About
The Title
In the beginner's mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert's mind there are few.
This blog's title, Shoshin, is a Zen concept roughly translated as "beginner's mind", a concept first popularized in the West by Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki in his book, Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind. It implies curiosity, openness, and approaching things without preconceptions. It is the goal of this blog to explore many new and interesting topics—always through the eyes of a beginner.
The Characters
Sho
Sho is a lively little fur ball. She's spontaneous, creative, and adventurous. She loves jokes and thrives in chaos. She's full of passion and lets her impulses guide her more than reason.
Sho's Greek god is Dionysus. Sho is Mr. Hyde. Sho is Yin. Sho is System 1.
Shin
Shin is a quiet and thoughtful Snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus). His favorite place to be is alone with his books and his thoughts. Shin makes little time for revelry. His life's mission is to dispel any and all entropy leaving only clear, logical order in his wake.
Shin's Greek god is Apollo. Shin is Dr. Jekyll. Shin is Yang. Shin is System 2.
Mu
Mu is a cow.
If chaos and order are orthogonal to each other, then Mu is the z-axis. In other words, Mu is the opposite of both chaos and order, whatever that means. Mu is the sound of one hand clapping. Mu is neither Yin nor Yang, but Mu is also both Yin and Yang.