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Article by Michael Finn
Copyright Michael Finn

A zen approach to external and internal / meditative life means so much to so many.In a phrase 'life's inherency'. I am deeply attracted to aspects of Zen, as a wise guide to 'being' 'expressing' 'identifying,' and a useful yardstick to 'personal responsibility'. I have edited a wide range of Zen Masters' wisdoms (below) as nourishment on our personal and collective journeys.

A present zeitgeist (time spirit) weighing heavily on society is undoubtedly a lack of picking up authentic personal responsibility.

The result is such tendencies as:

• Creating a society bereft of elders
• Litigation addiction
• Confusion
• Stagnant and injurious relationship dynamics
• Straying into drug and alcohol overusage
• Lives unlived, hijacked by emotional, mental and physical doldrums

So, exercising the muscles of 'owning personal responsibility', will bring fitness and health to an inner spirit which craves engagement

'Depth psychologists know that the capacity for growth depends on one's ability to internalise and to take responsibility'. If we forever see our lives as a problem caused by others, a problem to be 'solved', then no change will occur. If we are deficient in courage, no revisioning can occur.'

(James Hollis The Middle Passage, Pg.7)
http://www.innercitybooks.com

"Zen is a unique blend of the philosophies and idiosyncrasies of three different cultures. It is a way of life which is typically Japanese, and yet it reflects the mysticism of India, the Taoists' love of naturalness and spontaneity and the thorough pragmatism of the Confucian mind."
( taken from 'The Tao Of Physics', by Fritjof Capra)

The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised.

Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth, then hold no opinions for or against anything.
To set up what you like against what you dislike, is the disease of the mind.
When the deep meaning of things is not understood,
the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail.
(Third Zen Patriarch)

Healing Metaphysics Home > Archive> Zen and Personal Responsibility