Beginner’s Mind

I read a book some years ago called Zen Guitar. Written by a gentleman named Philip Toshio Sudo, who I’ve since learned passed on at far too young an age, it pretty well blew my mind.

Although the book provided instruction, it did so in a manner I’d never before seen. The author didn’t talk about scales and chords, but rather about consciousness and awareness. He focused on process over product, journey over destination.

Zen is seen as “a little out there” by many Westerners, but it contains concepts that translate well to any language or culture. One of these is the idea of “beginner’s mind” — an emptying of preconceptions from which learning can then follow.

As Shunryu Suzuki-roshi notes in Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind:

This does not mean a closed mind, but actually an empty mind and a ready mind. If your mind is empty, it is always ready for anything; it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities; in the expert’s mind there are few.

It’s a sort of applied humility, and it’s harder than you think. Beginner’s mind involves constantly reminding yourself that “you ain’t all that.”

This is not an act of self-deprecation, but rather of acknowledgment that there’s a lot to know in the world. Once you get to the point where you realize how little of it you personally understand, you can start learning.

It also helps you to deal with contradictions, which comes in handy when confronted with lessons like this:

1. Think about your breathing while playing.
2. Don’t think about your breathing while playing.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. The important thing is to keep your mind open and remain receptive to new ideas. Armed with beginner’s mind, you can do just about anything.

On this day…

• 2007: Albums of the Week — These are in heavy rotation at my house and in my car:

  Snow Patrol, Eyes Open. I bought this for my [...]