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What is responsibility? What does it mean to be responsible? Is it a duty, obligation or liability for which someone is held accountable? Are there any parameters to measure responsibility? Going by the meaning and definition of ‘responsibility’ it sounds as if it is a goal to be achieved, a duty to be performed or a burden, something associated with the outer-the other.
The word "responsibility" has been continuously used in a wrong way. It gives a feeling of burden, a duty, a to-do thing, or else end up feeling guilty.
Osho says, an ability to respond out of love is responsibility. It is neither an obligation nor a duty, it is the capacity to respond out of love. Responsibility without love is ugly. There is no relationship between love and responsibility because love is responsibility.
Osho says, “Break the word in two -- response-ability -- and you enter a totally different meaning of the word, in a different direction. Response-ability is not a burden. It is not a duty; it is not something you have to do in spite of yourself. Response-ability simply means spontaneous response. Whatever situation arises, joyously you respond to it, with your totality, with your intensity. And this response will not only change the situation, it will also change you.
There are two words to be remembered: one is "reaction" and one is "response-ability." Most people react, they don't respond. Reaction comes from your memory, from your past experiences, from your knowledge; it is always inadequate in a fresh, new situation. And existence is continuously fresh. So if you act according to your past, that is reaction. But that reaction is not going to change the situation, it is not going to change you, and you will be in utter failure.
Response is moment-to-moment. It has nothing to do with memory, it has something to do with your awareness. You see the situation with clarity; you are clean, silent, serene. Out of this serenity, spontaneously you act. It is not reaction, it is action. You have never done it before, but the beauty of it is that it will suit the situation, and it will be a joy to you to know that you are capable of being spontaneous.”
- Editor
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