Are you practising Dharma if you do not take responsibility for your work?

[Big Uncle]

This is where our sadhanas, recitations and lamrim study comes into play. How much responsibility we take upon ourselves and do our work well reflects our mind and our Dharma practice. If we are sloppy, irresponsible and do not wish to do a good job. Then, we should change our jobs because our work reflect our dissatisfaction with it or we should whip ourselves to shape and start doing the work that is up to par with expectations. Our practice is to benefit others always and if we can't, we should at least not harm others with our irresponsibility.

[biggyboy]

Dharma service is a means for us to practise and transform ourselves into better person so as to benefit others. So the answer to whether we are practising dharma if we do not take responsibility for our work is a big NO.

If we do not take responsibility for our work, we will burden other people into completing our half completed, sloppy work. 

As a dharma practitioner, the question of taking responsibility for our work does not exist. To take full responsibility of our work is part and parcel of Dharma practice.

[bambi]

There are people who refuse to take responsibility for their work.  They do their barest minimum and most of the time ask for help, delegate their work and push their responsibility to others. Sometimes they even take all the credit when the work is done.  The sum of this all is what we call not taking ownership or responsibility.

If a person is supposed to be Buddhist and he/she falls under the above category, is he/she practising Dharma?

Sad to say that secular work is just like that. No meaning, just purely working for money and more attachment. We can't blame them. Selfish and ignorant. I know people who are like that. They just scold and yell at people while they sit down and take all the credit. How convenient! Unless the company belongs to them, there is no such word called ownership.

There are also people who practice and say that they are Buddhists but there are many levels of commitment as well. Doesn't mean that they are taking ownership even if they are practicing Dharma. We cannot judge them as they all have different mind and levels of understanding. For now, we just have to bear it and remind ourselves to do better.

[brian]

Taking responsibility of your work is merely to not burden other people because you did not do your work properly. For this simple reason and motivation, one should always have this in mind that nobody is supposed to follow up on the work given to you. Taking responsibility for your work should come with a matured mind i guess, by thinking of  not going to make another person suffer of having to correct you on what you did not do and ended up the person has to do it for you. If one does not take responsibility of your work, how will that person ever be successful in his/her life?

[Jessie Fong]

Taking responsibility is acknowledging that you have a task at hand, that you will see it through until it is completed.  If anything should go wrong, then you have to ensure that they get corrected.  Doing your work is your responsibility to yourself and to your employer.  You were entasked a job by your employer and you are expected to do it well.  That is your commitment.

If we relate Dharma to the teachings of Buddha, then we should examine : did Buddha teach us NOT to take responsibility?  Definitely the answer is a NO.  Since He did not teach that, then not taking responsibility is not practising Dharma.

[AnneQ]

In order to practice Dharma and do Dharma work, we must be responsible and work hard. To take responsibility for our work we must also take ownership and work hard. Hence, one complements the other and each (ie. Dharma and Responsibility ) cannot function without the other. Otherwise, there will be a contradiction and each becomes meaningless.
So to answer the question : No, we are not practicing Dharma if we do not take responsibility for our work. It is as simple as that.

[DSFriend]

This is a prevalent problem where we see this trait in ourselves, in our siblings, friends, and colleagues. This negative quality of not taking responsibility does not just "show up" at our work place alone but all other facets of our lives and what we do. Perhaps the cause could be out of laziness, forgetfulness, or a million other reasons but no doubt stems from our own deep selfishness.

Not taking responsibility is an effect of selfishness, is sign of lack of Dharma practice. Can a selfish mind develop compassion, a necessary quality to become a Buddha? I think selfishness will need to be rid off in order to make room from compassion.

[Manjushri]

What does Dharma teach you? To be responsible FOR yourself, for your own actions, because there is a thing called karma. It teaches you to serve others tirelessly, to benefit others, to work harmoniously and with much integrity.

If you do not take responsibility for your work, you burden others in all ways possible and yourself eventually, because that habit will become more and more prevalent, and people would not tolerate it. As a Dharma practitioner, one should work towards taking the responsibility and burden from others, and the very reason why you do more work, take responsibility of your work, is so that others can do less. Buddha doesn't teach one to burden others, but to alleviate their burdens and sufferings. Therefore, if your actions are not aligned with that, how much Dharma is on practising?

[Dorje Pakmo]

There are people who refuse to take responsibility for their work.  They do their barest minimum and most of the time ask for help, delegate their work and push their responsibility to others. Sometimes they even take all the credit when the work is done.  The sum of this all is what we call not taking ownership or responsibility.

If a person is supposed to be Buddhist and he/she falls under the above category, is he/she practising Dharma?

Definitely not.
If a person claims to be Buddhist, then he / she should know the law of Karma. A Buddhist should know that everything we experience is the results of our actions. Being indifferent, irresponsible and taking credit of a successful work done by others is a very SELFISH behavior.

One may get away with such behavior for a while or even quite many times. But every time a negative action like this “SUCCEEDS”. It also means one has successfully deducted good merits accumulated from previous positive actions. Each time the individual successfully pulls a stunt of CHEATING, BEING LAZY or IRRESPONSIBLE, etc. will feed and strengthen his / her negative behavior. This behavior in turn becomes a habit. He / she may get away many time undetected and not experience any unpleasantness, depending on the GOOD MERIT he / she have to OFFSET the negative karma each time it ripens. It is only a matter of time before the good merits runs dry and Karma kicks into action. But by that time, it will be very hard for that person to change, because the negative habituation has become so strong, it is natural to do the opposite of good.

One should understand that whatever we experience is from ourselves. Our experience is created and ended by ourselves. And by not blaming other and giving ourselves excuses, we will take responsibility and do all we are supposed to without burdening others to do it for us. By taking responsibility and doing our work well, people will naturally like us and cooperate with us thus, making work easier and more efficient. Practicing Dharma means doing things for others and doing it happily. So the people who claim they are practicing Dharma, but are lazy, always hiding and not responsible, is actually practicing the opposite of Dharma. Samsara.