The Spirit Of Spirituality: Spiritual lessons from parent/child behavior

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Spiritual lessons from parent/child behavior

Situation 1: Vaccination for a child

Normal worldly situation

My daughter was about 3 months old and was peacefully in my arms at the doctor’s place. She was staring at various things in her own innocent way and generally keeping herself amused. Little did she know what was coming! We went into the doctor’s office and the doctor casually pricked her with a syringe and gave her a vaccination. The poor child was shocked and started wailing. I felt a bit of remorse for the little child who was so trusting of me and I had let someone hurt her with an injection. But then was I doing something wrong? Was I really hurting her? I knew that the vaccination was critical for her long term wellbeing and had decided that she should undergo that pain so that she would be disease free later.

What was the other option? I could have decided that since she trusted me so much, I would not give any pain to her and refuse to get her inoculated risking a potentially life threatening situation later on.

The third option was that I could have explained to her about diseases and the need to immunize her system and that if we gave her the vaccination she would be immunized. Is this even an option? However much I tried, whatever I did, I would never be able to explain to her why she had to undergo pain. Secondly whatever be my affection for her and my desire not to give her pain, I would not be foolish enough not to give her a vaccine.

So the only option was to inflict pain on a trusting child without even bothering to explain to her, knowing fully well that the pain we were giving was needed for her better life.

Spiritually speaking

If we were to apply the same situation to our daily life, we see that we are subject to sudden pain (physical, emotional etc.) and question why the merciful God is giving us all this pain. To extend what we saw above, the Universal Power knows that it has to give us some pain so that we are prepared for a better future. Just as the child would never have understood the need for vaccination, there is no way that we can understand why the Universal power gives us pain. Even though I love my child, just as I have no option but to give pain, the Universal power has no option but to give us pain to ensure a better future for us only.

So, let us learn to take every pain in life as a reason for something better that the Universal power has for us.

Situation 2: Child locked in bath room

Normal worldly situation

The little child sees its mother go daily into a room and do something. It has tried to open the door, but notices it cannot. It knows that mother has taken him inside and done something to the door and given him a shower. It remembers playing with the bathroom bolt. One day out of curiosity, he goes inside and closes the door. He starts playing with the bolt and accidentally locks the door. He continues playing in the water for some time and then tries to push the door open. But he notices that the door won’t move. He has no idea that he has bolted the door and it won’t open. He starts screaming and crying. The mother comes running and sees the child inside. She wants to help, but can do nothing. There is no way she can unlock the bolt. She tries cajoling the child and telling him to open the bolt. The child is so terrified that it cannot listen to anything. It just wants mummy to open the door. Mummy is equally helpless and can do nothing. She gradually calms the child down and slowly in the child’s language gets him to look at the bolt and then open it. Though she loves the child and wants to do everything to get him out, the only option she has is to get the child himself to unlock the bolt and free himself.

Spiritually speaking

We have locked ourselves not using one door, but with several doors. These doors are the five senses, the five action organs, the mind, intellect, ego etc. Each of these is a door within which we create our own world. Standing outside these doors is the Supreme Power. We in our arrogant way unlike the child’s innocence, lock ourselves up in the momentary happiness in the world created behind these closed doors. However, when the party ends and we want to get out, we are bewildered like the little child and have no clue how to get out. We feel bound, we shout with anguish and wonder why the Supreme power is not coming to help us. However just as the mother can do nothing to unbolt a locked child, the Supreme power can do nothing. It can only provide instructions through divine scriptures and tell us how to get out of the locked doors. It is on us to make use of the instructions and get out of the bound world.

If the child does not get out with any amount of instruction what will the mother do? She will not sit silent. She will get the door broken, cause even more terror to the child, but finally get him out of the locked room to her loving arms. In the same way, the Supreme power keeps giving instructions, but finally decides to act and destroys the existing environment and takes us into the Divine fold. This is the pralaya or destruction or end of the world as we know it. But it is the Supreme power’s final attempt to get us back into the affectionate divine fold

Situation 3: Preparing for first day of school

Normal worldly situation

The little child is now just old enough to start school. It does not know it needs uniform, books, etc. However the parents know what is needed. They do not need the child to ask them to get it books, uniform etc. The parents just get it. The child may ask for chocolate every day to go to school. The parent knows that it is not needed for going to school and may give the child, the chocolate occasionally.

Spiritually speaking

In every phase of our life, the Universal power knows what we need and will provide a conducive environment for us to get what we need in our pursuit. The Universal power is sending us to the school of these worldly experiences so as to prepare us for the spiritual journey. It knows what is needed in this school and will provide for it.

The moral is to “just be”. The universal power knows what we need to fulfill our desires in this world and will provide an environment where we will get what we desire. This does in no way mean that the Universal power will shower wealth on us if we desire. It will provide an environment for us to act and get what we have desired.

As readers may be aware, 3 of my books on spirituality are available on Amazon.com.

I invite readers of my blog to try any of the books and give me feedback so that I can make changes in the next edition.

1. My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality

My Humble Understanding Of Spirituality