
So to begin, we must all empty our cups of all the preconceived ideas, concepts, techniques and methods that prevent us from receiving the new. This seems like a simple thing to do, but can be quite difficult in practice. At first we think we are emptying our cups but as we drink from the new knowledge we detect residual tastes of the "old". Sometimes this new mixture can be sweet, like adding honey to tea, but sometimes even a little residue can curdle the whole mix, like adding lemon juice to milk. We must not only empty our cups, but make sure we have a "clean receptacle" so we may taste the "true essence" of the new knowledge.
The Essence of an Elephant:This story is full of insight, what if the above happened to One blind man on six different occasions? Each time his concept of an elephant would change, grow and be enhanced. Yet he still would have more to learn about the true essence of an elephant. But if our hypothetical blind man stopped after the first visit, "Been there - Done that", his concept would be stuck at a lower level of understanding. He would miss out on the "Big Picture".
It was six men of Indostan to learning much inclined, who went to see the Elephant (Though all of them were blind), That each by observation might satisfy his mind.
The First approached the Elephant, and happening to fall against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl: "God bless me! but the Elephant is very like a wall!"
The Second, feeling of the tusk cried, "Ho! what have we here, So very round and smooth and sharp? To me `tis mighty clear this wonder of an Elephant Is very like a spear!"
The Third approached the animal, and happening to take the squirming trunk within his hands, thus boldly up he spake: "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant Is very like a snake!"
The Fourth reached out an eager hand, and felt about the knee: "What most this wondrous beast is like Is mighty plain," quoth he; "'Tis clear enough the Elephant is very like a tree!"
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, said: "E'en the blindest man can tell what this resembles most; deny the fact who can, this marvel of an Elephant is very like a fan!"
The Sixth no sooner had begun about the beast to grope, than, seizing on the swinging tail that fell within his scope. "I see," quoth he, "the Elephant is very like a rope!"
And so these men of Indostan disputed loud and long, each in his own opinion exceeding stiff and strong, though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong! By: John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887).
I will touch on one final element of developing the "Beginner's Mind" and that is a developing a sense of awe, a feeling of excitement and wonder when approaching or re-approaching a subject of investigation. That you can learn something new even if it is a subject you have already explored. That if you keep looking your bound to see something new, this in itself can be very exciting, wonderful, and awesome.
There is a lot more to discover about the Beginner's Mind but I will have to return to this "elephant" in the future because my cup is full, and I prefer to empty it by drinking deeply, and savoring its wonderful taste.
In closing I would like to leave you with a quote from Grandmaster James Lacy: "The simplest is the most profound." -The Neophyte.
Submitted by: Kim
The practice of Zen mind is beginner's mind. The innocence of the first inquiry - what am I? - is needed throughout Zen practice. The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. It is the kind of mind that can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything .I spoke to a colleague who is a Buddhist and does a large amount of meditation during the year (goes to retreats ect). I asked him what beginners mind was. It was an interesting conversation because he said having a beginners mind was basically being open and looking at each situation without any past experiences or expectations. He asked me about why I was asking and I started to tell him about the class and 3 minutes of meditation. I kept on saying things like, "I’m not sure how people regularly do it but I" or "I’m probably not doing it right but...". He caught me doing this a few times during the conversation and told me that I was a good example of what beginners mind wasn't because I was involving experiences, expectations and ideas to my explanation. We talked about meditation being a different experience for everyone and I shouldn't be so focused on what I thought it should be or what other people said about it.
Source: Shunryu Suzuki (1905-1971) who was a direct spiritual descendant of the great thirteenth-century Zen Master, Dogen.
Submitted by: Kate
Submitted by: Mandeep
From "The Mindfulness Code" by Donald Altman:That sense of wonder, awe, excitement, exploration, with no judgment, limitations or expectations. Nothing is ever, or ever will be the same. Perhaps similar but never the same. As each moment, each encounter, and each breath are new and unique onto itself, in and of itself and in and of the ALL, and all of this in the same moment.
