WELCOMING BEGINNER’S MIND: Zen and Tibetan Buddhist Wisdom on Experiencing Our True Nature
Gaylon Ferguson
[Shambhala, 248 pages]
As I’ve explored Buddhist philosophy over the past few years, I’ve found richness in reading books by experienced practitioners because each one provides their own interpretation of basic teachings.
Diving into Gaylon Ferguson’s newest book, Welcoming Beginner’s Mind: Zen and Tibetan Buddhist Wisdom on Experiencing Our True Nature, has been a rewarding reading experience.
Ferguson is a longtime Buddhist practitioner and has been a teacher since the 1970s at Karme Choling and various Shambhala centres. He has a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford University, and taught religious studies for 15 years at Naropa University in Colorado.
3 key Buddhist concepts
A few key concepts are fundamental to what Ferguson’s book will offer the Buddhist practitioner. First, the book takes the “ten oxherding pictures” as its structure, with a section devoted to each. Emerging in 11th-century China, there have been several versions of these images that illustrate the path to enlightenment. Ferguson uses a traditional Zen 10-image version, which is a fantastic way to organize a book. These images have endured over the centuries for a reason: They’re simple, but they illustrate the Buddhist path beautifully.
Another concept that’s highlighted is attention to Beginner’s Mind: “True nature is what we are from the very beginning, before all thoughts of good and bad, before our fixed concepts of ‘enemies’ to be defeated or ‘allies’ to be welcomed. True nature is the natural truth of being human,” Ferguson writes. It’s not something we start with and leave; it’s something that stays with us throughout our journey.
Finally, Ferguson introduces a practical exercise that complements the text and makes the book somewhat interactive. This is the ‘Welcoming Exercise,” a time of “not doing” (rather than meditation) during which one sits and allows whatever is happening to happen. It’s revisited many times as the reading progresses, with question and answer sections about the experience.
Contemplating the images
Each of the 10 oxherding images in the sequence brought something new for me to contemplate. Reading passages each day to complement my practicar meditación was beneficial, and another strength of the book is the conversational and almost chatty writing style Ferguson uses. It seemed as if I was at a meditation retreat listening to him, rather than reading a scholarly book.
In the first oxherding image, Seeking the Ox, there is no ox to be seen yet. Here, Ferguson discusses the notion of lack, leading to uncertainty and suffering. We’d always “prefer another moment,” he notes. This is one of the hallmark features of our society, and the book is worth reading just for this section. It’s brimming with thought-provoking observations and provides fertile ground for any mindfulness practice.
If we continue to seek an object–external or internal–to satisfy our inner lack, the path leads to repeated frustration and further seeking. If we turn towards the sense of lack itself, if we search by being willing to linger with the feeling of the impulse to seek, a door to spaciousness opens.
Gaylon Ferguson
The fifth image is Taming the Ox, one that spoke deeply to me. Taming our tendency to greed, hatred and delusion is no easy task, but Ferguson discusses the necessity of letting go of a controlling nature in order to allow the ox to truly walk alongside us. This is a welcoming stance, rather than a punitive one. We can even use humour to describe it, as Ferguson does:
As we bring more relaxation into our approach to “taming,” we may discover more humour in situations that previously seemed stuck or unworkable. Our sense of humour returns, not because things get better, but sometimes because they don’t.
More and more, with this “taming,” we become able to see things as they actually are.
For beginners and advanced practitioners
Welcoming Beginner’s Mind varies markedly in its complexity. I got much from the first seven sections; however, I noted to myself at the eighth oxherding image that the commentary was sometimes too complex for someone at my stage of Buddhist practice. I’m sure that in these deeper sections, there will be much for the advanced practitioner to contemplate.
I loved Ferguson’s comment as I neared the end of the book:
Each step along the way is the way. Here is the feeling: even in making a thousand-mile journey, we arrive where we are with each step. How could it be otherwise? Seeking is the way, glimpsing the ox is the way, taming and riding and forgetting the ox are all equally the way. Yes, there are many steps and stages along the way, but wherever we are, the way is the way.
Those are words that are welcoming, forgiving and compassionate, and they’re words that I can sink into with a feeling of belonging.
I’d recommend this book to anyone who’s interested in taking a deep look at Buddhist practice and philosophy. Each person is likely to find wisdom within it, and it was a treat to read Ferguson’s musings and glimpse his practice points. Beginners can benefit from the earlier chapters, and there will be much for the more advanced practitioner to take in as the book progresses.
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imagen 1: 41330; imagen 2: Printerval (Cropped from original)
