Recognition of Truth requires us to let go of our preconceptions. You need to be willing to consider the possibility you are not your body, mind, emotions, or beliefs. Even more than that, you need to be willing to consider the possibility that even the concept of “I” is nothing more than a believed thought. What are you without your beliefs, thoughts, projections, associations, assumptions, definitions, or any of your known things?
Christ said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Shunryu Suzuki, a revered Zen teacher, states, “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.”
The openness of a beginner, or a child, is a great asset in the quest to recognize your essential nature. If you ask the question, “What am I?” or “Who is having this thought?”, but already think you know the answer, you will miss Life’s immediate answer and instead jump to the mind’s answer. You need to let go of what you think you know to make space for the infinite.
Step back from your adult, expert mind and recognize what is obvious to the beginner’s mind. The beginner’s mind is free of definitions, predefined goals, or intellectual constructs as to the nature of Truth. When Nisargadatta Maharaj was asked, “Who are you?”, he replied, “Nothing perceivable or conceivable… If you can perceive it or conceive it, it is not you, therefore discard it.”
Again, to quote St. Francis of Assisi, “What you are looking for is what is looking.” Notice what is looking. Look with the innocence of a child and notice the stillness that is always there looking out at these very words. Drop biases, beliefs, and preconceptions. Drop mind’s amassed philosophical knowledge. Allow space to spontaneously recognize Truth.
Namaste, Steve and Bec