Zen Buddhism has some amazing life concepts and one of them is called Shoshin. Shoshin means Theory of Beginner’s Mind.
“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.” – Shunryu Suzuki
I will explain you a theory of beginner’s mind via simple story. You come across a fruit, lets say Kiwi. Let the story unfold in three possible ways :
Scenario 1: If you are aware of the taste, you would expect it to taste exactly the same. Here, there are no possibilities but only expectations. Most of the time, the taste differs and hence, you end up in displeasure most of the time due to your expectations.
Scenario 2: If you are aware of the taste and the fruit tastes exactly the same way, you may continue eating for some days before getting bored. Here too, there are no possibilities. There are only expectations which have been met and hence things are boring.
Scenario 3: Beginner’s mind => Imagine, you are eating this fruit for the first time in your life. You have absolutely no idea how this fruit tastes. You start eating it. You feel its peel, hard and bitter and then you get the juice inside. The citrus taste of the pulp gives you goosebumps, and seeds of the fruit that is crunchy. Oh, you have absolutely enjoyed that fruit. Its freshness, its taste of pulp, those seeds and hard peel. What an absolute fun!
Lets free our mind from all expectations and fill it with possibilities!
This is what is called Theory of Beginner’s mind. We have to make our mind free of all the expectations. Remember this fruit is nothing but a real life situation > Meeting with your loved one, having coffee with an old friend, the work you do or any interaction that you come across every day. Make it expectation free! You will start enjoying your life and everything will make you happy.
Happy implementing Theory of Beginner’s Mind. Thank you for reading. Do share and spread this article if you liked it.
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