What is a "don't know" mind in Zen

In Zen, “don’t know mind” is the clear, open awareness that appears when we drop all our mindset thoughts , ideas, judgment, about  ourselves, about others, and meet the reality of the current moment directly, as it is. It is not stupidity or vagueness, or cowardise, but a radical freedom from clinging to rigid beliefs, views, memories, and expectations. It means having an open mind rather than a closed, frozen one.

Core meaning of “Don’t know mind”: 

It points to the immediate, pre-conceptual / cognitive knowledge toward more factual concrete realities - good and bad- of the current moment.

It is closely related to the so-called “beginner's mind:” that I prefer to call  “ mirror mind “ : reflecting each situation as it is without relying on our accumulated mind-set on everything coming from education ,experience, and media invasion. 

Such an attitude allows us  to deal with an unbiased approach to any question and situation we may face during our daily routine. 

How it functions in practice

• In meditation, “don’t know mind” is cultivated by returning again and again to simple awareness (for example, breathing, just sitting, or a koan like “Whom am I ?”) and letting analytic thoughts fall  away.
• In daily life, “don’t know mind “ means to be fully mindful in the current situation without clinging to  any specific acquired conceptual / cognitive thinking related to the situation.
• When you truly keep a don't-know mind, you see “the sky only blue; the tree only green” 

Things/ events, people are what they are before you add your mind-set judgments.

Relation to wisdom and compassion

• A don't-know mind is seeing that all views, doctrines, beliefs, including Buddhist ones, are provisional and cannot capture the living realities. This “freedom from acquired views” allows flexible, appropriate responses, and attitudes  instead of using rigid mindset, opinions, and judgments in which we are trapped all the time.
• Because our self-made opinions / judgments are not directly involved,  compassion can move more freely. You listen more deeply, respond more precisely to suffering of self and others instead of covering uncertainty with rigid opinion.
• In this sense, the don't-know mind is not an endpoint but the ground of practice: the field from which insight (prajna) and compassionate action (karuna) arise, moment by moment.

Common misunderstandings about “Don’t know mind”

• It is not passivity or refusal to take a stand. Obviously unbiased thinking, and appropriate decision-making  remain important…… but always with an open mind. 

Our views about x, y, z, as absolute truth will evaporate by miracle, opeing the door to serenity.