Parenting: A Sacred Participation

Perception

Raising a child has many facets. Applying ourselves to them with ever deeper awareness can enrich our lives to the point of making it joyful for everyone. Many parents worry about the child’s well-being and mistake it for love. The concern is part of self-interest and does not reflect a feeling for the child per se. Due attention will be paid to the child only when one is not using the child for the satisfaction of her own ego. Emotional attachment can harm the child and the parent. Where there is true love, there is no room for those unhealthy compromises of the ego.

Treating the child as a human being in his own right would mean that he is not sacrificed to a system, no matter how clever the system may be. Children are not conditioned by parents or teachers to be conformists. They will see to it that the child blossoms like a flower, without hindrance. Here we note what Khalil Gibran [Ref. 1] has to say about children:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And although they are with you, they do not belong to you.

You can strive to be like them,

But do not seek to make them like you,

Because life does not go back or linger in yesterday.

Sensitivity

School and home are the two predominant places where the young child is exposed to the world. If there is a loving atmosphere in those places, children can become healthy human beings. It should be noted that the child comes first and then her education. In other words, it is education for the child, not the other way around. In many parts of the world this aspect is not given the vital importance it deserves. When receiving proper care, everything is influenced by the feeling of tenderness towards the child. Then the child would feel at home everywhere. We will not overload the child with heavy programs and heavier books! Topics will be taught succinctly so that the child gets the gist of it rather than getting lost in the details. Over-enthusiasm in trying to make a child know many things can drain the child’s energy to the point of destroying her mental freshness.

When the atmosphere at school is so favorable, there would be no need for any punishment. Inappropriate behaviors would be minimal and can be managed without the child feeling condemned or rejected. Some schools are emerging in that sense in India and other countries under the name of ‘Alternative Education’. They can help the child imbue qualities such as empathy, compassion, joy, emotional stability and respect for all cultures. There would be an adventurous attitude towards life. They would consider themselves citizens of the world rather than lose themselves in provincial narrow-mindedness; he would show an interest in understanding the deeper currents of life rather than clinging emotionally to belief systems for the sake of contentment and security. They can appreciate their position on this planet in a cosmological context through attention to esoteric subjects such as astronomy, anthropology, and spiritual philosophies. Those children would surely bring global harmony that would lead to a happy life on this planet.

infantilism

Once the mind becomes interested in self-awareness and drawn to the esoteric contents of life, childhood begins to express itself in its own way. This is particularly noticeable in the values ​​of wonder, inquisitive attitudes and spirit of adventure, some of the most outstanding characteristics of child psychology. Not generating grudges or vindictive attitudes is certainly part of it. Joy is also a natural “ingredient” of that psychology. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to let those qualities be with us even when we grow up caught up in the monotony of life? This is easier said than done because, on this planet, the overcrowding of life is indeed a monster that can bring out the child in us. What is it that can sustain the child in our psychology? When we adults find the answer to this question, we can let the young absorb that quality early in their lives. In fact, it is contagious. Jesus is reported to have said, “Until you are like little children, you cannot enter heaven.”

One of the things we learn by approaching children with the tenderness they deserve is the mindset of wonder. For those interested in the esoteric aspects of life, wonder becomes a natural concomitant. The journey within ourselves sustains that feeling and childishness has something to do with it. Interestingly, this is also the driving force behind scientific discoveries. During near-death experiences (NDEs), awe reaches high levels. It is the feeling of wonder that keeps an explorer’s questioning attitudes alive and prevents him from clinging to belief or disbelief. This open-mindedness is necessary for non-verbal inner discoveries. It is good to understand the content and value of wonder when observing children.

The Universe is full of mysteries and, like a kind mother, it patiently waits for us to grow in our consciousness so that we can perceive and appreciate these things. Albert Einstein is said to have said that wonder is the source of all true art and all science. “He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer stop to wonder and remain spellbound with wonder, it is as if he were dead; his eyes are closed.” Those who are drawn to wonder are likely to see or feel things that others are unaware of. They learn that when they unleash the movement of wonder in them, there is the possibility that they will discover the deepest mysteries of life, which in itself is a matter of expansion of consciousness. It has something to do with childhood.

Related matters are covered in the book “In Search of the Deeper Self”, details of which are given on the website http://spirituality.yolasite.com

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Reference 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kahlil_Gibran