Spirituality for children: Guruji, when adults are introduced to spirituality they find it very difficult to change. Why has nobody found a proper way to impart this training to children when they are young?
First of all we have to understand that spirituality is soul based and not body and mind based. The question of childhood or adulthood is irrelevant here. It is our state of mind and the art of tuning into our inner Self which are important. Since children are still innocent, their minds are still open and flexible while most adults have already developed a set way of looking at things. That is why we find it very difficult to get enlightenment. For children it is extremely easy as they do not have cunning or conspiring minds. That is why Vedanta says that children are Godlike.
The spiritual training of children has been missing for the last 30-35 years. Earlier, in every house, the elders used to train the child and impart our spiritual culture to them. They were taught rites and rituals which would help them to tune into Divinity. They learnt how to pray and converse with God. That was the base for the Soul to take off on the prescribed spiritual journey which is very essential for it. However, nowadays we are training the mind of a child more in the rudiments of materialistic and social culture. We are weaning the child away from its inherent spiritual nature.
Remember that all beneficial vibrations and good things in life arise from the vibrations of the Soul. Unfortunately, we think that bread and butter are the ultimate things around which our lives should revolve. So we train children for this and continuously push them in this direction. That is why the feelings and emotions in a human being have become very mechanical and extremely crude. Sometimes people behave in a very violent cruel and selfish manner.
Our spiritual culture says that universal love, acceptance and brotherhood are the first qualifications that every human being must cultivate. This is completely lacking in today’s education and culture.
As parents we are committing an extremely serious blunder here. In fact, in the spiritual sense, we are digging graves for our own children.
We are killing their spirit. The peace and happiness which should be theirs by right is being destroyed by us. When we train them solely in the social, materialistic culture which is the vogue at present it induces high levels of stress and strain.
But if they are well grounded in the spiritual values of universal love and learn techniques which will help them to tune in to the Universal Consciousness called Divine Love, they will gain constant peace, patience, tolerance, happiness and contentment along with other materialistic and environmental achievements too.
The article is taken from the book Practical Spirituality For Enriched Living by His Holiness Shri Shri Nimishananda Guruji