Beginner's Mind

Suzuki Roshi left us a line that has outlived him by half a century. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, he said, but in the expert’s mind there are few. He meant it as an encouragement, and it is one of the kindest things anyone has said about starting over.

If you have never meditated, you may feel you are at a disadvantage. You are not. The beginner comes to the cushion without a stack of opinions about how this is supposed to feel, without a verdict already formed, open to whatever the morning actually brings. That openness is not a stage you pass through on the way to becoming an expert. It is the very thing the long-time practitioner is always trying to find their way back to.

So if you are new, take heart. You arrive holding the one thing that matters most, and the only task is to keep it. We will help you with the rest, on a Sunday morning, one breath at a time.