I guess that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Being increasingly immersed in postmodern thought particularly since that is what has taken over the counseling field and much of progressive academia since the 1990s, during one of my regular meditations I recently stumbled upon a realization (the famous "aha" insight!) -- that all the hot new perspectives into constructivist thought and hermaneutics are really just new twists on old themes.
Ancient Taoist and Zen masters wrote about something called, "beginner's mind," or translated, the Japanese word shosin. In contemporary counseling the revolution taking place is finally catching onto their ancient message. Until around the 1990's a therapist was considered expert, authority, and guide until diverse voices challenged that position, including feminist thought, multiculturalism, person-centered thought, and an emerging preventive and wellness paradigm in healthcare. These challenges were based upon (supposedly) new ideas from social constructivism that said the traditional Western notions of "truth" were rigid, egocentric, and frankly, arrogant. It said the outdated model was erroneously based upon an "absolute truth" which was simply a false construct agreed upon by dominant social groups.
Social constructivism says, alternatively, that no social group has a monopoly on truth; that each individual has access to his or her own individual shard of truth, in essence what helps make up our unique individuality. Ahh! Didn't the ancient Zen and yogic masters already know this? They taught that the more one developed wisdom or enlightenment, that the less one actually knew in a certain sense. An old Zen saying grew from this: "If you meet a Buddha in the road, kill him!" The Zen masters taught that the teacher was facilitator, and meditation practice was a powerful tool to develop one's inner knowing and inner voice; that, mindfulness meditation was a powerful tool for constructing the self. So, the student could learn from a teacher or master, but the real master was within. Isn't postmodern thinking and social constructivism in counseling merely another name for "beginner's mind"?
The way one practices beginner's mind is to empty oneself of all thoughts (if only that were possible!). This means empty of all preconceived judgments, labels, concepts, techniques, and methods. It is a main purpose of meditation - there is still nothing better than quiet stillness to wipe the miror clean; to free the mind, and to bring space and clarity.
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