Get a Beginner’s Mind

Yesterday afternoon I spent the better half of the afternoon biking through the rural mountains of Western North Carolina. To say it was picturesque would be an understatement.

But there was something that occurred to me in the midst of all the beauty that I thought to share with you.

You see, at a certain point I noticed that the spiritual high induced by the vistas and floral display was growing dim. It was the less-than-pleasant feeling in my legs that was holding sway in my consciousness.

Now, you may be thinking, ‘why didn’t you just stop, and give your pins a rest?’

A good point, but the situation was this. I was riding with a friend who is training for an ultra-distance race. I didn’t want to interrupt what was for him a training ride, albeit a light one.

Well, anyhow, I realized that I had to not just exercise my legs, I needed to stretch forth my inner discipline.

When we had reached the first vista of the ride I’d seen it with what your could call a ‘beginner’s mind.’ A mind fresh, and non-judgmental. As I got into the ride that mind began making judgments as to what should or should not be of importance.

And it was siding with my legs and lungs.

Once I saw this, I thought, ‘Hey, this is MY life, and right now I’m going to focus the things I want to see.’

So I burst out laughing, and shouted to my friend – who was a few hundred yards up in front – ‘Hey, isn’t this a sweet ride?’

‘Sure is,’ he returned.

And on we went.

No, the pain in my legs didn’t disappear completely. But I did stop allowing my mind to bitch and moan about it, and I did reach out with my consciousness to visual feast flowing by me.

Now, the same rules apply in violin playing. It is easy to get pulled down when the music’s hard and your back feels like a hot iron’s being pressed against it. Believe me, I’ve been there.

But that’s when you really have to dig deep, set your focus to right, and reposes your ‘beginner’s mind.’

By the way, I did not coin the expression. First time I saw it was in book title by a great Zen master by the name of D. T. Suzuki. Do you know of him?

All the best,

Clayton Haslop

P.S. And still speaking of Beginner’s, this morning I had our assistant put together 2 more Beginners Circle courses with the first 6 month’s material. So if you’re ready to adopt a ‘beginner’s mind’ relative to the violin now’s the time to hop to.