Do you know why many modern kids have lost their passion in life?
Are you aware by the time they reached teenage, some would have given up on themselves?
Two weeks ago, I hosted an online Enlightened Parenting session on the topic of ’Teaching Swadharma to your children’ using the Nlighten App, a mobile content developed by His Divine Holiness, Bhagawan Sri Nithyananda Paramashivam (fondly known as Swamiji) to guide his devotees to connect with his teachings digitally and experience transformation. In that one session, many deep insights were revealed to me about the trappings of societal conditioning from parents to kids and the rigidity of western education system which caused many children to lose their enthusiasm toward life.
Let me first define Swadharma, swa means self, dharma means natural law of the Cosmos. In Bhagavad Gita Sannkhya Yoga Chapter 2 Verse 31, Swamiji explained the concept of Swadharma as the conscious design of the Cosmos, where everything flows properly without any gap. The moment we believe there are gaps in this flow, we create grief and suffering in our life because we don’t understand the logic of Cosmos. We don’t have to suffer if we take the attitude that the Cosmos is always flowing properly and align our lives in harmony with Cosmic intelligence. With this understanding and deciding out of your freedom and respecting your choice is Swadharma. This ensures a smooth flow of life. Whenever you are not in tune with your Swadharma, you will not be comfortable and feel stressful. If you observe successful people in their profession, be very clear they are in tune with their Swadharma. This is the main secret for success.
Many parents, in their greed to make their children excel in school, force them to make choices out of their vested interest. As parents, if we expect them to do what we tell them, they will feel restricted, by and by they lose their interest or self-motivation. They give up on themselves and choose to be indifferent and mediocre. This kills the heart and passion which eventually decrease their effectiveness in life. The education system is one that stifles the uniqueness of each child and does not allow children to have the freedom to explore and make their conscious decision because the system only produces the same skillsets en mass. You should know that children already come with their own intelligence and life purpose to do what they are here to fulfil in their life. When parents are ignorant about the flow of life, they destroy their children’s possibilities. This is fundamentally anti-life which is a conspiracy done against humanity.
My son was like a typical disconnected kid for many years, he couldn’t find inspiration to study because school was boring and he was struggling to keep up with the workload as he grew older. It was like that till last June, we moved out which gave me a chance to create a conducive ambience (vatarvarana), a new nurturing space for him to reconnect with his being, so that he can start doing things out of his free conscious choice and respecting his choice by his freedom. It meant even the extent of removing the people who stopped him from living his Swadharma. As a mother living my Swadharma as a living teacher and a spiritual healer, I know how important it is to let my child experience the same fulfilment and powerfulness.
Over the last seven months, I could see a tremendous healing in his inner space and now he is very self-driven to manage his study and also picking up new skillset such as writing a novel as he discovered that he could really write, he has started baking, trying out new recipes and exploring the maintenance of laptop and digital design. At the spiritual front, he is beginning to develop certain spiritual discipline and manifesting many extraordinary powers (Shaktis) because he is exploring the unknown in life again by Swamiji’s guidance. What a lesson I learned!
In essence, the best thing parents can do for their children is to help them discover their passion in life and give their children the freedom to choose what they really want to do. That gives them so much joy, confidence and respect for what they are doing, simply their creativity will start flowering. This is living Swadharma. Namaste 😀