How to Raise Children-1

How to Raise Children-1

Practice, don't preach. If you are truth, they'll follow you.

Many parents write to me asking how best to raise their children so they are better prepared in life to handle the challenges of our world. Recently, aparent wrote:

My question is how can we, as parents, teach spirituality to our children without confusing them? I would like to give them this tool of self awareness without it being too overpowering...We feel this world is too confusing for us, children need stronger foundation for their journey ahead...

It is every parent's concern that their children grow into strong and independent youths. Perfectly understandable. Many parents also want their children to be religious and spiritual. That's fine too. But, often parents think that teaching rituals or preaching religion will somehow give their children strength and conviction. That is rarely the case. I'm not against religion for it's an integral part of any culture and relaying religious values is a way of passing on the tradition. But, there's more to life.

The great Persian poet, Sadi, once shared a meaningful incident from his life. Quoting literatim; he wrote:

I used to be a pious child, fervent in prayer and devotion. One night I was keeping vigil with my father, the Holy Koran on my lap. The others in the room began to slumber and soon everyone was fast asleep, so I said to my father, “None of these sleepers opens his eyes or raises his head to say his prayers. You would think they were dead.”

My father replied, “My beloved son, I would rather you too were sleeping like them than slandering.”

The essence couldn't be summed up any better. Far more important than have them cram religious texts or stories, is to help them practice the three most important human values. As follows:

1. Compassion
Just being compassionate towards our loved ones is only one tiny aspect of compassion. True compassion means having a sense of sympathy for all sentient beings, it means to have a feeling of empathy towards everyone around us.

Think of compassion as a response. When we come across those who are less fortunate than us, or those who have harmed us, we have an option to choose how we want to respond. Compassion is one of those choices.

2. Karma
By karma, I don't mean that we need to teach them good karma or bad karma as such. Most children have a better and clearer sense of karma than their parents because parents often twist the truth to suit their convenience whereas children haven't yet learned such trickery. By karma, in the present context, I am narrowly referring to helping them see that their future depends on their present choices.

If we could help them see that they are responsible for the choices they make in their lives, most children will grow into stronger and more responsible citizens of the world. Many youths and adults, even those who had a decent childhood, take refuge in self-pity and self-denial. Karma means we own up to our choices.

3. Truthfulness
Truthfulness of the conduct, words and actions is the greatest virtue one can practice. It is not easy but it's highly enriching. The greatest reward of truthfulness is peace and inner strength. By truth, I don't mean that you are not entitled to have a private life or that you must state absolutely everything that's on your mind, or that you need to be brutal in your speech. No, it means to be free of falsity as much as possible.

Om Namah Shivay