Do you remember when you first started to learn a new skill? It was a feeling of fear – “Can I do this?” – mixed with excitement and anticipation – “I want to do this!”. I love to watch people get their first lessons on a motorcycle – it is really neat to see how in such a short time uncertainty and fear are transformed into confidence and joy.
When we first learn a new skill, we love the act of learning and practice, practice, and practice some more, reveling in the enjoyment of the act itself, losing ourselves in the pure feeling of the moment. Hours pass and it but a short moment.
The great 19th century Japanese Swordsman and Zen Master Yamaoka Tesshu said that there are two aspects of practice: Technique and Principle.“Particular and Universal are the two aspects of practice. Particular is technique and Universal is mind.” Technique simply refers to the “how” or specific skill itself; in swordsmanship it is the form with which you make a particular stroke, in motorcycling it is such things as pressing or leaning, in sewing it is using a certain kind of stitch. Universal is the principle, what we might call the “Why” of a technique; understanding the principle allows us to apply it to various new situations, not being limited to a simple laundry list. Technique is mechanical and specific to the art while Universal is principle and transcends any specific art; Universal can be applied to many kinds of situations, becoming a sort of metaphor for much of life.
Anyone can learn technique; I can teach anyone how to ride a motorcycle with a modicum of skill in about two hours. But therein lay the danger: once the technique is learned, we begin to think of ourselves as experts, and experts can become dangerous: “In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the experts mind there are few.” ~Shunryu Suzuki.
The true expert is the one who keeps Sho-shin – Beginners Mind. In motorcycling these are the folks who never lose their awe of, and respect for, the machine. These are the folks who constantly train and go to classes to improve, realizing that true mastery is never attained. Beginners mind is the mind of the student, the one who experiences the same excitement the millionth time s/he cranks the engine as s/he felt the first time mounting a ride. Every moment is a new experience, and instead of being limited by what one already knows one is freed by the endless possibilities that exist. With Beginners Mind, no two journeys are the same and even the most familiar road is filled with new possibility.
When we first learn a new skill, we love the act of learning and practice, practice, and practice some more, reveling in the enjoyment of the act itself, losing ourselves in the pure feeling of the moment. Hours pass and it but a short moment.
The great 19th century Japanese Swordsman and Zen Master Yamaoka Tesshu said that there are two aspects of practice: Technique and Principle.“Particular and Universal are the two aspects of practice. Particular is technique and Universal is mind.” Technique simply refers to the “how” or specific skill itself; in swordsmanship it is the form with which you make a particular stroke, in motorcycling it is such things as pressing or leaning, in sewing it is using a certain kind of stitch. Universal is the principle, what we might call the “Why” of a technique; understanding the principle allows us to apply it to various new situations, not being limited to a simple laundry list. Technique is mechanical and specific to the art while Universal is principle and transcends any specific art; Universal can be applied to many kinds of situations, becoming a sort of metaphor for much of life.
Anyone can learn technique; I can teach anyone how to ride a motorcycle with a modicum of skill in about two hours. But therein lay the danger: once the technique is learned, we begin to think of ourselves as experts, and experts can become dangerous: “In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, but in the experts mind there are few.” ~Shunryu Suzuki.
The true expert is the one who keeps Sho-shin – Beginners Mind. In motorcycling these are the folks who never lose their awe of, and respect for, the machine. These are the folks who constantly train and go to classes to improve, realizing that true mastery is never attained. Beginners mind is the mind of the student, the one who experiences the same excitement the millionth time s/he cranks the engine as s/he felt the first time mounting a ride. Every moment is a new experience, and instead of being limited by what one already knows one is freed by the endless possibilities that exist. With Beginners Mind, no two journeys are the same and even the most familiar road is filled with new possibility.
No comments:
Post a Comment