On August 6, 2006, Mary Mocine, a Zen Buddhist priest, and former attorney, held at the San Francisco Zen Center, Law Dharma for attorneys who desired to sit in meditation and discuss passages from related teachings.
Though the sessions are no longer recognized by the State Bar Association in California for continuing education credit, attorneys who attended found the sessions useful in learning active listening, stress reduction, ethics, elimination of bias, and communication skills.
The sessions alternate between a Berkeley and a San Francisco meeting place every other month. The sessions begin with 30 minutes of meditation. Participants take part in assisting to rearrange furniture, and getting the room ready for the sessions. No one is there to serve but each person serves the whole.
After the meditation, attendees sit to discuss passages from related teachings. Currently, the attendees are studying Norman Fischer's Taking Our Places.
Fischer writes about the responsibilities of a mature person. It appears that mature people are those who are willing to step up when events requiring responsibilities arise, but they do not look for things to do if there is no reason for responsibilities to be expected.
The attendees discussed egoism and how even attaching to suffering can be a display of self importance. For instance, one may think that he/she is not dispensable and work all hours of the day for a client or company. This generates safety when the person thinks he/she is being useful and cannot be rejected because he/she is helping someone.
Fischer's passage defines responsibility as doing what needs to be done without expecting anything in return. Taking responsibility is joy itself.
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