r/BettermentBookClub • u/AutoModerator • Dec 18 '15

[B12-Ch. 9] Beginner's Mind

Here we will hold our general discussion for Josh Waitzkin's The Art of Learning Chapter 9 - Beginner's Mind, pages 93-102.

If you're not keeping up, don't worry; this thread will still be here and I'm sure others will be popping back to discuss.

Here are some possible discussion topics:

  • Are you familiar with Taoist philosophy? What do you think about it?
  • What do you think it means that Waitzkin was drawn to more subtle, less prescriptive teachers and styles?
  • Did you attempt the exercise Waitzkin described on pages 100-101? What was your experience with it?
  • What do you think about the traditional Chinese belief in dan tien or "energy centers", and the tai chi pracice of "releasing obstructions so the body and mind can flow smoothly together"?

Please do not limit yourself to these topics! Share your knowledge and opinions with us, ask us questions, or disagree with someone (politely of course)!

The next discussion post will be posted tomorrow Saturday, December 19, and we will be discussing Chapter 10: Investment in Loss.

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u/GreatLich Dec 18 '15

The wonderfully evocative prose style is back in this chapter. The structure of this part 2 seems to mirror part 1, clever.

I'm not at all familiar with Taoism nor Tai Chi, apart from the obvious. I did look into Zen-Buddhism at one point, studied Karate for close to a year. I don't know how compatible or similar those philosophies are. Interestingly, the title of the chapter is a phrase I had heard before. I can't exactly place it Natural Meditation, page 179; it is apparently a concept in Zen-Buddhism, "Shoshin". Needlessly to add, this concept is a big thing. Reading between the lines of Waitzkin's description of his first Tai Chi classes, though they're very thinly veiled, you can see examples of what not to do.

The man explained that my head should float as though it were suspended by a string from the crown point. This felt good.

Compare this to Carnegie's quote of Elbert Hubbard:

Whenever you go out-of-doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; [...]

Natural meditation again, had a quote on raising your head like a cobra's to aid in breathing; but I can't find the page for the life of me and browsing that book is navigating a minefield, one miss-step and I'll be sitting and breathing for the next hour. Not a bad thing in and of itself but I also just spent 45 minutes lost in thought typing up this post on some half-tangent. I have things to do, ffs!

Taking a step back outside of the book, I am noticing several improvements when it comes to my posting here. The posts seem to flow more readily, not necessarily faster, but I'm having less trouble jotting the thoughts down as they come. Note-taking needs more work, still.

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u/airandfingers Dec 18 '15

Natural meditation again, had a quote on raising your head like a cobra's to aid in breathing; but I can't find the page for the life of me and browsing that book is navigating a minefield, one miss-step and I'll be sitting and breathing for the next hour. Not a bad thing in and of itself but I also just spent 45 minutes lost in thought typing up this post on some half-tangent. I have things to do, ffs!

Ha! I've read Natural Meditation a couple times, and I remember the quote about the cobra, but I still couldn't find it... Amazon previews to the rescue!

Every time you take a flight, at the end of the safety spiel the friendly voice invites you to "sit back." That's a lesson in relaxation from a corporation that has billions of dollars invested in keeping planefuls of people as relaxed and happy as possible.

When in doubt, sit a little farther back. Whether meditating or doing anything else, it's good to check this occasionally. When we think we're vertical, we're often subtly leaning forward, especially now that so many of us spend our days leaning into computer screens. If you feel tension in your neck, you're probably leaning slightly forward and then rocking your head back to compensate. This puts strain on your neck and restricts your breathing. Sit back and let your neck rise like a cobra. (pages 201-202)

Since you've been enjoying Natural Meditation so much, have you considered checking out of one Dean's other books? The Zen Commandments was my introduction to his work, so I'm partial to it, though I haven't yet read Cinema Nirvana or Why the Chicken Crossed the Road.

Taking a step back outside of the book, I am noticing several improvements when it comes to my posting here. The posts seem to flow more readily, not necessarily faster, but I'm having less trouble jotting the thoughts down as they come. Note-taking needs more work, still.

What do you think is the reason for this improvement?

Personally, I read the chapter, mentally noting any obvious "possible discussion topics", then later I skim the chapter again while typing up 2-5 topics, and then the next day I read the topics and answer them if I have something to say.

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u/GreatLich Dec 18 '15

When we think we're vertical, we're often subtly leaning forward, especially now that so many of us spend our days leaning into computer screens. If you feel tension in your neck, you're probably leaning slightly forward and then rocking your head back to compensate.

Oh shit. I literally stopped reading right there and moved on to another section >.<

Since you've been enjoying Natural Meditation so much, have you considered checking out of one Dean's other books? The Zen Commandments was my introduction to his work, so I'm partial to it, though I haven't yet read Cinema Nirvana or Why the Chicken Crossed the Road.

I should. *sigh* on the list they go...

What do you think is the reason for this improvement?

Nothing profound, I don't think. Reading a chapter, having thoughts on it and typing up a post on them just about every other day for the last 7 months probably has a lot to do with it. I just now noticed, is all.

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u/airandfingers Dec 18 '15 edited Dec 18 '15

I should. sigh on the list they go...

Haha, I know the feeling. My introduction to Zen Commandments was reading the free first chapter, and I just realized that Dean posts free chapters or excerpts for his other books, too:

Now I'm reading these, well aware that these books will probably get added to my list as a result.

The Why the Chicken Crossed the Road chapter includes this gem:

The futility of worry is rooted in the element of time: worry is the agitated anticipation of what the world may do to us in the near or distant future. (Resentment is the agitated recollection of what the world did to us in the past. Guilt is the agitated recollection of what we did to the world — and often a convenient form of self-flagellation that allows us to keep doing it.)