Zen time again.
I mentioned in a previous post the beginner's mind notion (forbidden word in zen, by the way, more on this in another post). It comes from the famous quotation by Shunryu Suzuki:
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few”
“In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's mind there are few”
from his classic "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
".
".First time I read this, I thought it makes sense - I can imagine a programmer trying to convince his tech-retarded boss that what he is suggesting is a crazy idea.
But crazy not in the cool "we can do it eventually and make a lot of money" way. More in the "I know you're bored to death, while I'm working my ass off so that you can collect your big paycheck, but please stop wasting my time, willya?" way. (wow, long one!)
But crazy not in the cool "we can do it eventually and make a lot of money" way. More in the "I know you're bored to death, while I'm working my ass off so that you can collect your big paycheck, but please stop wasting my time, willya?" way. (wow, long one!)
Actually it does make sense, but not the one I was thinking about. To make my point I'll tell you (actually, copy and paste you) a story:
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?"
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 beginner's mind is all about 'emptying your cup' from everything that it contains - preconceptions, prejudices, knowledge, ideas; and being open to the reality as it is, in its 'suchness' (another favorite zen word). And then the expert's mind is all about having the cup full - how can you see a possibility if your mind is in chains?
That is one of the reasons why the most radical forms of zen deny the written knowledge and the learning process as we know it - because it obscures the mind with concepts, ideas and prejudices. Which is what I'm doing right now - consider this too.;)
So are you having a beginner's mind? Or you know everything beforehand?
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