Foundational Attitude of Mindfulness: Beginner's Mind

In Jon Kabat-Zinn's Full Catastrophe Living he says, "Too often we let our thinking and our beliefs about what we "know" prevent us from seeing things as they really are... To see the richness of the present moment, we need to cultivate what has been called "beginner's mind," a mind that is willing to see everything as if for the first time."

A few weeks ago as I sat in daily mindfulness practice each day for a week, I set the intention to experience the meditation through the beginner's mind. It can be really challenging to do something that you've done hundreds of times when approaching it as if you've never done it before. What you realize when you are able to use a beginner's mind mentality is how much you anticipate the end, how you move through things with certain outcomes in mind (expectations), how you're not really listening to instructions or cues because you think you know where you're going and how to get there. My experience with practicing beginner's mind is that you can create space for wonder at things you never experienced in the moment whenever you did that thing previously. Maybe it was there but you didn't notice it. The approach of having a beginner's mind really helps you be in the moment, to really experience whatever is happening.

One thing that happens over time without our even noticing it is that we get stuck in the rut of our own expertise. We usually approach things as the expert we think we are in any particular subject. We lean on our old knowledge, our old habits, our pre-existing conditioning as we move through life. It's easy because it's automatic. But when we believe we are expert at something, that belief becomes a block to our ability to be receptive and open to new possibilities. It closes the door to creativity, to the possibility of learning something new, being rejuvenated and reinvigorated.

Sometime over the next few days, go outside and look up at the sky. This is no doubt something you've done thousands of times, if not hundreds of thousands of times. Look at it as if this is the first time you've seen it. What do you notice? Is it a particular shade of blue, is it clear or cloudy, are the clouds wispy or fluffy, are they still or shifting? Can you see the moon or the sun? Have you ever paid such close attention? And if you look at the sky the next day, is it the same as yesterday? We take all this for granted hardly even bothering to notice the richness of the present moment experience of what it is to look at the sky.

Doing things as if doing them for the first time makes you listen more carefully and intently. It creates space to experience something in ways you hadn't previously, or maybe to experience them more richly and fully, to kind of have your eyes opened to new aspects of the old thing. It can make something old new again. In my week of practicing beginner's mind, what I learned was that starting with this attitude in mind creates a space. And in that space there is allowing for what is, exactly as it is, and also for possibilities. There is space for creativity, for discerning nuance, for experiencing awe and wonder at the miraculousness of everyday, common occurrences, and in that awe and wonder, there is also finding joy and gratitude.

As we continue to be isolated due to Covid-19 albeit less so with vaccinations available to some, we may be fatigued with our surroundings. We may have done every puzzle in the house, we may have read all the new books, cooked lots of recipes, made a hundred loaves of sourdough bread, and so on. But try doing any of these things again mindfully, as if it was the first time, and see if you can find that sense of wonder, joy, and gratitude. If it feels hard, it is. This is an attitude that has to be cultivated because we are so conditioned to live with our historical expectations and anticipations of how anything works, to go by rote memory rather than lean in to feel the sensations of experience each time. So give something old a whirl with beginner's mind and keep trying. I think you'll be amazed! If you feel comfortable, please comment below about your beginner's mind experience.