How to Live Life to the Max with Beginner’s Mind

[Guest guest]

How to Live Life to the Max with Beginner's Mind

Posted: 19 Sep 2008 01:08 PM CDT

"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." – Zen Master Shunryo Suzuki

Editor's note: This is a guest post from Jaksch of Goodlife Zen.

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, , 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 I should 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 of shoulds. I'm not advocating living without our own moral standards. I think that most of our shoulds reflect other peoples' ideas on what our life should 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 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.

Jaksch is a Zen master, psychotherapist, and author.

She's a Karate Black Belt, and loves dancing Argentine tango in skimpy

dresses. Read 's blog, Goodlife Zen.