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| GAYATHRI DEVI, GOOD FRIDAY |
Hari Om.
In
our lives many things are important and essential. But there’s one
aspect of our lives that the present youngsters fail to acknowledge and
that is the role and duty of their parent in their lives. The most
important factor in each one of our lives – and the fact that we are who
we are – is due to the effort and ethics of our parents. In this day
many of us think our parents are old-fashioned and we might have some
wise friend or aunt who might be advising otherwise, telling us to do it
the other way. I want you all to understand one thing, especially the
youngsters: when you are in deep trouble, in the most difficult time of
your life, when everything in front of you is collapsing, no friend or
aunt with wise words will come to you. But your mother and father will
find, do and procure anything to make sure their child is happy. It’s
strange but true.
The
children of today have a strange idea that parents are still living in
their days. So when a parent tells them something they say, “That was in
your days, Ma. This is in modern days”. In these modern days we have
more drought and more load shedding. In the olden days we didn’t have
all that. The reason we have all these things is that in modern times
you are careless and as youngsters you are all careless. I can tell you
as we sit here, on Monday we will have news that 3 or 4 youngsters from
Tongaat have had an accident. The reason is they were speeding, drag
racing whatever. Do you think they listened to their parents? No.
But
in some cases parents are delinquents too. The parents give their child
everything. And in that the child gets spoiled. We must be able to
nurture, grow and develop our children to the best of our ability and
the children need to know that there’s nobody out there closer than
their parents. Not your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife – they
are not closer to you than your parents. I’m saying this because we have
so many youngsters at the Gayathri Peedam and so many of them have
delinquent parents. You know why a child can’t think any more? Why do we
have to tell them the same thing 10 times before they understand what
we said? It’s because their fingers and eyes do the thinking on their
cellphones. They cannot live without the cellphone. We have failed
miserably in our duty. You go to a restaurant: mother, father and 2
children, each of them is on their cellphone doing their own business.
They’re supposed to be a family. Why is this? Because we have failed as
parents. You don’t know what the cellphone is going to do to you and
your child. As soon as the child cries for a cellphone we give it to
them because we don’t know any other way to quieten the child. When we
were young there were methods to quieten us – things that really worked.
And if I had my way right now I’d do the same thing to all the
delinquent parents and children here.
Please,
children, first and foremost in your life, before anything else, are
your parents. Only after that siblings come. Parents know when their
child is being hurt somewhere in America or when the child is sick
somewhere in India – they know and will make that call at the most
appropriate time because they are the most connected to you. Not your
wife, girlfriend, or friend. It’s not about having a good time. It’s
like being vegetarian. We’re told that it’s unfortunate to be a
vegetarian because everyone who is vegetarian meets a meatarian. When
they ask you if you are a vegetarian and you say “yes” they say “shame”.
It’s shame on them, not on us. In the same way we become weak with our
children. You know why you were born into that family?
Do
you know why it took your mother 13 years to deliver you? It’s because
for 13 years she couldn’t have a baby. God needed to find the right
karmic consequences for each one of you including the child. That’s why
it takes so long. For some people it just happens, but for others it
takes longer. God has to find that child for you and you need to nurture
the child without the child going anywhere out of alignment of
parent-child discipline. It’s very important. God didn’t send a child to
you and when you don’t have a child you go to 21, 22, 23 astrologers
and all those temple people and when you have the child after 3 or 4
years you loudly say, “I shouldn’t have had you, I was better without
you”. Same parent. Delinquent. Parents, just like prana, are the
life-giving force for each one of you.
If
you have parents nurture them like they are the life. That’s all. You
must look after your parents, that is your duty. You must listen to your
parents, that is your duty. Sometimes they say mad things. Tashi always
says, “Dad, something’s wrong with you”. I said, “Something’s wrong
with God, he sent you to me. Nothing’s wrong with me. Something’s wrong
with God”. He sent Bhavta to my house like I’m not satisfied with 3
females already so he had to send another one.
Anyway,
I know it’s the Easter weekend and you are the crazy people who go to
temple when everyone else goes everywhere else. All religious people,
spiritual people are crazy. Please believe that. Spiritual people don’t
do different things, they do the same things you do differently. If you
stir your tea clockwise they’ll stir theirs anti-clockwise, but it’ll
taste sweeter than yours.
Hari Om.
