Caring:
"Zen Buddhists talk about ``just sitting,'' a meditative practice in
which the idea of a duality of self and object does not dominate
one's consciousness. What I'm talking about here in motorcycle
maintenance is ``just fixing,'' in which the idea of a duality of
self and object doesn't dominate one's consciousness. When one isn't
dominated by feelings of separateness from what he's working on, then
one can be said to ``care'' about what he's doing. That is what
caring really is, a feeling of identification with what one's doing.
When one has this feeling then he also sees the inverse side of
caring, Quality itself.
So the thing to do when working on a motorcycle, as in any other
task, is to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one's
self from one's surroundings. When that is done successfully then
everything else follows naturally. Peace of mind produces right
values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce
right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material
reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.
That was what it was about that wall in Korea. It was a material
reflection of a spiritual reality.
I think that if we are going to reform the world, and make it a
better place to live in, the way to do it is not with talk about
relationships of a political nature, which are inevitably dualistic,
full of subjects and objects and their relationship to one another;
or with programs full of things for other people to do. I think that
kind of approach starts it at the end and presumes the end is the
beginning. Programs of a political nature are important end products
of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying
structure of social values is right. The social values are right only
if the individual values are right. The place to improve the world is
first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward
from there. Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of
mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think
that what I have to say has more lasting value. "
(ZMM, Chapter 25)
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