The Anapanasati Sutra (the instructions for mindfulness written by the Buddha) tells us that, when we take a breath in, we must be aware "I am breathing in", when we are seated, we must be aware "I am sitting this way". For everything we do there must be accompanying awareness - not in a mechanical way but in a flowing way that ensures that we are constantly in touch with reality. How can you achieve this? Start your day with five to ten minutes of mindfulness meditation - flex your mental muscles first thing and you will experience the benefits as the day progresses.

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Einstein

I sometimes have mentioned the fixation on rules and regulations in my adopted country - France. But a news report last week put it all in context. A report commissioned by the government has highlighted the fact that there are approximately one million irrelevant regulations in France - not a million regulations, a million irrelevant ones. The report described irrelevant regulations as a 'national sport'.

Two example were highlighted in the news report : Sausages provided to kindergarten pupils at lunch must weigh exactly 50gms - the regulations are different for primary, secondary and lycee pupils. The result is mass wastage of sausages that are overweight! Secondly, a new regulation states that the mandatory size for a referee's changing room is 8 square metres. The owners of a football stadium, where large regional games are played, have two referee's changing rooms - one is 7.5m, the other 8.5m. Havingn decided that they cannot afford to demolish the existing rooms to create two mandatory sized rooms, they have been told that regional-level football can no longer take place at the venue.

The report estimates that, each year, irrelevant regulations impose a cost of 600,000,000 euros. So, in fact, this madness isn't really amusing at all.

A new study by Harvard Pyschologists Killingsworth and Gilbert sums up the human condition - "Wandering Mind Not a Happy Mind" the research proclaims. The research points out that, each day 47% of our waking hours are wasted in thinking about things that are totally unrelated to the present moment.

You might say to yourself "Aha we've finally got a piece of positive psychological news - we must be focused for the other 53% of our waking hours". You'd be wrong. The 47% is the daydreaming that we're aware of - the rest of the time we're so mindless that we're not even aware that we're not there. Recent research points out that all perception - in other words, everything we do to get a grip on reality and act appropriately - is automatic. We never ever perceive the reality of the moment and, as such, we are never in a position to act appropriately. Or almost never...

There is a remarkable coincidence between the work of the Universities of Chicago and Milan, on the one hand, and Buddhist concept of mindfulness on the other. The former tells us that we hit a golden seam of "optimal experience" or "flow" when we are completely immersed in what we are doing. The latter tells us that life can only be truly lived when we deliberately take steps to fully immerse ourselves in the moment. Ancient wisdom meets modern science - east meets west.

In "flow" we are at our very best - in what we are doing and how we are doing it, to the extent that people in flow cannot tell the difference between work and leisure. When we are mindful we experience the wonder of reality for what it is. Giants of our modern age - like Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein - made a conscious and deliberate effort to develop a state of flow in the course of their daily lives. Asa result, I don't have to explain to you who those people are - they have left a legacy for the rest of us.

What legacy are you leaving? How will the world be a better place for your having passed this way?