Ethics

This week’s topic for reflection is ethics. From where you stand, step into the realm of ethics. Do you have an ethical orientation that is clear and guides you in most situations? Do you find yourself in situations unsure of what is really happening and what to do? What can you rely on when deciding how to respond? In terms of ethics who are you when relating with the world and people around you? Where are you coming from? What’s important?   Do you over emphasize taking care of others and neglect your own needs? Are you quick to take care of your needs and neglect others? Is being helpful easy and natural or difficult and exhausting, leading to burnout?    What seems to be the difference between an unethical person and an ethical person? Where are they each coming from and what’s important to them?  There is a koan. “The Great Way is Not Difficult If You Just Don’t Pick and Choose.” What is this Great Way that is not difficult? This sounds similar to the expression, “Vast is the robe of liberation.” Not stuck or defined, without inside or outside. The difficulty comes with picking and choosing, me/mine and them/theirs. Is it possible to avoid picking and choosing? As usual, this koan is not saying the Great Way is good and picking and choosing is bad. You find yourself needing to do something which is usually partial and incomplete and involves choices. This is often difficult but it can be easier with open eyes and heart and flexibility of mind. What happens to it's being difficult when you let go of the need for it to be some other way?   Please reflect on your personal ethics. What is important to you? How can you live into this and out of this ethic? Can you refine it down to a word or phrase?