In the beginner's mind, your cup doesn't overflow and unlimited space is available. Whenever your cup fills up with I-Me-Mine you can empty the cup with awareness and then rest in the wonderment and merriment of that. The more you empty the cup, the more you may know and dwell in the beauty that is simply here, vast and open like the sky. Submitted by: Trisha
Found in every moment is the innocence of the infant, the wisdom of the elder, the curiosity of the explorer, and the determination of the athlete.
Innocence to welcome ALL, and to trust and accept all.
Wisdom to go with the flow and savour the moments.
Curiosity to explore each moment with you full presence.
Determination to stay focused, mindful and present.
With the Beginners Mind you don’t just taste food you experience being with and part of the food. Bathing is a world within a world, an expanded moment. Swimming I am one with the water and the water with me.
Submitted by: Susan
Gaylon Ferguson states that most of us " tend to be distracted carrying the woes of the past and the worries of the future and hence we tend to sleepwalk throughout the day. True awakening he says is realizing our habitual, everyday, walk around state of being -"asleep". Our distracted day dream filled life is like sleepwalking”. Submitted by: GerardAn attitude of openness and eagerness, lack of preconceptions, curiosity.
Submitted by: Janis
Beginner's mind is something I'd like to aspire to in several aspects of living. To see and experience positive and even negative things without prior judgment and bias would be liberating. I understand the concept of being open and willing to new ideas, activities and experiences. It's harder to do than to say - we feel we already "know" so much and have an opinion on almost everything.
I am willing to have a beginner's mind but it's not easy to block out those "other thoughts". I'm trying!
Submitted by: Josie
This week’s meditation reflection on non-judgement and the Beginners Mind has let me to go online and explore some concepts. For me the non-judgement means listening in a most respectful way that allows for another to be understood. It is also being open to exploring the mystery, truths and wonder of our world. This morning I had a conversation with a 5 year old stranger who was experiencing Valentine's Day magic... a beginners mind in love. Our first experience with love... brings a smile and belonging to my heart. This afternoon the Beginners mind searching via websites has found further sites to explore: Charter for compassion/ some of the work of Karen Armstrong in building a better world through our mindfulness and actions.
The concept of feeding the mind implies consciousness, in the sense that one is aware and doing something. If we consider reading the newspaper or watching a movie as an example of one of those activities, then we can choose to read or watch mindfully or not. In the moment we can be aware of how an article or movie affects our feelings and thoughts. On a deep level are we enlightened or not after having read a passage? Can we feel if an old tape begins to play? Are we worrying about the distant future? (Certain passages may trigger paranoid or fearful thoughts). If someone asks me to rate a film, my response is often to say "ask me later". I think this is because I need time to savor my own feelings and responses. If my pain-body has been activated then I may not be able to see things very clearly in the moment. Over time the pain-body will disappear but good karma lasts.
I often think of my own life as an ongoing movie in the best sense. I try to get out of bed with a beginners mind and try to love what is (I love that phrase) in a nonjudgemental way
When I think of beginner's mind, non-judgment, I think of either a child's mind, the wonderment, genuineness and newness of everything without beliefs invading what is. Also, I think of The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff, so I'll share some quotes from that defining the uncarved block:
... because one of the most important principles of Taoism was named after you.For me, the concepts of Beginners Mind and Non Judgement have gotten strongly associated with a story involving my cat, Marley: Marley’s world was food. Even when he was in a deep sleep, every time I was heading toward a kitchen, he woke up and was running in the front of my footsteps hoping to get food. It did not matter if he was fed just minutes before. I remember moments of frustration and inner struggle I have been experiencing, as I was watching Marley behaved like he was starved. Everything became so clear when one day my friend Eva commented: “Beginners mind… always hopeful…” Since then I have been really able to embrace a deeper meaning of applying Beginners Mind – approaching every moment as always fresh, always new, always wonderful.
"Really?" Pooh asked, looking more hopeful.
