Beginners mind
A big concept in Buddhism that fascinates me, is beginners mind, or seeing things as though new/fresh, or with child-like fascination. This goes back to our ability to form habits. To layer things to automatize is a brilliant function for efficiency, but awful if we want to change it. Tara Bennett-Goleman explains in her book Emotional Alchemy that each time we do something habitually it is imprinted on our emotional brain, our amygdala. And each time we follow that habitual path we strengthen its use, so anything remotely similar quickly, and efficiently takes that path. But the problem comes when the result of that path does not serve us, yet we go down that path anyway. Mindfulness helps to slow down this process, to be consciously aware.
“Seeing things freshly as though for the first time lies at the heart of mindfulness.”
Seeing something fresh, without our filters, or habits removes judgement, or opinion. It’s a tough thing to do. Just try looking at a light switch for what it is: just a light switch. It’s not easy to remove all the thoughts around the light switch. “It needs cleaning, I need to change that bulb, it doesn’t work so well, is the light enough in here or should I turn it on? The shape of the switch is different to my old flat.” Try it, see if you can look at the switch and just see it, without layering it.
“Mindfulness is not bound by expectations, habits or the weight of our past. In Zen, beginners mind keeps a fresh awareness.”
Children have that beautiful ability to see things as they are and that is why they can be fascinated with paper, and forget the present inside the paper. As we grow we attach layers, conditioning that changes our perception but mindfulness can help peel back the layers. It’s an interesting concept to play with, and worthwhile pursuing.
“Mindfulness improves our ability to control our negative emotions, and let’s us see the bare facts, and not fall for our own cover stories.”
“How things seem depend on the lens or filter through which we look at them. Some filters are temporary; others last a life time, creating an enduring sense of our reality.”
Tara goes onto to say we can change our habits at any four levels:
- Our thoughts
- Our emotions
- Our behaviour
- Our relationships
And that by intentionally acting in a way that opposes our negative habits of mind helps to change our habits. In this way, first with conscious awareness, we are re-carving a new, positive pathway.
“When changing a habit, people often stop too soon, failing to push themselves past the stage of awkward unfamiliarity. It feels unnatural at first, so we revert to the familiar habit, which feels more comfortable, even after we realize it no longer serves us. This is so often what keeps us bound to our emotional habits.”
Trackbacks