Beginner's Mind (Shoshin)

A friend I hadn’t seen in a quite some time came over for dinner recently. He saw my new table and the conversation went like this:

Friend: “Wow, nice table! Where did you get it?”

Me: “I made it.”

Friend: “What?!? It’s amazing!!! Serious pro stuff. How long have you been woodworking?”

Me: “Actually, I just started. This is the first table I ever made.”

Friend: “WHAT?!? YOU’RE AMAZING!!!”

Actually, that never really happened. Unless you count what happens in my mind every time I start something new. Could be anything really. I jump from eager beginner right to idolized expert. In my mind, that is.

I bring this up to show the exact opposite of “beginner’s mind”, which is the quality I’d like to cultivate. Beginner’s mind is the ability to be curious, to try new things, to not be attached to outcomes. It’s a way to notice all the details of the present moment and to be at peace with how things are. The beginner can be playful where the expert may have to appear cool and in control.

There is a Japanese term for this, “shoshin”, which I believe is pronounced SHOH-shen.

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.”
— Shunryū Suzuki, author of "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind"

It’s important to have this beginner's mindset whenever trying something new, but it’s also important to have it at every step along the path to mastery and beyond. How often do I become jaded and assuming when I’ve “been there, done that”?

With a beginner’s mind what would catch my eye? What questions would I ask? What would I try? And maybe most importantly: how easy would I be on myself if I “fail”?

In closing, I like to remember this related anecdote when I start to feel accomplished at something:

“The world’s foremost cellist, Pablo Casals, is 83. He was asked one day why he continued to practice four and five hours a day. Casals answered, ‘Because I think I am making progress.’”
— Leonard Lyons, newspaper columnist