Generation Gap, Dada Bhagwan [book recommendations for teens TXT] 📗

the parents are morally upright do their children also become morally upright. (P.7)

Questioner : If we send our children away to India for schooling, are we not forgoing our responsibilities?

Dadashri : No, you are not forgoing them. You can provide all the financial support needed. There are some excellent schools in India where even people of India send their children.These schools also provide good quality boarding and accommodation. (P.10)

Questioner : Dada, please give us your blessings so that we may lead a peaceful and a happy family life.

Dadashri : Your children will become good and virtuous by observing you. Children’s behavior has degenerated through observing their parents’ behavior. Parents behave inappropriately in the presence of their children. They often make suggestive gestures in front of them, so naturally the children become spoilt. What kind of impression will the children receive? There should be some restraint in your behavior. Just observe the effect fire has on a child. Even the child respects the boundaries of a fire.

Nowadays, the minds of parents have become fractured and restless and their speech has become careless and hurtful, which is why the children have become bad. Even a husband and wife use hurtful language towards each other. What is the role of a good parent? They should mould their child in such a way that by the age of fifteen, all the good moral values are instilled in them.

Questioner : Nowadays the moral standard is declining. That is where the problem lies.

Dadashri : No, it is not declining; it is practically gone. But now that you have met a Gnani Purush, the fundamental moral values and virtues of good human behavior will return in your life. Every young adult has the potential power to help the entire world. He just needs the right guidance and support. Without such guidance the youth has turned selfish and has a very self-centered view of life. They will prey on others for their own worldly comfort and happiness. He who renounces his own happiness can make others happy.

There was a wealthy businessman who was preoccupied with making money so I asked him, ‘Seth you are so busy making money, do you realize that your household is in ruin? Your daughters and sons are running around and so is your wife. You have been robbed from all directions.’ He then asked me, ‘What should I do?’ I told him, ‘you have to understand and know how to live life. Don’t make money your only pursuit in life. Take care of your health otherwise you will have a heart attack. Be attentive to your health, your money, to a moral upbringing of your daughters; you have to clean all the corners of your home. If you keep cleaning only one corner in the house, what about all the dirt and dust that collects in other corners? You have to clean all the corners.’ How can you live life this way? So maintain good interaction with your children. Instill good moral values in them. If you have to suffer in the process it is fine, but give them good moral values. (P.17)

Questioner : We make every effort to improve them, but even then if they do not improve, should we as parents leave it to fate or destiny?

Dadashri : You make these efforts in your own way, but do you have a certificate to prove that your efforts are correct?

Questioner : Our efforts are based on our understanding and intellect.

Dadashri : I will give you an example of what your intellect is like: What kind of justice prevails when a person himself is the judge, the lawyer and the defendant? Your intellect will always be on your side, even if you are wrong.

Do not abandon them to fate, ever. Take care of them and keep an eye on them. If you abandon them, there will be no hope for them. Children bring with them their personalities at birth, but you have to help and nurture them so that they flourish.

Questioner : Yes we do all that but ultimately, should we just leave them to their fate?

Dadashri : No, you cannot leave them like that and if it comes to that then bring them to me and I will bless them and help them. You cannot just let go of them. It is too dangerous. (P.19)

A father was delighted when his child was tugging at his moustache. “Look! How cute! He is pulling my moustache!” he laughs. For goodness’ sake, what is going to happen if you allow him to do as he pleases and you don’t say anything to the child? All he has to do is give the child a little pinch so the child will come to realize that he is doing something wrong. The child should not be beaten; just a tiny pinch will suffice. (P.20)

One man calls out to his wife who is cooking in the kitchen. She calls back, ‘What do you want? I am cooking!’ He yells back “Come here, come quickly, come quick!’ She comes running, “what is it?” she asks. ‘Look! Look how clever our son has become’, he points to their toddler. ‘He stood up on his tiptoes and reached into my coat pocket and took out some money!’ The toddler thinks to himself, ‘this is the best thing I have done today. Now I know how to do this kind of work!’ In essence, he has become a thief. So what happens next? It becomes instilled in the child’s knowledge that to sneak money out of someone’s pocket is an acceptable act. (P.21)

The fool! He should be ashamed of himself. What kind of a father is he? Does he even understand the kind of encouragement his child has received? In stealing, his child feels that he has accomplished something remarkable. Should the father at least not have some understanding of what to say in order to encourage or discourage his child? These are all uncertified fathers and untested mothers! If the father is a radish and the mother is a carrot, what are the children going to be like? Certainly not apples! (P. 22)

Parents of this era of the time cycle really do not have any skills or knowledge of how to raise children and often give them wrong encouragement. When they go out, the wife insists that the

husband carry their toddler. If he refuses, she will nag at him, telling him he is also responsible for the child and that they both need to look after him. She keeps nagging him and he has no choice, so they end up carrying junior everywhere, all over the town. This kind of excessive attention suffocates the growing child. How can the child grow up to be normal? (P.23)

A bank manager once said to me, “Dadaji, I have never said a single word to my wife or my children, no matter what they say or do wrong, I do not say anything.” He looked so self-assured, thinking that

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Text: Dada Bhagwan Aradhana Trust
Images: Dada Bhagwan Aradhana Trust
Publication Date: 07-06-2017

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