Ever felt that today is just another day?
Been here before, done that?
Or perhaps feel like nothing is exciting, challenging or worthwhile?
Many times our lives can appear mundane – we get up, go to work; come home, go to bed. Or we look after children all day; day in, day out; go to school – nothing seems to change; or many other configurations of everyday life and nothing is different.
As a result we can start to feel like we are experts in our lives because after all what is there not to be an expert in, everything seems to be the same. We live it, we know it.
This is the development of what is often known as the ‘experts mind’.
When we feel this way we can try to distract ourselves by engaging in endless activities, looking for sensory experiences to help us feel alive, or by pursuing wealth, power and fame (and FB friends).
Eventually reality confronts us, and we can then become quite disheartened, depressed even anxious. Other mental health issues can settle in.
So why not look at reality in the first place and resolve to have a new perspective? Mindfulness helps us create our own happiness by exploring the present moment as if it hasn’t happened before – because it hasn’t.
When we come to the realization that the past no longer exists and the future hasn’t arrived yet, we can grow our understanding that the present is, at the same time, something we cannot hold on to for it is always changing, unfolding, revealing. The famous Matthieu Ricard writes “cultivating mindfulness does not mean that you should not take into account the lessons of the past or make plans for the future; rather it is a matter of living clearly in the present experience that includes them” (p67 The Art of Meditation).
We usually approach a situation with our ‘expert’s mind’. “I’ve been through this before, I know what is going to happen” or “I’m not going to let others determine things for me, I know what needs to happen because I have all the answers, I need to control this situation”. The expert’s mind closes us off to opportunities, opportunities for things to be different.
The Beginner’s Mind however is open. Open to new experiences at every moment
If we bring a ‘beginner’s mind’ to each situation, we open ourselves to options for how things may be. A beginner’s mind says “I have never been at this point in my life before, be open to what is here and now, be open to what I can be and what others can teach me”.
It is like a child learning to walk. The child falls down and gets back up, not one time but many times. Even though the child is an ‘expert’ at sitting or crawling, it pushes itself to see what can be possible, to get up and walk.
A Beginner’s Mind resolves to not judge. To put away the word ‘should’. I have a saying that I don’t ‘should’ on myself or ‘should’ on others!
A Beginner’s Mind says I have wisdom and know my values but I let go of expectations of common sense.
A Beginner’s Mind says I have never been at this juncture in my life with such awareness and ability, what can unfold, what can I do, what can I understand of this?
How exciting would it be to walk down your street for the first time again? To walk into a meeting and listen with fresh ears? To watch your children eat, play and learn? To truly be with a long term friend or partner and hear them for who they are today, here and now?
This is the challenge and blessing of the Beginner’s Mind – see what happens.
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