Where Does the Victim Mind Come From?— When We Live As It Is, Power Returns

Keiko Ozeki
Nov 2
2 min read

Everyone experiences a victim mindset to some degree at times. What we must remember is that this interpretation is not fact but illusion.

This mindset's root lies in dependence—a subtle reliance on others or society. We begin to believe that our happiness and peace must come from the outside world. Yet this, too, is a fabrication of the mind, an illusion of our own making.

Another root is self-doubt. The belief that “I can’t do it” or “I have no power” quietly suppresses our natural capacity to choose. As a result, we give power to others or to circumstances, deepening the sense of helplessness. This, too, is an illusion, separated from what is real.

Needless to say, humans are master illusion makers.

There is also a tendency to avoid responsibility, which reflects a passive mindset. When things don’t go well, it feels easier to blame others or external situations than to look inward and accept what is present. However, that posture only strengthens the victim's mindset.

In Zen, we are encouraged not to change the situation, but to observe our way of being. What exists is always this very moment. Without being swept away by thoughts or emotions, we simply receive what is happening as it is. This is hishiryō (非思量）—non-thinking, the practice of seeing things just as they are.

True freedom begins the moment we realize: “I am the one who is choosing.”Even when we cannot change the situation, we can still choose how to perceive it and how to respond. In that instant, the power we thought was taken from us quietly returns to our own hands.

To take responsibility is to live reality as it is.　There, we find not the victim, but the quiet strength of one who lives freely.

Reality is not determined by our thoughts and feelings. When we simply live as it is, freedom and power are already here.

Rather than focusing on reasons why we cannot, let us act on what we can—now.　After all, what exists is only this present moment.