Power of a Beginner? How can that be? They are a beginner afterall and don’t know anything. However, The Beginner’s Mind is such a wonderful thing! It is the first of the Five Minds – Shoshin. Everyone is in such a hurry to “master” techniques or any particular subject. They seldom take the time to understand the basics, the very small parts of what they intend to learn. Of being a Beginner.
Let Go to See
For me, the past month has revealed to me the power of being a beginner. The world really seemed to open up. I let go of the pressure to master and just let the techniques happen. As soon as I did that, I began to see what was there in front of me. The thought came: Why didn’t I see this before? Why should I have expected to see them? After all, you ARE a beginner. Let go. You don’t know this. Let them teach you. And there it happened – Shoshin. The beginner’s mind opened. It was wonderful!
I have been practicing Martial Arts for a long time – over 50 years. Many of us talk about having a Beginner’s Mind. Very few actually attempt to adopt it. Sure, it is easy to tell someone who comes to class for the first time “Relax. Enjoy the process. There is so much to learn. You can’t learn it all in one day/week/month.” Very easy. But to tell ourselves – and mean it! Why do we have this pressure to learn so quickly? Why are you trying to “master” this in a year?
You “should to know”
You’ve been practicing over 50 years. They expect you to know. WHY!!! This is a new topic. Why am I supposed to know? Just because you have practiced one thing for a long time doesn’t mean you “know” what is happening now!! We all make this mistake. Right? You are good at one thing and put pressure on yourself to be good at everything! Why? Where did this rule come from?
What is worst would be: because you are highly educated, you know “everything”. We see this with highly educated people. They have their Master’s Degree or Doctorate, there entitling them to be an expert in multiple topics. No. It doesn’t work that way. Society has put so much pressure on having the degrees, we have forgotten to learn the basics of life. We forget to learn from everyone. We forget the room full of people is smarter together than the one so called smart person. (Check out Thomas Sowell’s Intellectuals and Society)
As I truly let go and take on the Beginner’s Mind, everything is getting clearer. The more I admit I don’t know, the easier everything is becoming. Without that pressure to “master”, I am learning better. I find myself encouraged to find something I don’t know or am not good at. There is much fun just being one of the students! Enjoy the opportunity to be guided through a new journey. Just move. Just learn. This is wonderful!
A Challenge
The challenge is now issued. Now that you “know” you can’t go back. Your eyes are opened to the power of the Beginner’s Mind. Find something to learn. Learn from EVERYONE. You don’t know everything. Let the young one teach you. They are closer to the source anyway. Be a beginner! Once the basics are learned, mastery is a lot closer! Work the basics slowly and steadily until more complicated information can be processed. Soon, you will know what you are doing. Get the 10,000 bad ones out of the way. Be the Beginner. Find your power!