Combating growing Vulgarity - Right Age for Meditation -

Namaste

Fifteen years ago, If I get busy had the luxury to switch on TV tune into a cartoon channel let my nephew to watch a harmless program for some time without bothering much on the content watched by the toddler. Time has changed.

Sex, Vulgarity and violence has not spared even kids channel in the form of commercials.
One commercial promoting a popular chocolate brand is centered behind under teens discussing boys, flings and two timing.
On another day happened to watch a comic strip (from recent movie) along with my kid which was centered behind a couple indulging in adultery by taking advantage of a not so smart small time real estate broker.

I can't waste my time to sue the commercial or the comic strip because production house and chocolate brand have political backing. Nor I can micro manage what my kid watch.

I thought including meditation in Child's curriculum might help the kid just like immunity in our system fights diseases. But how do I teach meditation to 6 or 7 year old? Or what is the right age to explain mind and the importance to train it?
And HOW?

Very good question, Anirudh ji.

Raising kids who will do well without addictions of sorts or being misled into a life of falsehood (such as thieving or other bad ways) is a challenge these days. Fortunately my 20 yr old son is grown well without any bad addictions and knows as much to refrain from them. He even took to vegetarianism on his own several years back. I'm positive my daughter will do well, as well.

Here are things we follow:

1. Always keeping the child occupied productively - this is not to say parents have to emphasize just academic participation of kids, but making sure the kids are participating in productive activities - such as sports, some amount of watching good programs in TV with other family members, having quality time with friends and family, etc. As there are plenty of distractions in the form of cybergames these days, forcing a schedule of participation in other healthy activities is a must.

2. Educating them on the importance of ahimsa and Hindu way of life - of refraining from harmful activities, belief in gods, charity, etc. Although we did not enroll our son in religious school, my daughter goes to religious school and she not only benefits from knowing Hindu religion well, but also likes communicating and interacting with Indian friends at religious school(s), attending functions in other Hindu homes, and doing activities related to religious school. It also gives her plenty of role model by observing other kids her age who are well disciplined, and are free of bad habits.

3. Always maintaining a good rapport and communication with the kids. As they age more and more, they are open to learn about some of your struggles (not fully but just an outline) and how you overcame it. In our home, it is my husband who keeps communicating with both my son and daughter the few day to day struggles always, including his struggles on professional front and how he worked hard to rise up in life, etc. This gives them a ground reality on some important aspects of life such as career, finances, etc.

I look forward to reading others' thoughts, as well. I could only come up with the above stated points.

Namaste anirudh ji..
Nice question.. And viraja ji explain the answer very nicely.. I don't have kids so can't guide but I can try...
Alone meditation will not help the kid to grow immunity from such vulgur things, its not necessary that how meditation work for us will work for such a small kid too.. I know this because there was meditation session everyday in my school maybe of 5 minutes or less where there was chanting of Om but all the students are so occupied by Maya and lust always talking of dirty things saying bad and abusive words to each other every moment... I was not like them and hate such things but though I too don't thought and find meditation useful.. Only I feel peaceful after some seconds of meditation but when I step in spirituality then meditation helps me lot and I understand what is actual power of it and then meditation help me to quite down my mind and become concentrated in god.. So I wanted to suggest that yes.. You can teach him meditation, he will get many benefits from it but it will not help him much to fight with this negativity in the world.. Also it will be difficult to teach him as at his age kids are so active they cant seat calm even while eating then it will be much difficult job to make them seat calm in gyan mudra and lotus posture.. So much input but less output in this specific field of fighting with vulgur things..
But I was not affected by this I think because of samskaras.. Every parents give this to their kids and you too are giving but focus more in this.. Try to developed positive attitude in him, teach him many interesting things by stories like satya, ahimsa their importance and how he should behave in particular situation.. Try some things which make this precious gems stored in his brain and he will behave according to them in future, like birbal did some tricks to make Akbar agree with him just like that do some tricks that he will understand and will learn more..
When he will mature enough then you can tell him such higher truths.. Meditation is so powerful and he will not get anything more special from it unless he don't have special knowledge.. Meditation is like brahmastra and guru will not give it to student unless he is not ready to use it.. I know the worrier of such bad things are everywhere in this Kali Yuga.. But I think meditation will definitely help him but effectively will benefit him only and only when his foundation is strong.. So try to built such foundation in your kid that nothing in this world like lust and such sex ads can conquer him.. Make such stable foundation and I know you can do that.. But he is so small now and in the exact position to learn some permanent samskaras.. So best luck.. Hope he will also get know truth when he will get mature and he will not be affected by such things..
Parents are always worry about their kids future but believe in god he is with you ji..
Pranam

I wanted to explain in deep but because of time I wrote the post more rapidly even don't re read it for corrections of English or to add some words to illustrate more.. So sorry if there is some mistakes in above post..
But this was my view that meditation is next step after learning basic things which make our personality.. When one learns bhakti, love, surrender then its easy for him to progress in meditation.. As many do meditation but only few can achieve real knowledge.. Bad peoples with negative power also do meditation.. But meditation is like catalyst which help one to gain knowledge and powers to progress and lead him where he wants to go
But such words are so heavy for him in this age.. Other member can guide you more..
Pranam

In the past, oh let us say the 1970s, the very idea of a community building their own equivalent of a TV Channel with their own programming, well it was almost inconceivable because of the costs involved, the government regulations simply because the "bandwidth" was limited in the sense that there were only so many AM/FM/UHF/Air waves/Shortwave/and so on... you could only fit so many on the "channel" so the cost to buy a seat was very, very expensive.

