Chinese Zen master Guo Jun said that the beginner’s mind is like a vessel that is dirty. No matter what we pour into this dirty vessel; no matter how nutritious it is, it becomes contaminated. Zen Buddhism, and with that, Buddhism, in general, cannot be poured into a mind filled with prejudices, especially, prejudices which run contrary to the discourses of the Buddha.
In a word, the beginner’s mind is a closed mind. Whatever they seem to have learned about Zen Buddhism is wrong. Sometimes their attitude is like an inverted vessel which doesn’t want to receive anything; sometimes they are like a vessel overfull so that it can’t receive anything. The mind of a beginner is also like a vessel with cracks in it. Anything of value that is poured into it is not retained.
From the standpoint of Chinese Zen, the beginner’s mind is like a raw recruit’s first arrival at MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot). The recruit is not yet a Marine. He lacks the proper Marine Corps attitude. He has to drop his former attitudes—all of them—and fully adopt the Marine Corps attitude. What Shunryu Suzuki says in his book, Zen Mind, Beginner‘s Mind, runs contrary to Chinese Zen and the required attitude of a Zen beginner.
“In Japan we have the phrase shoshin, which means "beginner's mind." The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner's mind. Suppose you recite the Prajna Paramita Sutra only once. It might be a very good recitation. But what would happen to you if you recited it twice, three times, four times, or more? You might easily lose your original attitude towards it. The same thing will happen in your other Zen practices. For a while you will keep your beginner's mind, but if you continue to practice one, two, three years or more, although you may improve some, you are liable to lose the limitless meaning of original mind.”
Suzuki seems to not remember his own days as a Zen beginner; who couldn’t tell shit from Shinola; who was clueless as to the actual goal of Zen which is to realize our true nature. When he says nonsense like, “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few,” he is really saying the beginner’s mind is the monkey mind while the expert’s mind is disciplined and understands that Zen demands that we see our true nature—it’s a life and death matter. This is what the expert is seeking with every fiber of his or her being. Nothing else. Unlike the beginner's mind, the expert’s mind is not distracted by infinite possibilities and deceptions.
Terms like "beginner's" mind are like "the sun rising", a matter of convenience and perhaps perspective, but not so much an accurate or precise description of thing itself.
Is zen at first blush truly different than veteran zen? I would have to say it neither is nor is not. I certainly get Zennist's point (and Susan's), and for that matter I see where Suzuki is coming from (at least I think so).
But in the context of dependent origination, nothing can be said to begin. Until seeds planted in the buddha lands come to flower, who is not a beginner? No matter how dense or obscure, what mind springs into being from nothingness?
I have a friend who surfs, another who climbs, another who rides state of the art motorcycles: each insist this is their zen.
For whatever knowledge to be gained through study of the sutras and not just buddhism, but the teachings of various spiritual traditions, I cannot say they are wrong. Nor would I say they are right.
Posted by: n. yeti | July 08, 2014 at 03:20 PM
Susan: I like the idea of an "open mind" not so much a "beginner's mind."
Posted by: thezennist | July 08, 2014 at 12:03 PM
I've always thought that Suzuki meant by that passage, not that there was something wrong with an educated inquiring mind, and something special about a common mind, but that a mind with a lot of fixed conceptions can't easily get out of the cultural framework. It's too full already. Is an intellectual more "prejudiced" than an uneducated person? Sometimes. Sometimes not. Obviously a certain level of intellect is required to study the sutras, and mental discipline is necessary for mindful practice. I believe that what Suzuki is looking for, what he identifies as the "beginner's mind" is freshness and openness every time we approach practice and study. Otherwise, Zen practice quickly devolves into just another religious routine with no goal in sight.
Posted by: Susan | July 08, 2014 at 12:04 AM
Being provocative is fun!:)
Posted by: j writ | July 05, 2014 at 10:22 AM
"Subhuti, when people begin their practice of seeking to attaining total Enlightenment, they ought to see, to perceive, to know, to understand, and to realize that all things and all spiritual truths are no-things, and, therefore, they ought not to conceive within their minds any arbitrary conceptions whatsoever."
--Diamond Sutra (31)
Posted by: n. yeti | July 03, 2014 at 09:47 AM