ABSTRACT
The principles of Zen are observations about reality, which one learns en route to enlightenment. The principle that “the essential world of perfection is this very world” (Aitken, 1982, p. 63) most clearly expresses the essence of acceptance in Zen.1 The world is perfect in the sense that it is the best that it can be. It cannot be any different than it is because it is created or caused by what has preceded it. Within this world, everything and every experience is impermanent, ebbing and flowing like waves. DBT therapists help clients to experience the world in these ways primarily by teaching the skills of mindfulness and radical acceptance. Acceptance again appears in the observations that: “All beings are the truth, just as they are” ( Aitken, 1982, p. 6) and that all individuals have an inherent capacity for enlightenment. Therapists particularly use validation strategies and encourage clients to use Wise Mind and self-validation to accept themselves.