"Of course -- P'u, the uncarved block."
"I'd forgotten," said Pooh.
So here we are trying to explain P'u, the uncarved block. In the classic Taoist manner, we won't try too hard to explain too much, because that would Confuse things, and because it would leave the impression that it was all only an intellectual idea that could be left on the intellectual level and ignored....
For the written character P'u, by the way, it is pronounced sort of like Pooh, but without so much oo -- like the sound you make when blowing a bug off your arm on a hot summer day...
The essence of the principle of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed.
For the written P'u, the typical Chinese dictionary will give a definition of "natural, simple, plain, honest." P'u is composed of two separate characters combined: the first, the "radical" or root meaning one. Is that for tree or wood; the second, the "phonetic" or sound-giving one, is the character for dense growth or thicket. So from "tree in a thicket" or "wood not cut" comes the meaning of "things in their natural state" -- what is generally represented in English versions of Taoist writing as the "uncarved block."
This basic Taoist principle applies not only to things in their natural beauty and function, but to people. Or Bears. Which brings us to Pooh, the very Epitome of the Uncarved Block...
Marley was a great teacher. Time after time through his practice of Beginners Mind he invited me to the place of practicing Non Judgement
By: Margotte
Beginners mind is a wonderful strategy that can help us to learn all this stuff--mysticism, spirituality, metaphysics--much, much more easily. The idea behind this strategy is that you take all of the things you know--all of your brilliant opinions, all of your reason and logic, even your cherished beliefs--and you put all this stuff on the shelf for awhile. Now, mind you, it will all still be there safe and sound when you get back!Submitted by: Helen
The idea of beginner's mind is that you temporarily set all this aside, on purpose, for a little while, and just go ahead and do the exercise that the teacher suggests--no matter how illogical, or insignificant, or meaningless it may seem to be--merely so that you can see what your experience is.
When you begin to explore experiential work, there are many little exercises that don't seem to be important, or make sense. Many opinions about this may come up that get in your way. None of these little exercises is going to permanently change you in any way. Yet each of them is designed to show you one more little integer of experience, one more facet of a whole experience of being awake and experiencing "the totality of the here and now."
Each of these little exercises gives you a little experience. These experiences are called
awarenesses. From practicing these little awarenesses, gradually you can put together a more whole experience of being awareness itself.
Mits once said that "'I don't know" is the warrior's wisdom. (A spiritual person can speak like that, you know. An altruistic Buddhist bodhisattva is a warrior, too--an "awakening warrior," the term means--a warrior of the light.)
"I don't know" is a good one! Whenever you happen to hear yourself saying or thinking this--whatever you are doing at the time--it is a very good sign that insights and understandings are going to be coming up. In the troubled times of my life, I find it a great relief of stress when I can remember this: "I don't know."
People don't allow themselves this stance of "I don't know" often enough. This is because we always know, or we always think we know. Most of the time when people think they know, they don't really know at all. All they know are their past impressions of the situation that is happening now, the conclusions they came to on previous times, or judgments about similar events or circumstances that happened once upon a time.
Living with "I know" is a tremendous handicap that keeps us out of the present, and living in the past. It doesn't allow us anything new, no surprises, no insights, no discoveries. It doesn't allow us to unlock and understand any of the mysteries of the present moment, and it keeps us frozen in the judgments of the past.
That is why beginner's mind is a wonderful strategy for those who would like to learn about the deeper mysteries of life. It isn't easy! There's nothing people treasure as much as their brilliant opinions, unless it is their cherished beliefs. Yet these will not help us in finding these new dimensions of life that are to be found in schools like this.
Beginner's mind doesn't ask you to believe in anything in particular. It simply says put aside the beliefs you already have for a little while, and do the exercises the teachers suggest without beliefs or expectations, simply to see in your own direct experience whatever your experience of these exercises is.
