Any advice on having a beginners mind? I am 41 years old and I would say that having a beginners mind is extra difficult for me because I have always been a deep thinker with weak social skills. My mind operates in a deep and possibly profound way, more than the average person. People have told me I was a deep thinker and one guy called me a modern day philosopher. Za Zen does usually help me let go of much of the stuff going on upstairs but not in the same manner as many Zen monks I have seen speak on YouTube videos. I say that because they talk with more simple words and express ideas with less words were as I may use bigger words or go an extra bit to express the same idea. I know I should probably not compare myself to a monk though as I'm a lay practitioner barely. So any advice or techniques to reduce the depth and have more of a beginners Mind, thanks.
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Heya Patrick,
I think it's important to distinguish things a bit more—as there's nothing inherently wrong with intellectualism or knowing things. Master Dogen was quite the knowing wordsmith, after all!
In our everyday lives, we're taught that to "know" things means to understand something intellectually. To figure things out, to think things through, and have clear answers. That's our intellectual thinking: concepts, logic, analysis, and striving for answers or conclusions. It’s not “bad” in and of itself—it’s very helpful for solving problems or learning practical skills. We need to do it!
That said, if we cling to this type of thinking during Zen practice, our minds become full of expectations and opinions. We can’t fully see or experience because we’re too busy thinking about how it’s "supposed" to be.
Beginner's mind, instead, is less about knowing things intellectually and more about approaching each moment and experience fresh, without or with little assumptions, notions, or preconceived ideas. It's the mind that says, "I don't fully know—and that's OK."
This not-knowing isn't ignorance, or dumbing down. Instead, it's openness and curiosity. We drop our habitual patterns of thinking, or overthinking (in my case), allowing ourselves to experience things as they are—without judgement, or labels. It’s the way we approach something when we don’t assume we already know everything about it.
Think about a child seeing snow for the first time—they don't immediately think about temperature, ice crystals, or weather conditions. They simply experience joy, curiosity, and wonder. We cultivate a similar openness through zazen. Sitting without expectation, letting thoughts arise and pass, not chasing after them or analyzing them, simply being present, fully awake to this moment. This “not knowing” is profound trust: a trust that reality is fully experienced when we stop crowding it with fixed ideas.
I'm not entirely sure if I answered your overall question, and perhaps that's a good thing. If we start thinking about techniques to do xyz, we'll spend all day thinking about xyz!
Gassho,
Koushi
STLaH理道弘志 | Ridō Koushi
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Please take this priest-in-training's words with a grain of salt. -
I like Koushi's response very much.
However, Patrick, I am closing the topic until we can discuss why you have ignored my repeated requests to you. "SatToday" and "LAH" note that you have sat today before coming here to chit-chat, and that you have lent some hand in the world. It is one of our very few rules around here.
Because of your repeated ignoring of my requests, I will have to suspend you for a week if you continue or do not respond. I am sorry, but we take the sitting and helping seriously around here.
I will PM.
Gassho, Jundo
stlahLast edited by Jundo; 03-16-2025, 01:59 AM.ALL OF LIFE IS OUR TEMPLEComment
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