"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."
I'd been thinking about rereading Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki for a while. I was first introduced to it in a weeklong class with Jaki Svaren, author of Written Letters, at the Innovations Calligraphy Conference in Philadelphia in 1982. It was a a new way of thinking that had a major impact on me. As with so many things, parts of the book became part of me but much was forgotten. I knew it was a slow read and thought about where to fit it in my reading schedule. I decided to take it very slowly and read and copy out a paragraph a day. I'm copying it into a simple marbled school notebook. I didn't want to use anything that would make me feel precious or pressured about the writing.
More about Jaki's workshop and my experiences at calligraphy conferences
Your opening quote, about the beginner's and expert's minds, affirms what i have found: the more i know, the less i know. Perhaps you are speaking to a different phase of creation, but i find more possibilities as i learn more about the world and art.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that's because you are able to keep your beginner's mind!
ReplyDelete