'Yes, but ...' and the open mind

'"Yes, but ...'

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a merry Christmas.

The requisite open mind is a particular and important condition.

There are many ways of having an open mind, and not all help.

I've had an open mind that is so open that any fool can pass by and throw their trash in it: within minutes I'm full of terminology and jargon and poetic phrases that sound spiritual but mean nothing: I now have a pretty idea but no progress.

Another form of open mind: A mind that is so open that everything pours out of it like an open sewer, into my thoughts, into my words, into my action: talking, talking, talking about myself and my narratives and my perceptions and my resentments and my fears and my sensitivities. Nothing can oppose this cataract.

The form of open mind I want is this: To be very still, like a jigsaw puzzle that is partly completed, waiting for the puzzle-completer to fit in the pieces one by one by one. If the puzzle were to jiggle around and try to complete itself, nothing would be achieved.