Open, Curious, and Accepting – That’s Beginner’s Mind

The Buddhist concept of Shoshin, or developing a “beginner’s mind,” may be the best place to start an “open, curious, and accepting” practice. This concept is about dropping our expectations and preconceived ideas and seeing things with an open mind, fresh eyes, and simple acceptance–just like a beginner. Accepting here means understanding comfortably that other people may have different ideas and opinions while not necessarily agreeing with them. This too is mindfulness. And is tightly interwoven with patience.

Here’s a metaphor: 

If the cup is already filled with water, then no matter how much water we pour into it, the cup cannot be filled any further. Water will overflow and it will be a waste. If we want the cup to retain or hold water, then we must empty the cup first. In the same way, if our mind is already filled with preoccupations, such as unnecessary rigid notions, opinions, stories, ideas, and the like, if we rigidly see the world as black and white, then no matter how much we hear, it will be a waste.

How do we incorporate this into our daily lives? Here are some simple techniques to encourage your beginner’s mind.

“Beginner’s mind” doesn’t mean that you don’t trust your experience or your own intelligence—your mind. You can still trust your mind and remain open and curious without believing rigidly, without reifying your beliefs at the expense of being open and curious. If beginner’s mind meant “don’t trust what you know,” it would leave us open to manipulation and gaslighting by others. It doesn’t mean that. It means recapturing our innocence, in the best of ways, and seeing without preceding our understanding with a narrative.

A key part of Shoshin is fully arriving into the present moment, which is a form of mindfulness. We need to remember that we don’t often take a deep breath and allow ourselves to fully experience where we are and what we are doing. Fully experience the awe of each moment.

Shoshin might feel uncomfortable at first—and there’s a reason: we are biologically designed to see the phenomena in a consistent way. But “not knowing” – as beginner’s mind is sometimes explained — is the path to liberation.