No so true anymore in countries such as the US and others. This may still be an issue in India, but the same opportunities are coming.


Soon you will be able to project your "broadcast" into ANY home over the "TV" to come, millions of "channels" - unlimited - but there won't be a "channel selector" 0- 999 to dial YOUR channel, rather it will be up to YOU to get the word out HOW to connect to YOUR channel, similiar to a hashtag they would key %AnirudhCh4 and they will see whatever you have composed on the cloud. And the tools to create the most dynamic and creative and captivating presentation will be cheap, inexpensive.


Communities, temples, you, me, can have our own "TV channel".


So very soon, if you give the effort, you can have your own "Hindu TV". Communities can.


Your children will be able to turn into Hindu presentation. Believe me, there are great Hindus who will pool their resources and make it happen.


Then it will be up to you, to see that your children watch.


It is coming. And by the way, evil governments will not be able to stop it, no more than they can control the birds or the ants.


By the way ... folks like me, we are now looking at creating our own, digital, money. For example, digital "Hindu money". Which no one will be able to tax. You will see. There is a great independence coming. We will have our own "insurance pools". You will see. Just wait.


Yes, the bad will be out there, too. But a lot of good. It will be up to each parent, to decide what is good for the child. But the choices will be vast. In one way, it will be more easy then ever to "find the bad". But the vast places to "find the good" will be great.

Namaste Viraja ji & Soul of light ji

Thanks for sharing your views. Agreed parents turn over protective when it comes to deal with their kids.

Sriman Naaraayan is always with us, however it is about executing my duty as a father. To earn that promotion or the bonus or good ranking in the appraisal we burn night oil, do things that are otherwise arent pleasant or wise by any standard. So why not travel that extra mile to create a better citizen who would take part in reviving our lost glory.

I am not a learned person to authoritatively comment, but my experience says children are good at grasping any subject. On a weekly basis I teach (my kid) the role of Nature in our lives and how we are the bits and pieces of the Nature. I feel it has worked well based on the questions I have been asked during the session.

Today's children are inquisitive and rebellious because of the level of information they can gather. You have to give them a valid reason why visiting temple or praying is more important even though it might cost them their favorite cartoon show.

Keeping them engaged is a good solution as long as it doesn't turn out be Monday music class, Tuesday swimming class, Wednesday Karate class and so on. And you never know what they acquire besides the subject.

I am not saying to give up everything and be behind them like a chewing gum, but help them to enrich their intellect. I am in the process explaining the difference between mind and matter. Trust me examples like snake and rope or oil flows uniformly and water splatter (taken from lectures on Vishistadvaita) help them to grasp the subject easily. You got to mix few cartoon characters to get attention.

Sriman Naaraayan is with us, but HE also has entrusted a duty(ies) on my shoulders.

I will be glad if other members too can share experiences.

Namaste Shiva Fan ji

An informative and good perspective. I am not against TV viewing or devising a mechanism to filter out the good programs from the bad or vice versa.

As I am convinced that growth starts from within and then flow out, making tiny attempt to channelize mind at an early age (because chances of getting corrupted is less).

During my childhood it was pretty easy. I will be asked to pray and I did without any question until I was 12(That's when I questioned the existence of GOD). But these days with so much information and mutually exclusive thought processes around us it is highly challenging to do the job.

So if you could share your experience in this challenge it would be of great help.

Namastey Anirudhji,


You have really shared a very good question which needs to be focused. With increasing violence and Vulgarity children and youth have lost the peace of mind, decision making skills and even the love of bond children shared with their parents years back. Myself being in this transformation and Modernized period, when I see other children I feel that I am lucky that I am not born now and enjoyed all the old golden days.
But to say children are our future. So we need to do something good and better in present that will make the secure the future of children of these days. Meditation is not easy. Its needs peace of mind and the urge to do it. Even adults take time to start meditating So for Children its difficult but not impossible. Children love us without any conditions and reservations, they keep us young.
Coming back on your question, Yes Children can meditate not only for improving immunity but also for Spiritual well-being.
I have some suggestions:
1. We on our own can start meditation sessions that will attract children and they will have curiosity to know that how does this helps.
2. Nowadays Chakra Balancing is something that not only adults but children and youth too should start practicing. This new concept is very important for physical, emotional and for spiritual well being. children love music. You can play Chakra Healing Music that can grab their attention. once they start showing the urge to know this concept 80% of your work is done
3. You can schedule at least 10-15 min for silence with children at your home or any peaceful place where they can start imagining the scenario only with the vocal power i.e words you speak.
4. Breath or 'prana' is the life force energy and is important for well-being of children because it helps them to express themselves freely when they are in some extreme sad or happy situations
5. Mantra Chanting and Singing is what very trending these days. Play a mantra with beautiful music. Even If children listen them daily for sure they will at least learn 3 - 4 lines.
5. get creative.


If you need to know anything more you can check out this article to know more in depth.
http://www.rudraksha-ratna.com/steps...tion_405.html5
I hope this helps you.


~Hari Om

Thank you Suhita ji...Pranaam ....

I dont know about meditation much, in the aspect of a kid, never had one. All I can tell you is at teenage years, make sure he maintains purity of mind, and heart. Especially towards women, girls, anyone really. Brahmacharya, once that is rigid, I believe then everything would fall into place - considering you are doing your part as a mother/father in education him/her about the Hinduism.