In the process of progressively stripping away elements of the Old so that the New could emerge, there was a time when we called this Martial element of the Way Shoshin Budo.
This translates from Japanese as (something like): The Martial Way of the Beginners Mind.
We still miss that name, however we discovered that by adding any word to the simple word Way, it inordinately prioritized one aspect of the Way over others. In the end, the Way is One so it cannot be named without deviating from the entirety of the Universal and Eternal Ultimate Reality.
However like the One, it can described with many names and superlatives that help articulate various aspects of its nature.
One aspect of the nature of the Way is Shoshin.
Shoshin is a Japanese word that refers to having a Mind that is open, eager, curious, in awe, and devoid of preconceptions about that which it is approaching. It is the state of Mind in which nothing is fixed, and anything is possible.
It is the akin to the concepts of the continual return to Childlike Faith, or the continual return to the State of the Uncarved Block. The father one progresses in the Way, the more critical this disciplined state becomes to maintain.
It is precisely the combination of an ever-more-competent Being that is always beginning that is the most powerful conduit of the Spirit.
Shoshin is the antidote to corruption, ossification, and decay. The more you progress towards the Mastery, the easier it is to think that you Know and to close your mind to the New that is trying to reveal itself to you.
The degree of Shoshin could perhaps be measured by (something like) the number of degree of possibilities one can perceive.
To the one who is just beginning anything is possible, and the pure childlike Faith that anything is possible is the precondition to us being able to take up the Old mountains and cast them into the sea.
We are always beginning. This Guide is always beginning.
Everything New thing that we discover, every New thing we do, becomes Story and a Prophesy of even greater things to be discovered and done in the future.
The life of every Master is not a pinnacle, but a Prophesy of the even-greater things to be done in the future.
Our Minds, like the Universe, and like the Way, must always be only "half full" and flowing. It is neither a void of nothingness, nor so full that it cannot readily accept far more.
This is the state in which one is simultaneously both fully fledged, and just beginning.
This is the state of Power.
Forged. Disciplined. Competent. Capable. Yet progressively learning and transforming at an accelerating rate towards an ever higher state of existence.
Remember, the New is already perfect, and yet it continues to Become A Little Better Every Day
The moment one believes they “know” the Way, the possibility of knowing the Way is removed is removed in that instant.
Having encountered another tiny fragment of Ultimate Reality, they grab onto it and try to possess it and bring it back through the Boundary. The moment they cross the Boundary, the fragment turns into a false idol that possesses them, and makes the blind, deaf, and enslaved again.
They are like a block of wood that has been carved for one specific use, and has therefore become useless for all other things. Every other potential is removed the moment one is carved into a narrow understanding.
The moment one makes an image of the One, it becomes an idol.
Neither the Way or the One can ever be fully brought back through the Boundary of Knowing.
The moment one lets go of their Idol and truly understands that they they Do Not Know, the possibility of knowing is restored, and the Quest towards the Goal can resume.
Always return to the beginning. Return to the state of the uncared block. Never become more than half full. Never lose your childlike awe and wonder.
Half full, eternally receiving, eternally flowing, always moving, never stagnant, always in Flow.
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