Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 13.10.2018, Advait Bodhsthal, Greater Noida, India
Context:
~ How can we incorporate spiritual teachings and values into our daily interactions with our children?
~ What practices can we introduce to nurture our children's spiritual development from a young age?
~ In what ways can we create a spiritually enriching environment at home to support our children's growth?
~ How do we effectively communicate and share our spiritual beliefs with our children, fostering open dialogue and understanding?
~ Are there specific rituals or traditions that align with our spiritual values that we can introduce to strengthen our family bond?
कः पण्डितः संस्दस द्विवेकी श्रुतिप्रमाणः
परामर्थदर्शी । जानन्हि कुर्यादसतोऽवलम्बं स्वपातहेतोः शिशुवन्मुमुक्षुः ।।
(Vivekachudamani, verse 337)
Who being learned,
able to discriminate between the Real and the unreal,
believing the Vedas as the authority,
fixing his gaze upon the Self,
the Supreme Reality, and being seeker after liberation,
will he, like a child, consciously run after the unreal,
which will surely be the cause of one's downfall?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
#acharyaprashant
Context:
~ How can we incorporate spiritual teachings and values into our daily interactions with our children?
~ What practices can we introduce to nurture our children's spiritual development from a young age?
~ In what ways can we create a spiritually enriching environment at home to support our children's growth?
~ How do we effectively communicate and share our spiritual beliefs with our children, fostering open dialogue and understanding?
~ Are there specific rituals or traditions that align with our spiritual values that we can introduce to strengthen our family bond?
कः पण्डितः संस्दस द्विवेकी श्रुतिप्रमाणः
परामर्थदर्शी । जानन्हि कुर्यादसतोऽवलम्बं स्वपातहेतोः शिशुवन्मुमुक्षुः ।।
(Vivekachudamani, verse 337)
Who being learned,
able to discriminate between the Real and the unreal,
believing the Vedas as the authority,
fixing his gaze upon the Self,
the Supreme Reality, and being seeker after liberation,
will he, like a child, consciously run after the unreal,
which will surely be the cause of one's downfall?
Music Credits: Milind Date
~~~~~
#acharyaprashant
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Paritrati has quoted verse 337 from Vivek Chudamani, the verse says, a seeker of liberation
00:23who being learned, able to discriminate between the real and unreal, believing the Vaisnavas
00:38as authority, fixing his gaze upon the self, the supreme reality, and being a seeker of
00:49liberation, will, like a child, consciously run after unreal, which will surely be the
01:05cause of one's downfall, question mark, and then she asks, dear Acharyaji, the question
01:22is, who is the child in the above verse, also I would like to understand my child behaviour
01:34as the child keeps running behind unreal things, most of the time, there is no schedule, or
01:53discipline, even not taking care of his own health and hygiene, when we request in any
02:08form, or guide, or suggest, he rebels, he displays disrespect towards beings, and shows anger through his words,
02:28not helping even for a while, even in the smallest words, and his attitude is becoming
02:48more and more aggressive, so there are two parts to this question, the first part is,
03:08who is the child being talked of, and the second part relates to a personal problem,
03:31who is the child being talked of, one must understand, physicality is bound, and it is
04:01starts expressing itself as soon as it is born, divinity remains just a seed, that's the child,
04:17all flesh and bones, body, behaving exactly as per his physical conditioning, guided by nothing,
04:46except the bodily impulses, that's the child, that's how man becomes his child, as merely the
05:04body, and that is why, at the outset itself, man is not very comfortable, child cries when he is
05:25born, and it is rare to find a child restful, the child turns hither and thither, the child grabs,
05:40the child explores, the child is always busy with things, that's how we all are born, restless.
06:10Obviously, if one is born restless, then it would be great if restlessness reduces, or obliterates,
06:26and that is the purpose of upbringing and education, to rid the child of his innate biological tendencies,
06:50that give him no joy, but keep him occupied, and tied down, instead if the upbringing and education
07:19are not proper, not deeply spiritual, not divine at the core, then the child becomes all the more conditioned,
07:45he was already restless due to biological reasons, and he becomes even more restless due to his upbringing, and other social reasons,
08:05few, very few are those, who are lucky enough to grow up in a way, that
08:33brings them closer to peace, and fulfillment.
