Trinity of Flow

The concept of beginner’s mind traces back to ancient Buddhist teachings, and more recently brought to the forefront by Zen Buddhism but for me, it’s just a pairing of words that has stayed front and center in my life as a concept for many years.

Equanimity is another concept, just there - this time as sign post of direction. Equanimity lingers ever present in the backdrop of each day for me.

And then, the third in the trinity, ahh - the unraveling the cosmic mystery, which has been described and imagined in many different ways throughout time by poets, scientists, writers, painters, children, even you and me. More than a word, a question eternally evoked without it even having to ask.

It’s actually pretty amusing sitting here right now, looking at the three concepts - beginners mind, equanimity, cosmic mystery. When you group them together as a trinity, they look totally paradoxical. They almost look like they should be quarelling to get the one up on each other.

Think about it. A beginner’s mind brings up this distinct excitement for a new adventure. It gives you that giddy feeling, making you wonder, where oh where is this new path going to take us? It’s pure, crisp, unfettered, and ready to go. In a beginner's mind, absolutely anything is possible because you haven't narrowed your view yet. Nature’s manifestations are limitless because perception has yet to creep and pre-determine the direction. In a beginner's mind, opinion isn't welcome as it would take a stranglehold on the wonder refusing it to take flight.

If I was to create an image of a beginners mind it would be a young child present and creating moment upon moment real time, no distractions.

Then, our dear friend Equanimity, and that’s all about peace, calm, and serenity. It’s like a flower swaying in the wind with zero requirements except, maybe, just to blossom.

Equanimity is the perfect partner to the beginner’s mind because it gently whispers: “Hey friend, don’t get caught up. Don’t limit yourself. And definitely don’t hold on, because holding on is just going to become a heavy burden.” It tells us to stay right there at the beginning, at that beautiful point of the unmanifested, until we can see how pointless it is to grip onto desire, fear, or any attachment at all. It keeps us walking toward freedom.

And then—oops—the cosmic mystery! Where do we even begin to understand the ins, outs, whys, and what-ifs of this curious little reality we’ve collectively created? It’s a home without walls, running in every single direction all at once, never ceasing just contimuing on without expectation.

But here’s the beautiful thing: just like we need to be held by the mystery, it needs us to keep going, too. That’s just the nature of things. We nurture it with our fresh beginner’s mind and our steady equanimity, and in return, the cosmic mystery wraps itself around us. It keeps the deepest truths just far enough out of reach—not to tease us, but to keep us moving, searching for something more than a reality built on suffering.

So yeah, on their own, each one is bold, standalone, and fiercely independent. They don't look like they should collude. But what happens if we let them commingle? What happens when we remember that each concept is free from ego? What happens when we realise they all exist to simply be?

New beginnings give us hope. Equanimity gives us unadulterated peace in the present moment. And the dear cosmic mystery, is the playground we are lucky enough to create.

But really, when you strip away all the labels and the "why-abouts," none of these definitions even matter. In the end, we aren't separate from the mystery or the playground. We are simply an output of nature itself—arriving, changing, and flowing on like a river. And a river doesn’t need to hold onto a single drop of water to know how to flow.

We will never catch up to the infinite unfolding of this wonderous cosmic reality. So, with a gentle curiosity and a beginner’s mind, I choose to stop chasing. I choose to practice a side-by-side, equanimous flow.