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Perspective
October 5, 2008
"Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.”
Sir James Dewar, scientist
A Japanese master received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. The master served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," the master said, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"
Beginner's mind
This story illustrates a concept called "beginner’s mind" in the Zen tradition of Buddhism. It is a useful concept for life, and for meditation.
In the book titled Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki, the concept is described in this way: “The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. It is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything.”
For example, the Zen way of calligraphy is to write in the most straightforward, simple way as if you were a beginner, not trying to make something skillful or beautiful, but simply writing with full attention as if you were discovering what you were writing for the first time. Then your full nature is in your writing; this is the way of practice moment after moment. It is natural for us to have beginner's mind...at the very beginning of things. Once we learn, however, we tend to relate anything new to what we already know. It's how we learn to learn in Western society and culture.
In fact, we use our perspective. Perspective is the art of picturing objects so as to show relative distance or depth. We compare. We relate. We look for meaning in the relationship between something new and things that are familiar - things that we already know.
And what do we know?
In the book titled Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki, the concept is described in this way: “The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. It is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything.”
For example, the Zen way of calligraphy is to write in the most straightforward, simple way as if you were a beginner, not trying to make something skillful or beautiful, but simply writing with full attention as if you were discovering what you were writing for the first time. Then your full nature is in your writing; this is the way of practice moment after moment. It is natural for us to have beginner's mind...at the very beginning of things. Once we learn, however, we tend to relate anything new to what we already know. It's how we learn to learn in Western society and culture.
In fact, we use our perspective. Perspective is the art of picturing objects so as to show relative distance or depth. We compare. We relate. We look for meaning in the relationship between something new and things that are familiar - things that we already know.
And what do we know?
A warehouse in the desert
Well, we know what we know. I have four fingers and a thumb. We know what we don't know. I'm not able, today, to pilot the Space Shuttle. We don't know what we don't know. A conservative estimate of what we don't know might be 99.99 percent of all that is possible to know.
If we stand in the middle of the desert during the day, we may be certain, by using our senses, that there's nothing else immediately close by - just more desert - more of what it is we perceive. Nothing really different. Just more sand and emptyness, and hot air all around us.
Imagine the desert is now a warehouse, and the warehouse has one giant room and one small room. Just two rooms. On the way into the warehouse, we saw how big it really was - as big as a desert!
And, once inside the warehouse, we could tell by the proximity of the walls and ceiling in the room we were standing in, that we were definitely in the small room. And that room contains everything we know and everything we know we don't know. And the other room that we know is there contains everything we don't know we don't know.
But we sense the other room is there. Unlike the desert, there is a new and different, unknown presence right next to us - almost accessible, but not quite.
We can also hear or feel or envision from the vibrations and energy and other "things" in the large room that they affect us and the things that are in the small room we are in. We may name them spirit, or karma, or energy, or God, Love, Mind, Consciousness, Life, or words for many other things that aren't understood or known in their entirety necessarily, but their presence is unmistakable.
As we lead our lives on a daily basis, we can forget about the goings-on in the other, large room and pay most of our attention and devote most of our time to the things that are in the room we are in.
The room in which we know what we know and we know what we don’t know. The room of relativity. The room of familiar time and space. The room of the expert.
Or we can decide to listen and pay attention to the goings-on in the other, large room. The room of unfamiliarity. The room of possibility. The room of originality.
Circling back to the beginning
Let me repeat: Beginner's mind "is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything." The original nature of everything.
And let me share another quote from Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind: "Our ‘original mind’ includes everything within itself. It is always rich and sufficient within itself. You should not lose your self-sufficient state of 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."
An empty mind. Like an empty room, or an open space within the small room of the warehouse. A space open to knowing something from the big room of the warehouse. But to empty the mind...therein lies the rub! Let's start by acknowledging that we are in the small room. Observe the small room and whatever contents within it that you happen to notice. Simply observe. Eventually you may sense the presence of something else - something barely perceptible in the room but not of it. When that happens, simply direct a gentle awareness on that presence without getting excited about it or trying to figure out what it is. Simply observe and be with that presence. Let it show you what it is. When you slip (and you will slip) into relating or comparing - as soon as you realize you are attempting to apply meaning to this unfamiliar presence, you go back to simply observing. You begin again. And that is meditation - rather, one form or practice of it.