08:49Adi Shankar is referring to those lucky few, in this verse, he is saying, if you are someone,
09:07who is now not taking the physical or psychological tendencies as himself, if you are someone who is now one with the supreme self,
09:31then would you ever again go back to your childish ways, that's his way of saying, that once you have tasted the joy of the self,
09:59then the various pleasures of the body start appearing very very childish,
10:19joy is pleasure of another order, joy is a pleasure that is never threatened, joy is a pleasure that doesn't wax or wane,
10:39joy is the pleasure that you don't have to try to obtain, joy is the pleasure that doesn't make you more restless,
11:03once you have immersed yourself in the joy of truth, what value can you accord to the childish pleasures of the body,
11:23it is not renunciation, it is common sense, once you have something very very fulfilling,
11:41why would you give it up for something that is not even remotely as fulfilling,
12:01who wants to compromise the great for the small, the everlasting for the ephemeral, the total for the partial,
12:27and if someone does want to give up the total for the partial, then he is just being childishly foolish, that's what Adyashankar is saying,
12:43then you have mentioned about your son, the kid at your home,
13:01what you can do is neglect your health and hygiene, the shabbiness and other things,
13:29that's how we all are born, aren't we,
13:53at a young one, the young one of human beings, the young one of animals, a human kid,
14:11papa, the kid of a goat, architect, little rabbit,
14:33look at any of them and see how they are, they are not driven by any higher pursuits, that's not for them,
15:01they want their feed regularly, they want food and water and security,
15:17it doesn't matter much to them whether the mother is contented or not,
15:35the kid clamors for his personal feed, the child says give me food, where is my sweet, where is my bread,
15:59and it doesn't matter to him where the bread is coming from,
16:09the parents might have stolen the bread from somewhere, it doesn't matter to the kid,
16:15the kid is not going to ask, where did the bread come from,
16:20the kid wants his toy and papa must have the money to get him the toy,
16:32the father might be a corrupt man and the money might be ill-gotten,
16:41but it doesn't matter to the kid, all that the kid wants is the toy,
16:52and then the kid has to entertain himself,
17:04a copy of the Upanishads might be kept, but for the kid it is just a plaything,
17:12and the kid is tearing the pages apart, it doesn't matter to the kid,
17:22the kid has no higher order values, that's the thing with the body,
17:29it knows no higher order values, all it wants is self-preservation and furtherance of itself,
17:45may I stay protected, and I means the material me, that's what the kid is saying,
18:09so that's the default state, that's how everybody is born,
18:16so you cannot complain if your kid is rowdy or raucous or deviant,
18:28that's how all kids are born,
18:42and then begins a process through which the biological tendencies are purified,
18:57who is the initiator of that process, who is responsible for that process,
19:05the kid is what the kid is, and all kids are born as just biological entities,
19:20even if Buddhahood is there, it is present in them just as a seed,
19:36this biological entity is then educated, refined,
20:00and the purpose of that education is to align its tendencies with the truth,
20:11who is responsible for that education, the parents and the teachers,
20:20the parents are constantly educating the child at home, the teacher is educating the child at school,
20:31and if the child's tendencies remain as they were at the time of birth,
20:44or get even worse, then what does it show, that the child's education is failing,
20:57that the ones who are teaching the child are not doing justice to their work as teachers,
21:18so is the problem with the child or the teachers of the child,
21:40should we look at the condition of the taught or the teacher,
21:51the taught one is hardly responsible for himself, for he is born disorderly,
22:01the question is what have the teachers then been doing,
22:11so the question then turns to the questioner, to the mother,
22:27what kind of education is reaching the child, what are you teaching him,
22:33and the child is learning not only through your words but through your conduct and your total being,
22:42the child is absorbing everything,
22:54what is it that you are displaying to the child everyday,
22:59and even if the teachers at the school are failing, who chose those teachers and that school for the child,
23:11the mother did and the father did, so the mother and the father have to answer,
23:21what kind of teachers are they, but then before the teacher can be of value to the taught,
23:30first of all the teacher must be self-illumined, is the teacher self-illumined,
23:39is the mother really a realized one, and if mother is not someone who understands,
23:54if the mother is herself caught in tangles, then how is the child going to grow beyond the disorder,
24:12the disorder is innate, the disorder is biological,
24:29the question is why have the bringers of order failed,
24:42because this order that must be brought to the child is not a commodity, is not a thing,
24:55it is something that must radiate from your being, you cannot hold it in your hand and hand over to somebody,
25:24it is a contagious thing, you must have it to give it to the other,
25:43to help the other candle be lighted, first of all the helping candle must have some light,
26:06the child will not be born enlightened, that's not how prakriti operates,
26:21light has to touch him, he carries light within like a candle,
26:36but the light within will gain expression only upon right association,
26:48the child must be touched by someone who is full of light,
27:03does the child have that company, and if the child doesn't have that company, should we blame the child?
27:15So, you know Pari, where the problem is and therefore where the remedy is,
27:25it is impossible for learned parents to be poor parents,
27:41and when I say learned, I do not mean learned in terms of being knowledgeable or scholarly,
27:48I mean wisdom, I mean realization, I mean love,
27:59your wisdom, your love is the necessary teacher, you must first of all awaken your own wisdom,
28:15you must first of all call forth your own love, and then the child will surely respond,
28:29the child then is a reflection of who the parent is, the growth of the child then is a barometer of the growth of parents,
28:49the state of the child then is a litmus test on the state of the parents and the teachers,
29:08it is wonderful that children are unable to conceal their disorderly instincts,
29:21they are unable to wheel their diseased state of mind,
29:28adults too are deeply disorderly, but they conceal their disorder with etiquette,
29:42with politeness, with all kinds of socially accepted behavior and protocols,
29:59with kids that does not happen, the inner chaos gets directly reflected in the behavior of the kid,
30:19the kid is not yet cunning enough to conceal, it's great, because the kid cannot yet conceal,
30:37so the parents cannot yet deceive themselves,
30:51the kid's behavior exposes the state of his education,
31:18the kid's behavior is an open and irrefutable proof,
31:42the proof will be available only for a limited time, the kid will grow up,
31:49and just as he is absorbing all sorts of things from his environment, he will also absorb,
32:04that he needs to display socially correct behavior, and then there will be no flagrant evidence available,
32:22disorder would still be there, but hidden, camouflaged,
32:36right now the disorder is open, expressed, undeniable,
32:51so this is an opportunity, somebody is holding the mirror to you,
33:08if you do not know how you are doing in life, then honestly look at the state of your child, you will know.