And after the exercises are over, you can go right back to that shelf again. You can take back all of those opinions, all that reason and logic, all of those cherished beliefs--just the way you left them! You can put them right "back on" all over again. If there happen to have been some new insights, something new, never noticed before, something you've seen with your own eyes, or heard with your own ears, something you've smelled, or tasted, or felt with your own sensitive body, there is no problem about that. You can still leave with what you came in with. That choice is still up to you.
Beginner's mind is simply recognizing that this wonderful intellectual thinking mind that we all have may, at certain times, distort things very greatly and block things off from our view. If we consciously set aside this effect, on purpose--for convention's sake, or for the fun of it will do--if we adopt "I don't know" as a strategy, instead, then secrets begin to become known.
There are always a few surprises that come along this way. That is the value of beginner's mind, when you realize you really haven't known. If you'd like to, you may try this out in your own life some time, and see this on your own.
From Mindful Awareness Magazine by John Bilby.
This is a guest post from Mary Jaksch of Goodlife Zen:
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s there are few.” – Zen Master Shunryo Suzuki I’m an expert at many things. And I’m sick of it. Being an expert, that is. Because being an expert is boring. That’s why I started kite surfing a few month ago. I wanted to be a beginner again.
Kite surfing looks easy – until you try it. The challenge is to control both kite and board. A kite is unpredictable. One moment it’s behaving. Next, it’s totally out of control. Like the time when my kite took off – and I was suddenly swept off my feet and into the air. I could see my instructor far below: eyes agog and jaws agape. Then I crashed down into the sea. Next moment I was being dragged backwards under water at high speed like an out-of-control torpedo. Finally I managed to come up for air. Rather alarming, but on the whole great fun!
I love being a beginner again. I love following impossible instructions. I love failing gloriously!
This is Beginner’s Mind. It’s a Zen state of mind.
What if we had that approach to everything we did? What would life be like?
Let’s take a look at seven aspects of Beginner’s Mind and see how they can transform our life:
1. Take one step at a time. We tend to think in sequences. For example, when we go grocery shopping, our mind is on what we need to buy and where to shop. We’re likely to skip over all the little experiences on the way: locking the front door, seeing the neighbour standing at the window, rain splattering on the windscreen, the noise of traffic, and so on.
The same thing happens when we learn something new. We’re always looking towards what we’ll know or be able to do in the future, instead of focusing on the next step right now. I’m definitely guilty of that. You too?
• Tip: Take one step at a time without worrying about the journey.
2. Fall down seven times, get up eight times. Yesterday a friend of mine brought her toddler to visit. The little girl, Stephanie, is just learning to walk. She would pull herself up, wobble along a few steps and then plop down on her bottom. She had a determined look on her face and got up again, over and over. When did we last learn something with such determination and such little obvious success?
• Tip: Celebrate falling down as well as getting up: it’s all part of learning.
3. Use Don’t Know mind. In martial arts, a don’t know mind is the wisdom of the warrior. Because we can easily get it wrong by prejudging a situation. When faced with a big opponent or a big challenge, we might assume that we will lose out. And when faced with an opponent who seems smaller or weaker, or a challenge that seems surmountable, we might assume that we will be on top. In both scenarios our judgment might be wrong. Don’t know means keeping an open mind and responding according to circumstances, not according to how we assume things will be. A don’t know mind leaves room for intuition.
I think don’t know mind has wider implications. Because, we really only know things up to now. Let me give you an example: I have a couple of dear friends who are moving into adolescence. It’s a time of great change. One day they’re still playing Ninjas, next day they’re confiding in me about the kiss their boyfriend stole behind the bikeshed. If I had a fixed view of who they are, I’d miss all the changes along the way and lose connection with them.
• Tip: Let go of knowing – that’s real wisdom.
4. Live without shoulds. I could write a whole book about how Ishould be, what I should have done and what I should be doing, couldn’t you? The world seems to be full of experts on my life who like to tell me what I should be doing. Living with Beginner’s Mind means letting go ofshoulds. I’m not advocating living without our own moral standards. I think that most of our shoulds reflect other peoples’ ideas on what our lifeshould look like. We can let go of them.
