Lesson Topic, 3.3

Beginner's Mind

"A mind that is willing to see everything, as if for the first time."

Beginner's Mind

The mindfulness attitude beginner's mind.

The richness of present-moment experience is the richness of life itself. Too often we let our thinking and our beliefs about what we “know” prevent us from seeing things as they really are. We tend to take the ordinary for granted. To see the richness of the present moment, we need to cultivate what has been called “beginner's mind”. A mind that is willing to see everything as if for the first time.

This attitude will be particularly important as we practice being present more often. Whatever the particular technique we might be using:

• walking

• the body scan

• sitting meditation

We can bring our beginner’s mind with us each time we practice so that we can be free of our expectations of our past experiences.

The mindfulness attitudes beginners mind allows us to be receptive to new possibilities. It prevents us from getting stuck in the rut of our own expertise, which often thinks it knows more than it does. No one moment is the same as any other. Each is unique and contains unique possibilities. The mindfulness attitudes of a beginners mind reminds us of this simple truth.

Practice

You might try to cultivate your own beginner’s mind in your daily life as an experiment. The next time you see somebody who is familiar to you, ask yourself:

~ Am I seeing this person with fresh eyes, as he or she really is?

~ Am I only seeing the reflection of my own thoughts about this person?

Try it with problems when they arise.

Try it when you are outdoors in nature.

Try it with your children, your spouse, your friends and co-workers. 

  Source- Full Catastrophe Living, by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., pages 33-40 Adapted by G Ross Clark