Reflection
Why is it we so often must leave the familiar to see what we do not see, to hear what we do not hear? It is almost always true for me, that major life altering Aha!s - those perspective shifting, container enlarging experiences/moments, appear out of nowhere in places unfamiliar, and/or with people unknown or barely known, ofttimes when involved in new tasks, or when learning new skills. These aha!s are always a surprise when they appear, an un-searched for, unexpected broadening of deep "knowing", and then, I am always surprised that I still continue to be surprised when one of these moments comes along :)
I suspect all this is true for me as in familiar settings and routines, I find "Beginner's Mind" harder to maintain. This may be a good thing for evolutionarily based biological survival, but can dull the immediacy of the present moment. I guess its just that whenever we are in novel situations, we must pay attention in a focused way that is not called for by necessity in our everyday lives. This lack of focus (narrow and broad), then dulls our "presence"with habituation. If we can remain open to the new and unknown (I personally like the edgy "excitement" that accompanies not knowing), and not shut it out because it is different from what we know or from what we are, then all kinds of new combinations can be made, new angles will be revealed to familiar objects, and concepts are free to change. Fresh newness, (only in the sense of not seen before though always there), can arise from this unknowing, non-knowing, knowing that we do not know, and we can participate fully in, be fully the ever renewing freshness of "this", "now".
Why is it we so often must leave the familiar to see what we do not see, to hear what we do not hear? It is almost always true for me, that major life altering Aha!s - those perspective shifting, container enlarging experiences/moments, appear out of nowhere in places unfamiliar, and/or with people unknown or barely known, ofttimes when involved in new tasks, or when learning new skills. These aha!s are always a surprise when they appear, an un-searched for, unexpected broadening of deep "knowing", and then, I am always surprised that I still continue to be surprised when one of these moments comes along :)
I suspect all this is true for me as in familiar settings and routines, I find "Beginner's Mind" harder to maintain. This may be a good thing for evolutionarily based biological survival, but can dull the immediacy of the present moment. I guess its just that whenever we are in novel situations, we must pay attention in a focused way that is not called for by necessity in our everyday lives. This lack of focus (narrow and broad), then dulls our "presence"with habituation. If we can remain open to the new and unknown (I personally like the edgy "excitement" that accompanies not knowing), and not shut it out because it is different from what we know or from what we are, then all kinds of new combinations can be made, new angles will be revealed to familiar objects, and concepts are free to change. Fresh newness, (only in the sense of not seen before though always there), can arise from this unknowing, non-knowing, knowing that we do not know, and we can participate fully in, be fully the ever renewing freshness of "this", "now".
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