"Zen in helping is nothing magical. It is that harmony which is common in social work, teaching and the informal contact between human beings. That contact melts away the gaps between the self and the other by being more fully human rather than through striving for the stars. It means taking down those barriers of knowledge, social position and education. It involves communicating and reaching out from our hearts aside from social conventions and expectations. It ploughs directly towards love through the minefields of 'oughts' and 'should bes'.
That reaching out comes not from a particular posture of professional position or even a study of Buddhism. It comes from our way of living. It is a direct recognition that although each of us is unique, all of us share the same basic human feelings and experiences. We are born, we suffer and we die. Helping and Zen are not separate processes. They come from the same human drive to reach out to others, to make meanings and patterns out of our experiences."
Zen in the Art of Helping (1976)
David Brandon
In memory of my good friend David, who always understood the importance of humour in the spiritual life.
That reaching out comes not from a particular posture of professional position or even a study of Buddhism. It comes from our way of living. It is a direct recognition that although each of us is unique, all of us share the same basic human feelings and experiences. We are born, we suffer and we die. Helping and Zen are not separate processes. They come from the same human drive to reach out to others, to make meanings and patterns out of our experiences."
Zen in the Art of Helping (1976)
David Brandon
In memory of my good friend David, who always understood the importance of humour in the spiritual life.
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