LESSON 1
January 1

"Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] means anything."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

Purpose: To teach that there is no difference in the things you see.

Exercise: Twice--morning and evening, preferably for one minute.

Look leisurely about you, applying idea specifically and indiscriminately to whatever you see, first in your immediate area and then farther. Say, for example, "This table does not mean anything."

Remarks: It is essential to specifically exclude nothing. But do not try to include everything. Do not hurry, leisure is essential.

COMMENTARY

The early lessons do not seem particularly inspiring to most people, but they are carefully planned to begin undermining the ego thought system. "Nothing I see...means anything." We are so certain, in our ego arrogance, that we really understand a lot of things. The lesson is trying to plant the idea that we don't really understand anything we see, that our vaunted understanding is an illusion. As long as we think we understand what something is and what it means, we will not begin to ask the Holy Spirit for its true meaning. Our belief that we understand closes our mind to any higher understanding. We need to become like little children, who realize they do not know, and ask someone who does know.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is the title of a wonderful little book that introduces Zen thought. The idea is that we grow most rapidly and reliably when we admit we are beginners that do not know, and need instruction in everything. A "beginner's mind" is an open mind, ready to find unrecognized meaning in everything.