How to Raise Children-2

How to Raise Children-2

Truth means not deceiving the other person into believing what is untrue. People will have assumptions about you, your life, you don't have to go around clarifying their presumptions. But, when you state something about yourself that you know is not true, that is lying.

The hardest thing about the three virtues is not preaching but practicing them. Your children will look at you and observe you closely to see if you practice compassion, karma and truthfulness. If you do, sooner or later, they'll do too. If you don't, no amount of preaching will cut it. If you meditate, or if you go to the temple and they see you happy and calm, they'll automatically follow you. Children know, they observe, they assimilate, they absorb, they follow.

A father was returning from church with his five-year old.

"The earlier priest was much better. This one always delivers a boring sermon," he remarked.

"Daddy," said the young one, "I thought it was pretty good for the penny we gave today."

Our race suffers the most because we want our children to selectively pick up our behavior, our values and teachings. If truth be told in no uncertain terms, when it comes to raising children, there is absolutely no room for hypocrisy. Practice pretense and you do so at your own peril.

A preacher summed up his years of work in ten short points and named it The Ten Commandments of Raising Children. He would enthusiastically distribute pamphlets to all the parents telling them how they ought to raise their children. A little while later he got married.

After he had been a father for a few years and had two children, he felt the need to change the title of his work to more accurately reflect his understanding. Thus, it now read Ten Suggestions on Raising Children.

A few more years passed and his children were teenagers now. Once again, realizing that the title of his work was not apt, he changed it to Ten Tentative Ideas on Raising Children.

I hope you know where I'm going with this. Nothing teaches like experience. Besides, there are no cookie-cutter methods. There are no absolute teachings. Also, spirituality can't be taught. It can only be practiced, it can only ever be learned.

If I were to dive deep in some ocean of wisdom and fetch you the one most valuable pearl on the current subject, it would be: Practice what you want them to learn. Be what you want them to be. Do what you want them to do. Don't tell, show. Don't lecture, lead. They are your children, after all. They know you.

Om Namah Shivay