• Tip: Shake off shoulds and own your life.
6. Make use of experience. Beginner’s Mind is great, but it’s not so useful when crossing the road. You don’t want to be squashed flat by a car in the process of learning anew that you need to get out of the way! It’s always good to use our experience and native wisdom. That’s how we learn. Beginner’s Mind doesn’t mean negating experience; it means keeping an open mind on how to apply our experience to each new circumstance.
• Tip: Utilize your native wisdom and experience.
7. Let go of being an expert. We are all experts. Experts in our job, in raising children, in crossing the road, in signing our name. It’s difficult to let go of being an expert. Because it means confessing that we really know nothing. What we know belongs to the past. Whereas this moment now is new and offers its unique challenges. If I let go of being an expert, I can listen to others with an open mind. Then I can find that even a beginner has something to teach me.
• Tip: Letting go of being an expert enables you to keep learning.
8. Experience the moment fully. Have you ever taken a small kid to the movies for the first time? Everything is amazing for them. They stare at the bright lights in the foyer. They investigate each popcorn with great concentration. They stare at everyone sitting around them. They flinch when the music starts. They scramble on to your lap when the monster appears on screen. They laugh out loud when it’s funny. They live each moment.
Just imagine living like that! Most of the time we live in a daydream in which we think of the past, and dream of the future. Meanwhile life runs on without us. Without us being present, that is. We miss so much when we live in a daze. Beginner’s Mind allows us to take it all in. Then even ordinary things begin to shine.
• Tip: Live life to the full – one moment at a time.
9. Disregard common sense. ‘Common sense’ is what the culture we live in regards as ‘normal’. If inventors like Da Vinci or Edison had stayed with a ‘common sense’ mindset, our life would be very different because their inventions changed the world. In an interview Thomas Edison said about energy:
“Some day some fellow will invent a way of concentrating and storing up sunshine as energy. I’ll do the trick myself if some one else doesn’t get at it.”
I bet you that Edison’s fellow citizen’s thought he was crazy. “Turn sunlight into energy – how absurd!” they would have said because his idea didn’t fit with the common sense of the time.
• Tip: Release yourself from common sense and become creative.
10. Discard fear of failure. When did you last start something new? Was it maybe a while back? As children we are always starting something new. Then, as we go through our twenties, thirties, and further, we become more hesitant about being a beginner again. Why? Maybe because we don’t want to look silly when we fail.
There are always plenty of people ready to snigger when we take the first wobbly steps. But it’s our choice whether to take notice or not.
• Tip: Immerse yourself in your actions and forget the watchers.
11. Use the spirit of enquiry. Beginner’s Mind is about using the spirit of enquiry – without getting stuck in preconceived ideas. There’s a Zen story about this:
A professor once visited a Japanese master to inquire about Zen. The master served tea. When the visitor’s cup was full, the master kept pouring. Tea spilled out of the cup and over the table.
“The cup is full!” said the professor. “No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” said the master, “You are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”
You can see how this story applies not only to learning about Zen, but to learning about anything at all. The spirit of enquiry is the mind that is open to the unknown, and empty of pre-conceived ideas.
• Tip: Focus on questions, not on answers.
If you’ve read this far, you’ll have a sense of how precious Beginner’s Mind is. It can transform the way we experience life. It makes life exciting and fresh, and keeps us young and eager to learn.
However, there are some questions that are still unresolved in my mind. The main one is: what about goal setting? Doesn’t that clash with Beginner’s Mind? Goal setting is about imagining the future, and building one’s life around one’s hopes and expectations. Personally, I aspire to Beginner’s Mind, and I set goals. But it sometimes feels like a culture clash. What’s your sense of this?
Let’s have a conversation. What’s your experience of Beginner’s Mind? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
By Mary Jaksch is a Zen master, psychotherapist, and author.
Submitted by: Greg
All the very best for this brand new spring
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