Living every moment in total awareness is what meditation is all about. Beyond rules to responsibility A small story: Once, a sergeant in his training session asked the recruits why walnut wood was used for making the rifle. The recruits thought hard and one of them answered, Because walnut is harder than other types of nuts. The sergeant brushed him off saying, Wrong! Another recruit ventured, Because it is more durable. The sergeant's voice boomed, Wrong!A third person tried his luck, Because it is waterproof. The sergeant, tired of the answers by now, replied, You boys surely have a lot to learn. Simple reason: that is what is laid down in the rule book! In life, because it is easy to place responsibility on others, you blindly follow other people's directions instead of relying on your own intelligence.

Talking about responsibility, a small joke on how people understand responsibility: Once, a convict was scolding his lawyer, You are a useless lawyer. You don't even understand your responsibility of when to raise an objection. The puzzled lawyer asked him, I don't understand. When do you think I should have raised an objection that I did not? The convict replied, When the opposing lawyer spoke, you objected. But, when the judge declared me guilty, you kept your big mouth shut. That was the time to do all the objecting! It is always easy to put the blame on the whole world for what happens in Usually, we only react like programmed machines; we do not respond to situations. your life.