There was a young man who spent years learning his craft.
He studied the masters.
He learnt the rules.
He made mistakes.
He became good.
He became so good that he started to make a name for himself and eventually people started calling him a master too.
Somewhere along the way it got to his head and so he stopped asking questions.
He stopped studying the things he thought he already understood.
When someone corrected him, he defended himself.
When something challenged his beliefs, he dismissed it.
He had gained experience, but somewhere along the way he had lost his curiosity.
One day, he met an old master.
The young man began explaining everything he knew.
The master listened quietly.
Then he poured tea into the young man’s cup.
The cup filled.
He kept pouring.
Tea spilled over the edges and onto the table.
“Stop!” the young man said. “The cup is full.”
The master smiled.
“So are you.”
Boom! That was a lesson.
-Shoshin.
The beginner’s mind.
“To approach something you have done a thousand times as if there is still something to discover”
Experience is powerful, but the moment experience convinces you that you have nothing left to learn, it becomes a cage.
Stay curious.
Stay humble.
Stay hungry.
Never become so good that you forget how to be a beginner. Your curiosity is your greatest strength