If you are anything like me and either enjoy reading books or grabbing a bargain, take a look! I noticed today that the kindle version of one of my favorite Zen books is on sale this month on Amazon – Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi.
Our minds can be so busy! It can be so easy to be full of ourselves, our notions of “right” and “wrong”, being in control, and the illusion that “it is always about me.” Life can teach us differently… or even force us to learn differently!
The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities. It is the kind of mind which can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything. --Shunryu Suzuki in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind
When we adopt a “beginner’s mind”, we experience ourselves, others, and the world through the childlike eyes of wonder with an open heart and mind, accepting just this precious single moment as it is.
The true purpose is to see things as they are, and to let everything go as it goes. This is to put everything under control in its widest sense. --(Shunryu Suzuki in Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind)
Browsing through Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind today, I thought of the great 20th century theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel:
The beginning of faith is not a feeling for the mystery of living or a sense of awe, wonder, or fear. The root of religion is the question what to do with the feeling for the mystery of living, what to do with awe, wonder, or fear. Religion, the end of isolation, begins with a consciousness that something is asked of us. It is in that tense, eternal asking in which the soul is caught and in which man's answer is elicited. --Abraham Joshua Heschel in Man is Not Alone
Beginner’s mind is embracing the mystery of life and responding to it with awe, wonder, and fear.
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind was one of the first Zen books I read, and it continues to amaze me each and every time I pick it up. I would encourage you to pick it up too!
Next Steps
If you are interested in attending an in person retreat in the Bay Area, we will be offering a Jewish New Year Interfaith Zen Retreat at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA on September 17, 2023. You may register for this retreat here!
Also, feel free to learn more about the Yom Kippur Zen Mindfulness Jewish Meditation Retreat in Los Angeles on September 25, 2023. Registration is currently open here!
As always, if you are interested in learning more about Jewish Mindfulness Meditation or how to create a more meaningful spiritual path for you and your loved ones, please make sure to sign up and click the “Stay Connected Now!” button below!
Mindful Judaism is pleased to offer daylong Jewish meditation and mindfulness retreats, shabbatons (weekend workshops), and other live and in person events throughout California and beyond.
If you are interested in bringing Mindful Judaism to your community, synagogue, or meditation group, please contact us at adam@mindfuljudaism.com for more information and to make arrangements.
Adam Fogel
www.mindfuljudaism.com