An empty mind. Like an empty room, or an open space within the small room of the warehouse. A space open to knowing something from the big room of the warehouse. But to empty the mind...therein lies the rub! Let's start by acknowledging that we are in the small room. Observe the small room and whatever contents within it that you happen to notice. Simply observe. Eventually you may sense the presence of something else - something barely perceptible in the room but not of it. When that happens, simply direct a gentle awareness on that presence without getting excited about it or trying to figure out what it is. Simply observe and be with that presence. Let it show you what it is. When you slip (and you will slip) into relating or comparing - as soon as you realize you are attempting to apply meaning to this unfamiliar presence, you go back to simply observing. You begin again. And that is meditation - rather, one form or practice of it.
The contents of a room
Interestingly, the very first lesson in A Course in Miracles: Workbook for Students begins with the thought, "Nothing I see in this room (on this street, from this window, in this place) means anything." It goes on to direct, "Now look slowly around you, and practice applying this idea very specifically to whatever you see...."
What we are doing is emptying the mind of its preconceptions, making space in the room, free from attachments to meaning and other habits of the expert, observing with full attention as if for the first time. So that we can see things as they are. So that we can realize the original nature of everything.
There are 365 such lessons in the Workbook for Students, one for each day of the year. From a consistent meditation practice such as this, according to Lawrence LeShan, a renowned pioneer in the exploration of meditation, there are two major psychological effects. The first is the attainment of another way of perceiving reality. The second is a greater efficiency and enthusiasm in everyday life.
The first effect
The first psychological effect of consistent meditation is the attainment of a new way of perceiving and relating to the world. Based on the experience of those who have achieved it, this attainment - and the path to it - bring a strong serenity and inner peace that remain stable even in the face of much adversity.
As one comprehends more and more this new way of being in the world, one comes home to long-lost parts of oneself. One's zest, vitality, efficiency, capacity to love and relate increases and deepens. One begins to know that each is a part of all others, that no one walks alone, and that oen is at home in, and a part of, the universe.
The kind of people who have attained this view represent some of the most important figures in human history, people who have had a marked effect on the rest of us. Here are Socrates and Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Meister Eckhardt and George Fox, Lau Tzu and Confucius, Bernard of Clairvaux, Rumi, Saint Theresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross.
As one comprehends more and more this new way of being in the world, one comes home to long-lost parts of oneself. One's zest, vitality, efficiency, capacity to love and relate increases and deepens. One begins to know that each is a part of all others, that no one walks alone, and that oen is at home in, and a part of, the universe.
The kind of people who have attained this view represent some of the most important figures in human history, people who have had a marked effect on the rest of us. Here are Socrates and Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, Meister Eckhardt and George Fox, Lau Tzu and Confucius, Bernard of Clairvaux, Rumi, Saint Theresa of Avila and Saint John of the Cross.
The second effect
The second psychological effect of consistent meditation grows out of the work itself. For this effect it is not so important how well one does a meditation (how effectively one is doing that particular meditation and not thinking of anything else), but rather how hard one works at the job.
It is the steady work in which one gently, firmly, and consistently brings oneself back to the task at hand that strengthens the will and goal-oriented behavior, increases the ability to bar distractions, and facilitates the personality reorganization that is part of one's growth.
It is also this consistent work that increases one's ability to give oneself wholeheartedly and completely to whatever one is doing at the moment and increases one's ability to cope with a variety of situations along with an increased feeling of competence and confidence.
Twin goals
These, then are the twin goals of meditation and of the mystical path: the attainment of a second way of comprehending reality and the increased serenity and competence in being.
We can reach this attainment through perspective. Through contemplating things in relativity to familiar things - things that we know. Or we can reach this attainment through observation with our original minds - empty and ready for the possibilities inherent in unfamiliar things - things that we don't know, and things that we don't even know we don't know.
We can reach this attainment through perspective. Through contemplating things in relativity to familiar things - things that we know. Or we can reach this attainment through observation with our original minds - empty and ready for the possibilities inherent in unfamiliar things - things that we don't know, and things that we don't even know we don't know.