Grahasthasramam : ( 24/05/2013. )

======================================================================== ======================================================================== 26/12/2019. (Keynote address given at a conference on education in Delhi on October 21, 1983) POST-4. ======================================================================== TO,  PARENTS AND PARENTAGE : Hence, if education is to be considered as the process of the enlightenment of the human individual in the direction of what the purpose of life is finally, then we may have to know what the purpose of life is. Education is certainly not the accumulation of particular facts of empirical phenomena. It is something different altogether. It is vitally connected to our day-to-day living. A collection of information disconnected to actual existence in the world is not a part of education because it does not illumine the individual. Education is to be considered, therefore, as a medium for shedding proper light on the very structu...

======================================================================= ======================================================================== 01/12/2019. (Keynote address given at a conference on education in Delhi on October 21, 1983) POST-3. ======================================================================== ======================================================================= TO,  PARENTS AND PARENTAGE : We seem to have an erroneous notion of freedom and independence, which seems to be the reason behind our apparent conflict. Really, there should not be any such conflict because freedom and conflict are opposites. We have not yet found a completely satisfying solution to this problem which is partly sociological, partly psychological, and to some extent even a determining factor in political administration. We cannot segregate aspects of human life as if they are watertight compartments.  There is no such thing as political freedom so...

====================================================================== NAVA-RATHRI : MAHA-NAVAMI : VIJAYA-DASHMI : I wholehearted welcome all children to Akshara Brahmam. Today millions of children in Kerala irrespective of caste, creed and gender will get initiated into Akshara (school education) On Rice or on sand they are made to write - Hari Shree Ganapathaye Namaha. An Acharya who initiates the children will write the above mantra on the child’s tongue. This culture has been followed since time immemorial. People of other religions too follow this due to its significance . Let us look at what Hari Shree means. This is a reminder to all children regarding the two assets that they have in Life. First is Hari and next is Shree. Something that no one can ever remove from our Life .... what is that? They are the various skills like .....positive mind, humility and clarity in communication. If one is capable of developing these skills , there will always be plenty of oppo...

======================================================================= -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 05/08/2019. For the knowledge of our parents and parentage. (Keynote address given at a conference on education in Delhi on October 21, 1983) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu." Here we have embodied in a nutshell, as it were, the fervent hopes of our ancient Masters as expressed in the sacred revelations called the Upanishads. In this simple, meaningful prayer it is suggested that we all come together as an organic fraternity, that we manifest love among ourselves with a sense of communion from the recesses of our hearts, that we not disrespect or envy one another, that in this inward coming together of our hearts we may generate energy and have peace within...

17/06/2019. 4. UNDERSTAND THE CHILD’S PSYCHOLOGY :- Even a problem-child can be moulded properly if your approach is the right one. The problem-child is essentially a creation of the parents. Obstinacy should be met by firmness spiced with love; ignorance should be met by knowledge coated with compassion; idiocy should be countered with intelligence coupled with kindness. Let the child’s heart know that you are sincere, eager and earnest in your attempt to mould him into an ideal citizen, a glorious manhood dedicated to the good of the world. You will succeed. It is for the parents to adapt with the child; not for the child to adapt with the parents. In most cases, disharmony between youth and the parents is a direct result of torturing and shocking the mind of the child or the adolescent by arbitrary behaviour of the parents. In many cases the child receives no real love from the parents, except mere attachment grown out of constant association. The parents think that they lo...

16/05/2019 3. COMBINE DISCIPLINE WITH LOVE :- This does not mean that you should dote over the child. When the child grows into a boy or a girl, when it has learnt to walk, to talk and to play, you should mix discipline with love. Even then do not frighten the boy; nor should you instill any kind of negative emotion into him. Lovingly and intelligently you should try to maintain discipline, and you should make the boy understand the glory of a disciplined life. If your earlier training has been good, you will find that even in his boyhood your son needs no chastising. He will readily obey you. And, if you take care to see that he chooses the right type of companions, you will have no problem at all. The very first words you teach the child should be the Lord’s Name. The very first idea that you put into the boy’s mind should be spiritual and moral. When the child is able to sit up and talk, you should train it to sing divine hymns with closed eyes at the family altar. To the...

29/03/2019 1. INTRODUCTION :- If the child is trained from the very beginning, then you will have very few problems later on. You will have very few occasions to chastise the child. All good Samskaras (impressions) should be implanted in the child since it learns to talk. When the child is born, the parents should feel that the Lord has graciously entrusted to their care the greatest treasure on earth. No sacrifice is too much if that would enable them to mould the child properly. When the child is somewhat mischievous, as all children are, the mother frightens it. “Oh, ghost will come”, she tells the child if it does not sleep quickly. This is not proper. Any type of fear element must be kept away from the child as virulent poison. The child must not know what fear is. 2. BE HELPFUL TO THE YOUNGSTER :- The child has an inquisitive nature. It wants to know. All knowledge is acquired by man only through this inquisitive nature. Its mischievousness is also a manifestation...

27/02/2019 4. When the householder sees that his sons are able to bear the burden of his duties, when his grandsons are around him, the time has come for his wife and himself to retire from the world and spend their time in study and meditation. Great Rishis of yore were married, but they did not lead the life of passion and lust. Their life of Grihasthasrama was a life of Dharma only. If it is not possible for you to emulate them to the very letter, you will have to keep their lives before you as landmarks, as the ideal for emulating, and you must tread the path of Truth. Grihasthasrama is not a life of lust and loose living. It is a strict life of selfless service, of Dharma pure and simple, of charity, goodness, kindness, self-help, and all that is good and all that is helpful to humanity. If you can live such a life, the life of a Grihastha is as good as the life of a Sannyasin. Married life, if lived in a perfect ideal manner, is no bar to the attainment of Mukti. A goo...

09/02/2019 3. The worldly duties are not ties. The world is the best teacher. You are not required to renounce the world and take shelter in the Himalayan caves to claim back your lost divinity. The world cannot stand in the way of your God-realisation. Live in the world but allow not the world to live in you. He who living in the midst of temptations of the world attains perfection is the true hero. A householder should earn money by honest means and distribute it in the proper manner. He should spend one-tenth of his income in charity. He should enjoy sensual pleasures within the limits of the moral law. Householders have got a very responsible duty in training their children. If they want to shirk this responsibility, they ought to have checked their itching sensation caused by lust, and should have stopped procreation by becoming Naishthika Brahmacharis. Serious punishment is awaiting them in the other world if they leave their children untrained in this world. The...