Beginner's Mind and the Fool

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 07 Jan 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Silverlotus	07 Jan 2003
I've sort of been bouncing an idea around in my head for a couple of weeks, but I have yet to come up with any really concrete ideas. I'm hoping by posting my half-formed idea that some replies will provide the pieces I can use to finish it. :) In two books I have read recently (Life's Companion by Christina Baldwin and A Seeker's Guide by Elizabeth Lesser) the term Beginner's Mind was used. It is described as term used by Zen master Shunryu Suzuki for "unaffected curiosity." It is sort of the opposite of cynicism. It is viewing the world with the guilelessness of a child, but with the intelligence of an adult. I think that is the best way I can describe it. When I read the passages in both of these books about Beginner's Mind, an image of the Fool popped into my head. To me, the Fool represents the ability to look at the world without assumptions. It seems to me that the Fool is a representation of Beginner's Mind. That leads me to the second term I have come across lately (again in Ms. Lesser's book). It is a Buddhist term, shamatha, which means tranquil abiding. This seems to me to be the end point of the spiritual journey (or at least my spiritual journey). And I see this as being represented by the World card. We have journeyed through all the Trumps, learned our lessons, and lived a good life. When we reach the end point, we have transcended and reached shamatha. I'm curious as to what others think of my ideas so far. They aren't quite fully formed, but I think a strong base is there.

lupo138	07 Jan 2003
When I was practicing karate, a famous Shihan (Grandmaster) visited us. My Sensei (Master) is his pupil. The Shihan had a black belt that he had worn for decades and nearly all of the black silk, that covered the belt was gone. My Sensei joked that he was going to be a white belt - and the Shihan said: "This is absolutely true. After a while you become again a white belt." He was absolutely serious with that.

skytwig	29 Nov 2003
Ah, yes..... Beginner's Mind is the Fool Mind to me!! As Diana has taught me...... Fool is Enlightenment........ Beginner's Mind is truly "unaffected curiosity".... it is the ability to engage in any situation without preconceived ideas (which really mean preconceived reactions!!).... It is the ability to be so FRESH that the moment is IT, the present is ALL, BEING HERE NOW is a reality..... The Fool is the wisest place to be....... but it takes much practice.... interestingly, I was reading that at one point in history, the Fool was placed at the OTHER end of the Tarot path, between Judgement and The World........... That makes exquisite sense to me. As a practitioner of Zen, achieving mindfulness is, in many ways, a mindLESSness but in a very alert way..... It is being fully present. It is being fully AWARE. It is being fully engaged in what is going on about and within one's self. It is indifference to fame or material wealth. It is committment to the splendor of life, without expectations. It is delight. It is breath. This to me is The Fool and, for me, that is Divinity! :D

Star Spirit	30 Nov 2003
The Fool and the Fool's Journey are like a new reader and his journey through learning the tarot ;)

MoreMagic	30 Nov 2003
In the Buddhist tradition which I follow, samatha is used to describe a particular technique of meditation, mindful breathing. This technique, as well as many others, is a tool used to reach the final goal, enlightment, the present understanding that all is one. Personally, I have found it somewhat difficult to match Buddhist concepts with the tarot as a whole, although I have just received a copy of the Osho Zen tarot and I am looking forward to examining the deck from that perspective. (I do not follow the tradition of Zen, myself.) But that's not to say that your interpretation and application of the concept to the cards isn't valid - one of the things I like about Buddhism is its emphasis on figuring it all out for yourself!

Moongold	01 Dec 2003
This is a beautiful way of understanding the Fool. I think of an earlier thread where we were discussing the Fool as being always in a state of Grace. This sort of fits with the idea of the Fool having the innocence of a child and the intelligence of an adult. There is something here also.about the Fool being fully able to love. Perhaps this goes with grace and innocence. Moongold

Rusty Neon	01 Dec 2003
Who knows how many times a given Fool has been around the cycle of 0 to 21. Is he/she a new soul or an old soul? It depends on how many times they've been around the cycle, and what lessons they have learned on the way.

