Zen again...

I picked up one of those "impulse purchase" books you find at shop check-outs today - it was on the subject of Zen. Now, while I enjoy the idea of enjoying life in the moment or "grooving with the eternal now" as Alan Watts used to say, I always have this maddening feeling that its all just an excuse for laziness. That, to accept a state of Zen, you have to just throw up your arms and accept your lot - no point in trying to better yourself or make plans for a brighter tomorrow - everything you need is right here, right now.

But what about all the poor sods living in sheltered accommodation, terrified to return home in case someone's kicked their front door in? Are they meant to sit in the ruins of their front room contemplating the moment? I guess what they are getting at is that if everybody stopped to enjoy the eternal now, everybody would have a great time. Strikes me as a lot like communism - a great idea on paper, but there are just too many greedy people around for it to ever work.
I guess the line that struck a chord with me most while leafing through the pages at the check out was "All the happiness in the world derives from trying to make others happy, yet all the misery in the world stems from trying to make yourself happy."