Day 42

10:00 AM

I can use a day off... My body is tired the last few days. Its not so much the sore back, or painful knees, my body is simply tired. For over a month and a half, I didn't have a rest day. I can almost feel it now, feel how great am I going to feel after taking a few days off... I can feel now that my body will bloom and open up like a flower. Right now I am constantly targeting all the major areas in my body, so there is not time to relax fully, to receive all the benefits from practice. Even the teachers say that, after I take some days off, my body is going to take a step into the new world. It is a funny feeling, every time I think about finishing the journey, and the days after, I have this big smile and I feel like my lungs are opening up. Like I said, I can so feel how great it is going to be... I can feel it right now...
I only have 58 days left... Piece of cake... What will I do after I finish the journey...? Probably go to yoga... Change it up a little...

2:00 PM

Most Zen teachers love to use the term "Beginners Mind"... Empty cup... They value it as they value the present moment. I first heard about it many years ago, and it seemed quite simple. Empty your mind, be open to everything, don't think and act like you know it all. I know what beginners mind is....
That's where the problem starts. We KNOW what the beginners mind is... We know it... But we don't have the experience of it. We know what the orange should taste like, but we never tasted it ourselves. If one is walking the path, knowledge is nothing, experience is everything...
When you first set out on a spiritual journey, you are like a hungry dog. You devour everything that comes your way. Books, movies, lectures, retreats, taking it all in without ever raising a question, without a doubt. Tasting everything that comes your way, totally open to the world... Beginners mind in its true sense. When one is in this state, it is very easy to choose the right path, it just seems natural, no thinking needed... After some time, after many books and meditations, our cup is starting to get full. We start to preach to ourselves, and to the others, what is the best way, how to do things. Books become good or not so good, teachers become strong or weak, the direction of your path is changing, discipline weakening... We start to know it all again... Full cup... Beginners mind, gone...
Keeping the open mind, beginners mind, is essential to spiritual practice. Any spiritual practice... Only an open mind can grow, only an open mind can bloom and reach its full potential. Always empty your cup, embrace everything that comes your way. Keep the " I don't know..." and just walk the path...

11:00 PM

It is snowing again... Embrace it with open arms...