Glossary
Shoshin
初心 · beginner's mind
"Beginner's mind": meeting each moment openly, without assuming you already know.
Shoshin means "beginner's mind". It describes an attitude of openness and curiosity, free of the assumptions that come with expertise, even when doing something you have done many times.
The idea was brought to many Western readers by the Soto Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki, whose talks were published under the title Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. A beginner sees many possibilities where an expert may see only a few.
In practice it means sitting down today as though for the first time, without comparing this sitting to the last one or expecting it to go a certain way.