"Zen personality"

jessie70

Have you ever known someone who just seems to have an almost congenital "Zen Personality"? Someone who just goes to work, is very present and focused on what they do, a great listener and often one of few words? Whey they speak, people listen, and even though they don't say much, they seem to get right to the heart of any matter, and always seem calm. They seem to be inherently happy with very little. I do know someone like this, and I believe most of us know at least one such person, who was as far as we can tell, born with an almost Zen disposition. Curious. Would love to hear stories/details.
Thanks :-)

Lee82

Hi @jessie70

I would think that people see me as that sort of person, I wouldn't see it as being a congenital Zen personality but I am of few words and someone people turn to as they respect my opinion. I thought of myself as being shy but perhaps it is not that; the teachings say only to speak when it is better than silence. I sit there like a sponge and soak up what everyone else is saying while forming my own considered opinion in my mind. I don't believe I have ever met anyone else with the same personality traits as myself.

jessie70

I got the sense from the post in which you say what led you to Buddhism... my father is this person. I once worked with a man like this- he truly embodied Zen, even though at the time, I was unfamiliar with Zen, I am constantly reminded of him now that I am learning more about Buddhism. You could set your watch by him, too. He was the first person to arrive at work, always there at the same early hour. He seemed to be very into his routines. Even during minor emergencies he was as calm as a cucumber. He brought his lunch most days, unless we were all going out for a birthday or something- then he'd join the group, and was always welcome to join any other time.
Even though he was older, I can't imagine him any differently younger- I think this was just his nature... it makes me think about those of us who have a more frenetic energy, people like me who seem to be born with their wheels spinning. Those of us who are attracted to Zen, can see it's wisdom, but struggle to integrate into our lives because of the inherent 'busyness" of our personality type. It also makes me wonder about the people who argue and split hairs on the subject - I don't do that so much, but I have compassion because they are like me, a bit caught up in their own minds.

Thank you so much for responding!

jessie70

@Lee82- I married a slightly "Zen personality"- I think we balance each other. Look out- you will probably attract all the crazy chicks ;-)... As a rule, we love the strong, quiet type. I find in most relationships there is the sane one, and the wild one.

genkaku

I don't know if he qualifies as a "Zen personality" or not, but Charles Monroe, a man I never met, strikes me as a person of substance. Monroe was interviewed in 1939 as part of a Federal Writers' Project. He is described in the interview as the "town mail clerk, philosopher" of New Marlborough, Mass., USA.

Here is just one excerpt:

"I try to be a good citizen by performing certain public and personal duties which most of my friends would throw up their hands at if I suggested they perform along with me. In my opinion there's too much 'passing the buck' going on today. I don't like many of our laws - capital punishment, for instance - but since I'm a voter and a sustainer of our form of government, I of course automatically make myself as responsible as any other individual in the upholding of our laws. As a sort of an 'accessory to the fact' I once forced myself to attend an execution down in Sing Sing prison where my brother-in-law holds a good job. It was an ugly business. One witness fainted and another vomited, and it was a big relief to get out of there. I felt like the executioner myself, as I was partly, for the fact that we do not press the button or cut the rope doesn't let any of us off.

"But if I can't convince you that I was a killer in that instance, you'll have to grant that I'm a killer of pigs and cattle, for I've often helped farmers butcher their live stock. I've done this to satisfy my own conscience, for I'm a meat eater, and being a meat-eater, why shouldn't I assist with the dirty work? You smile!"