What does it mean to be responsible? Ultimately, completely, and radically responsible? Does one need to have a radically responsible life in order to have a radically meaningful life? These are the questions I explored with Dharma teacher Fleet Maull Roshi, whose new book “Radical Responsibility” is launching May 14th, 2019.

According to Fleet Maull Radical Responsibility Is:

“Radical Responsibility means radically embracing 100% responsibility and ownership of each and every circumstance you face, day in and day out in your life. This completely goes beyond blame. Radical Responsibility is a trans-blame model, it is stepping out of the blame and shame paradigm altogether.

If you look at the circumstances you face in your life you can often see that you did have some role in creating, allowing, or setting yourself up for these circumstances in one way or another. With that insight and information, you can then make different choices that are going to lead to different results. 

By understanding your part in creating a given situation, you can begin to choose how to create your future, and fully take ownership of that.”

Dharma Discussion on “Radical Responsibility”

In the below interview Fleet and I discussed how radical responsibility is the basis of a meaningful life. Primarily with yourself, and also in the ways you negotiate the many challenges that we all face in today’s world.

Question: What does “Radical Responsibility” mean for you? Join the conversation by leaving your comments below!

To Get Fleet Maull’s New Book On Radical Responsibility Click Below!

What Teachers Are Saying About “Radical Responsibility”:

“This is one of the most powerful books I’ve ever read. With great clarity and heart, it combines brain science, psychology, and soulful wisdom to help readers grow inner strength and inner peace. Fleet Maull is a friendly guide—someone who has seen both the worst of life and its highest possibilities, and who brings gritty good humor, deep insight, and practical suggestions to every page.”
—Rick Hanson, PhD, author of Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness

“Radical Responsibility evolves our capacity to respond—with wisdom, courage, and love—to the suffering of our world. Author Fleet Maull guides us masterfully in awakening from our separateness and inspires a profound dedication to caring for ourselves and each other.”
—Tara Brach, PhD, author of Radical Acceptance and True Refuge

“Following the path Radical Responsibility—a gift to us from author Fleet Maull’s amazing real-life backstory—we learn to own our choices and create the freedom to craft our lives to be truly happy, reach our highest potential, and be a force for good that can change the world.”
—Sharon Salzberg, author of Real Happiness and Real Love

“Radical Responsibility is an empowering and heartfelt guidebook to living more fully, a systematic training for practical liberation in your life.”
—Jack Kornfield, PhD, author of A Path with Heart

“This important work by Fleet Maull is full of practical wisdom and written from his deep experience as a teacher, practitioner, and guide of corporate executives, chaplains, and those serving others. It is a rare treasure and a book for today and for all time.”
—Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD, abbot of Upaya Zen Center and author of Standing at the Edge: Finding Freedom Where Fear and Courage Meet

“A practical, direct, and accessible guide to human flourishing from someone who faced tremendous adversity and emerged from this challenge with vigor, equanimity, and the deepest passion to share his wisdom for the benefit of others. This book is a gift for anyone facing adversity, which is all of us!”
—Richard J. Davidson, PhD, coauthor of The Emotional Life of Your Brain and Altered Traits; founder and director, Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison

“It’s a rare privilege to read the work of someone who walks the talk as fully as Fleet Maull. The transforming wisdom of his extraordinary life experience—from dharma practitioner to prison inmate to spiritual mentor—suffuses every page of this wonderful book. Engaging, pragmatic, and deeply insightful, Radical Responsibility shows us all how to take responsibility for the habit patterns of our lives. With personal stories, psychological research, and a range of meditative exercises, Fleet illuminates the possibilities of living a freer and more joyful life. Highly recommended.”
—Joseph Goldstein, author of Mindfulness: A Practical Guide to Awakening

“Fleet Maull draws on his unique life journey and remarkable expertise, sharing with us how we can find equanimity and compassion in the maelstrom of our days. Radical Responsibility offers a sound and original blueprint for a life well lived.”
—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence

“At once inspiring and practical, this book masterfully shows us how to thrive in the face of adversity. Based on insights from ancient wisdom traditions, modern neuroscience, contemporary psychology, and his own remarkable journey from maximum-security prison inmate to transformative teacher, Fleet Maull provides a wealth of accessible tools anyone can use to discover their own basic goodness and engage more fruitfully in the world. With warmth, skill, and humility, he provides step-by-step instructions to help us courageously face reality, heal our wounds, and live richer, happier, more fulfilled, and effective lives.”
—Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD, assistant professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and author of The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems