Today, all around us we see increasing intolerance and violence. Senseless road rage, incidents of stabbing and shooting, excessive drinking, smoking and drugs. Murder, homicide, burglaries, and worst of all rapes and crimes against women are all on the increase. Side by side, religion which was meant to unite mankind has found followers who are creating walls between themselves.
It is time to ask : where did everyone fail?
Did the parents fail in bringing up their children?
Or did the children fail to live up to the expectations of the parents.
What do the Parents Teach?
They teach their children to study hard and get good marks in schools so that they can get into good colleges and get high degrees and then high paying jobs, so that they can get married and produce grandchildren for the parents, so that they can buy expensive cars and flats and the luxuries if life.
As for religion the parents take their children to the place of worship to which they subscribe, and ask their children to pray to God whenever they are in any kind of need.
Sadly, the parents do not have time to call the children to themselves and hold long sessions with them to tell them:
That money and success are not everything in life, and that there are higher values -- like goodness, righteousness, politeness, kindness, unselfishness and love, and forgiveness and things like sins and repentance. They do not tell them that violence and anger and hatred are wrong, they do not tell them about forgiveness being a great virtue in life. They do not tell them they they must pray for the sake of others also and not only for their own sake.
They do not tell them "let everyone follow his own faith and do you follow yours. All have One Father God and all are his children, so that all of mankind are brothers." They do not tell them that all faiths have goodness in them and none of them preaches hatred and wars.
So the children grow up being materialistic and ambitious trying to get ahead of each other, with jealousies and revenge being prime feelings. Their ambitions lead them to work several hours in the day and night so that they become short-tempered and make lives miserable for their own wives and families, so that families break up and there are divorces and even suicides.
I know from personal experience as a spiritual counselor that most people who come to me desire things of the world. They want to be blessed so that they can pass their exams, get into good colleges, get good grades and good jobs and good businesses, and get married into rich families,-- and their parents back up their cause with all their hearts.
I recall just ONE mother who brought her young son before me and said to me:
"Sir, please bless him so that he may become a good person in life. That is all I ask!"
So the fact that our society appears to be breaking up leaves a lot of questions to be asked of the parents, who goad their children to greater and greater material values in life, as if that is the very goal of human life.
Despite the fact that everyday we see people die before us, yet everyone thinks he is going to live forever and take all his wealth and property and success and degrees with him when he leaves the world.
What has happened is that the finer real spiritual values of life have been deadened and the gross animal instincts and material values have taken the lead -- and the results are before us.
Sadly the Holy Men of our time are more busy beating their own drums and desiring greater name, fame and wealth in life. They are hardly the examples that people would wish to follow, and despite their sermons, the rot is on the increase.
It is time to ask : where did everyone fail?
Did the parents fail in bringing up their children?
Or did the children fail to live up to the expectations of the parents.
What do the Parents Teach?
They teach their children to study hard and get good marks in schools so that they can get into good colleges and get high degrees and then high paying jobs, so that they can get married and produce grandchildren for the parents, so that they can buy expensive cars and flats and the luxuries if life.
As for religion the parents take their children to the place of worship to which they subscribe, and ask their children to pray to God whenever they are in any kind of need.
Sadly, the parents do not have time to call the children to themselves and hold long sessions with them to tell them:
That money and success are not everything in life, and that there are higher values -- like goodness, righteousness, politeness, kindness, unselfishness and love, and forgiveness and things like sins and repentance. They do not tell them that violence and anger and hatred are wrong, they do not tell them about forgiveness being a great virtue in life. They do not tell them they they must pray for the sake of others also and not only for their own sake.
They do not tell them "let everyone follow his own faith and do you follow yours. All have One Father God and all are his children, so that all of mankind are brothers." They do not tell them that all faiths have goodness in them and none of them preaches hatred and wars.
So the children grow up being materialistic and ambitious trying to get ahead of each other, with jealousies and revenge being prime feelings. Their ambitions lead them to work several hours in the day and night so that they become short-tempered and make lives miserable for their own wives and families, so that families break up and there are divorces and even suicides.
I know from personal experience as a spiritual counselor that most people who come to me desire things of the world. They want to be blessed so that they can pass their exams, get into good colleges, get good grades and good jobs and good businesses, and get married into rich families,-- and their parents back up their cause with all their hearts.
I recall just ONE mother who brought her young son before me and said to me:
"Sir, please bless him so that he may become a good person in life. That is all I ask!"
So the fact that our society appears to be breaking up leaves a lot of questions to be asked of the parents, who goad their children to greater and greater material values in life, as if that is the very goal of human life.
Despite the fact that everyday we see people die before us, yet everyone thinks he is going to live forever and take all his wealth and property and success and degrees with him when he leaves the world.
What has happened is that the finer real spiritual values of life have been deadened and the gross animal instincts and material values have taken the lead -- and the results are before us.
Sadly the Holy Men of our time are more busy beating their own drums and desiring greater name, fame and wealth in life. They are hardly the examples that people would wish to follow, and despite their sermons, the rot is on the increase.
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