Good morning, folks! I am Jin with Morning Mindfulness Podcast. I hope you are doing great in your corner of the World! As always, we start with a breath and a smile!

Danger of Rituals? Can they be dangerous?

One day, a little girl watched how her mom put the turkey in a cooking pot. Before putting it in, the mom cut the turkey’s tail off.
“Why did you do that?” the girl asked.
“We’ve always done it like that,” the mom answered. “My mother taught me this way”

A little girl was not satisfied with the answer, and she went to her grandma.
“Why did you teach my mom to cut the turkey’s tail off?” she asked her grandma.
“Oh, that was because many years ago we did not have a large pot, and we had to cut the tail off to fit it in,” the grandma answered.

Funny story. But I see so many people following traditions not even knowing why they do what they do. It does not necessarily mean bad. Many schools have very structured approach. They have been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. I’ve been learning several very structured traditions myself. But I’m always trying to figure out how each element of tradition came about and why. Is it still relevant today? Or are we just cutting a turkey’s tail off? Are we wasting our time to do things that are not relevant any more?

I know, I am half melancholy, and I have a tendency to overthink. But I won’t blindly follow any tradition, no matter what it is, until somebody gives me an explanation. And they better be precise.

I suggest you take a moment to think why are you doing things the way you are doing? Whether in training, at work or in life. Keep in mind, if somebody did not ask question “why?”, you would not have a technology to listen to my podcast today. Think about it.

Thanks for tuning in! You can subscribe to my podcast on my site HPLN.org.
Now let’s breathe and smile. Why? Because it creates a positive mood.
I will talk to you next time.

PEACE!
Jin

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