By Cheryl Marita •
I put a note in my bottle today, the same note that I sent to my granddaughter in college. I believe it is a philosophy that may help us as we deal with aging and death. It is the Zen teaching of “beginner’s mind.”
I’ve never been 73 before, and that is what will happen in February. A friend is turning 90. She’s never done that before. Beginners. People like Ram Dass, The Dalai Lama, and our other spiritual leaders cultivate their “Beginner’s Mind.” Ram Dass used his beginner’s mind as he dealt with a stroke that took away his strong speaking voice and put him in a wheelchair. He has gone back to teaching, speaking, learning. Beginner’s mind is not something that I have cultivated in the past, but it is something that I put on my 2019 list to practice. That’s all I can do, practice. As Ram Dass says “we’re all just walking each other home.”
Some of my teachers arrive as the patients I meet, who tell me to stop talking and hold their hand while they share with me their cherished memories. Or regrets, and what they learned from them. Some of my teachers arrive as old friends. One said to me “I want to learn more about beginnings.” She was philosophical and scientific, while I was emotional and analytical. I realized that we were the same, searching for the way home.
My granddaughter is at the beginning of her adult life, exploring life by the semester, with a syllabus. While I want a syllabus for the next decades of my life, I realize that if I practice “beginner’s mind” I will be present enough to walk home with friends and family at my side. Here are some guidelines. The first one is already a challenge.
This week, I am going to practice the first two. I think it will slow me down, let me listen more, and hopefully be more present with all. I am going to practice meeting new people with another of Ram Dass’s quotes in mind, especially if that person may not be in my “comfort zone.” Here’s Ram Dass – “TREAT EVERYONE YOU MEET AS IF THEY ARE GOD IN DRAG.”
That thought puts a smile on my face, which should be a good place to begin. In every situation. On the way home.
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[Reposted from “Morsels of Marita”]
Original post: https://morselsofmarita.com/2019/01/14/open-my-eyes-to-beginnings/