Bean Feasa	03 Dec 2003
Hi Silverlotus, This thread really interests me. I haven't read the books that you mention, but I read Shunryu Suzuki's 'Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind', and it's had a huge influence on my life, a wonderful book. And yes, now that you mention it, of course, the Fool has that openness, and lack of preconceptions and fearlessness - just the kind of mentality Suzuki tells us is necessary for living well and developing our spiritual side. I realised when I was reading your post that I've been dividing Eastern and Western wisdom traditions up in my head, thinking 'never the twain shall meet' The reason I thought this was that the Eastern traditions deal so much with emptying your mind, letting go of all thoughts and pictures, and the Western tradition relies heavily on thought and imagery and language. And yet, of course, in the paradoxical way of a lot of truths, they can overlap, no reason at all why not!! That's the beauty of this forum, I find I get little flashes and new perspectives at every turn. :) Blessings, Kate

Lethe	03 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Bean Feasa I realised when I was reading your post that I've been dividing Eastern and Western wisdom traditions up in my head, thinking 'never the twain shall meet'. Remember Tarot could have its roots in India (I said could everyone), it certainly has similar qualities to various indian cult teachings.

Alissa	03 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Lethe Remember Tarot could have its roots in India (I said could everyone), it certainly has similar qualities to various indian cult teachings. Could you expand on this theory Lethe? I'm not familiar with it ...?

skytwig	03 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Lethe Remember Tarot could have its roots in India (I said could everyone), it certainly has similar qualities to various indian cult teachings. OR it could have its roots in planet #5678201 in galaxy 89..... you never know....... :joke: You just never know......... ;)

Diana	03 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Lethe Remember Tarot could have its roots in India (I said could everyone), it certainly has similar qualities to various indian cult teachings. Well, it is interesting to note that in Hindi, the word for cards is "taru".... or so I have read. But I do not have any Hindi friends to confirm this. And as I can't read Hindi, a dictionary doesn't help much.

Indigo Rose	03 Dec 2003
Tarot has mysterious roots. I think this is fitting because it belongs to all of us: Eastern/Western and everything in between. It is important to understand it's roots, but as with the "unaffected curiosity" of the Fool we must see it with fresh eyes. I love the comment from Skytwig, "This to me is The Fool and, for me, that is Divinity"; which really adds to what Lupo 138 said in his post as he quoted one of his Martial Arts teachers, "This is absolutely true. After a while you become again a white belt." The student becomes the teacher, and alas the teacher becomes a student.....around the wheel we go. THE CIRCLE OF LIFE :)

Lethe	04 Dec 2003
Quote: Originally posted by Lethe Remember Tarot could have its roots in India (I said could everyone), it certainly has similar qualities to various indian cult teachings. OK I'll expand upon this, because it had varying reactions. First of all Alissa to answer your question, the idea, I think, was first proposed to a modern western audience by Barbara Walker. In The Secrets of the Tarot she makes etymological links between Tantra and the Tarot, claiming that the 21 cards of the Major Arcana are equivalent to the "Taras" or aspects of the goddess in ancient India worship. She leaves the fool seperate as this is the card that makes the journey. The name Tara, Walker claims, may have given Tarot its name. It is interesting to note that Tara worship dates back in sculptures 30, 000 years (around the same time as the Venus of Willendorf and other venus figurines) all adds credence to a matriarchal society and goddess worship and the indo-european connection moves etymologically through the names - Tara, Tana (Etruscan - early Rome), Diana (Roman), D'anu (variously D'Ana, Ana Anna, Anu), Dommu (Picts), Don (Welsh). Additionally: In the Latin we find Terra, Mother Earth. The Druids called their mother goddess Tara. An ancient saga of Finland speaks of Tar, Women of Wisdom. An ancient tribe of indigenous peoples in the South American jungles call to their goddess, Tarahumara. Getting back to the Indian connection I think the thing to bear in mind here is common ancestory. It has long been thought that the Romany people came out of India originally and if they did introduce Tarot to Europe it may well have been a book of Tantric wisdom. (I have doubts about this exact sequence of events) But as Skytwig says it could have come from anywhere. Most theories try to pin origins of something (not just Tarot) to one known point in orthodox history, but it's my belief that western and eastern mysticism can be blended so closely because they all have common root in the beginnings of our pre-history. We as humans have been anatomically identically (virtually, perhaps a bit more hair etc.) for 40, 000 years. Our brains were as good then as they are now, we are technologically more advanced because we have 1000's of years background research to go on. However we have chosen to mock and ignore spiritual issues in favour of science and therefore the ancients were far more advanced here than we are today. Astrology, meditation and yoga etc, were their science and if their brains were they same size as ours would they really rely on it for 1000's of years if there was not some truth in it. Our 'mystical' systems of divination and self-enlightenment may appear to be different across the globe but they were developed right at the beginnings of human consciousness and so wherever we have travelled over the surface of the earth these processes carry a common heritage.

The Beginner's Mind and the Fool thread was originally posted on 07 Jan 2003 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.