Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Can you be a beginner?

Beginners mind. It's something referred to in Zen philosophy and other eastern philosophies. It means that you approach a situation, or life in general, as if you are a beginner and know nothing. I think it it has many purposes. The most basic is that you know you are not living by your ego when you approach something with a beginner's mind.

Can you do it? When you go to work do you say to yourself, "I can do my job, I know this, this is easy" or do you say, "what can I learn today? what is new about his job?". When you are around kids, do you act ever the authoritative knowledgeable parent or can you stop and actually listen, eager to hear what is on young minds? Now here's my favorite. Can you attend a class, let's say a Yoga class, and do everything the teacher asks, the way the teacher asks as if you have never done it before in your life? Or do you just do your own thing because you know how to do it and don't need to wait for the instructions.

If you approach something assuming that you somehow know everything about it, there is resistance in you somewhere, there is ignorance lingering. There is a lesson for you, whether you know it or not. The good news is that you have great opportunity to learn.

I have realized that there are only 2 types of people who go to a teacher. Beginners and Resistores. You can't tell true beginners from those in a higher consciousness that are exhibiting "beginners mind". Everyone else is resisting. What, I can't tell you. That is your lesson to learn.

What are you resisting today?

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