World Peace Event-II

World Peace Event is back! After last year’s overwhelming response, this time WPE is bigger, better and oh-so-spectacular with so many new features…!  We would like to, nay, love to invite you to become a Peace Ambassador (PA) for spreading World Peace. The date is January  1^st , 2013, time:  8 am your local time (or any time most suited to you).  Place: Your home! Yes, it is all as per your convenience!  Feel free to invite your friends, so that we can have as many PAs as possible! Thank you!  

 

Parenting tips…

Being a parent and being a responsible parent are two different things. Anyone who has a biological child, or has an adopted child is a parent. But bringing up your child is no child’s play. My clients often come with the issues about parenting. They blame their children for not being responsible. When they grumble about the so called bad habits of their children; I often end up asking about their own habits.

Everyone wants to change the others but is not comfortable with the thought of changing oneself. Down is the list of a few dos and don’ts for the parents. Please feel free to alter the list as per your own preference:

Dos:

·         Do teach your child to appreciate the beauty of the nature. This small lesson teaches them many things—to appreciate everything around, to be happy in all circumstances and to give without asking; just to name a few.

·         Teach them discipline at an early age. Do not wait till they become ten years of age. Earlier the better.

·         Understand that love and discipline are two different things. Please keep love and discipline in two separate compartments of your heart.

·         Teach them to be a responsible person. Let them keep their things at the designated place.

·         Teach them respect—self as well as for others.

·         Teach them equality.

·         Give them freedom to be themselves.

·         Give them some “Me-time.” Privacy is a very important factor in one’s life. If you will respect their privacy, they will respect yours.

·         Teach them the advantages of living a principled life.

·         Teach them the values like honesty, sincerity, truthfulness, punctuality, and love and respect for all.

·         Teach them the value of time.

·         Teach them it is good to be themselves.

·         Give them a warm environment to grow; nurture their talents.

·         Show genuine interest in their activities.

·         Use a proper voice tone even when you do not agree with them.

·         If they did something wrong (as per your own awareness, knowledge, or beliefs), try to understand your child’s stand. Every human being is different, and so are every one’s thoughts, beliefs, priorities, and understanding at any particular moment.

Don’ts:

·         Please, please do not compare your child with someone else’s child. We are all individuals and not identicals!

·         Refrain yourself from repeating the same old, boring sentence—“while I was your age…” OMG! Hell with every such thought. Your circumstances and your kid’s circumstances are very different. It’s good to tell them about your time, how you were raised, what difficulties you went through, what were your talents, and quite a few other nuances from your life. It is a great idea to share your experiences with your kids; but please do not compare your childhood days with your child’s inability to do something that you did with utmost ease.

·         Don’t reprimand your kids. Just show your disagreement in a subtle way, or tell them in a way that they don’t feel insulted. Raising your voice or scolding your kids is no option at all.

·         Do not force culture, religion, your own thoughts, beliefs etc. Give your children the liberty to choose. You guide them but not force them.

·         Do not spoil your kids in a materialistic manner. Parents often think that if they won’t provide all what the child is asking for, the child will think that the parents don’t love him or her. Let the child understand that love is not equivalent to providing only material things. It surpasses all fluff.

·         Do not overload your child with your own aspirations, unfulfilled desires etc.

·         Don’t expect too much from your child beyond his or her capacity.

The list is too big. I’ll keep adding many more things to this list.

Raising Adopted Children…

Raising adopted children is no different than raising your genetic offspring. However I recommend that one should do a few rituals for the spiritual cleansing of the adopted child. Spiritual cleansing is required for every child be it your own or adopted. But in case of an adopted child, it becomes very important. The reason is very simple that often times, we really do not know about the background of the adopted child, his or her biological parents, the circumstances in which it was conceived, and left on his or her own. If one has adopted a child of a relative or a known person, it is still OK to delay the spiritual cleansing ritual, but otherwise, it is advisable to do it as early as you can.

Why is spiritual cleansing so important?

The children at the orphanages or adoption agency offices are often times picked up or brought by someone in a bad shape. These children are in agony. They suffer a lot. Like any other soul, these tiny creations of God are thoroughly traumatized. This trauma leaves them with permanent scars on their soul. Though it is very difficult to remove such scars permanently from someone’s soul, still we can always take a few corrective steps to make the little ones comfortable in our loving arms.

If the parents (guardians) of the adopted child follow a religion, it is recommended that the rituals of that religion be followed. If the parents follow no religion then also there are a few rituals that can be performed to make the child comfortable in his or her new home. This is one ritual that can be followed by all, irrespective of the religion one follows or not, or even if it is your own child and not an adopted one.

Clean the house and swab all the rooms with salt water. Use plenty of yellow color for decoration in the form of flowers, upholstery, rangoli, crockery, or anything that is yellow in color. Yellow color symbolizes pure energy. You may consider lighting candles, using incense sticks for fragrance etc. Put some nice chants, or soothing, flowing music. Cook something nice, a sweet dish is a must have. You always have a sweet dish made for auspicious occasion right?

Bring the baby in the house with utmost love and affection in your heart. For infants, just one drop of salt water is enough. Even if you take a little salt water on a cotton swab, and wipe the palms and soles of the baby with it; it is enough. Please remember that their skin is too tender. They may develop some kind of allergy. So, do not be over enthusiastic in wiping with salt water. Just a little water, and that’s it.

You should keep yourself clean whenever you go near the baby. Make it a habit to wash your hands with soap and water before touching the baby. You may also take a bath with salt water, and rinse with plain water afterwards. While you take the baby for sleeping, make sure that you have enough time to be with him or her. During sleep, the baby can listen to your voice, and can feel your emotions, thoughts. So please talk about good things. Reassure your baby that he or she will have a very comfortable life with you. Such loving thoughts and words will slowly and steadily reduce the trauma scars from the baby’s soul.

The genes are very important for the growth of a child, and so is the environment the baby is being raised. You have no control over the genes of the adopted child, but you do have full control on the environment the baby will live in. Provide the best of sanskaars, the best of education—moral as well as academic. Help the child build a character that will help him or her carve a beautiful life for him/ herself in the later years of life.

I personally believe in spiritual cleansing for myself and my family members on a regular basis. We all have a salt water bath on every Sunday. And I wipe the floor of my house every now and then with salt water. I put morning and evening chants, Mantras and bhajans, and light a lamp (diya) in the morning and evening. It is very important to keep the atmosphere of the house positive and vibrating with golden energy. For this one should always learn to be happy, keep the negative thoughts away, lead a satisfactory and meaningful life, and try to follow certain discipline in his or her life. All these things raise positive vibrations in your home, and you feel happy and content.

My Dream Project...

Hello,

Under the aegis of http://www.spiritualkonnect.org, I am planning for a Social responsibility Project. This project will be for the Citizens of India. In short, the project is all about learning to take self –responsibility for all your thoughts, deeds and actions. The target group is all Indian, right from cradle to grave, to be precise.

I have huge plans of engaging schools, colleges, and everyone who wants to make a difference in making living in our motherland a better experience. Everyone, who enrolls for this project has to pay a minimum fee, and I assure you that it will be meager. This amount will be used in developing educational material for the masses, and also to print brochures, make button badges for the participants, toward the expenditure of volunteers, campaigning, and miscellaneous expenses.

The project is very ambitious, and I would love it even more if each Indian can join this project. This will help us craft the India of our dreams. I need the help from you in three ways—by participating as a responsible citizen of India, by donating additional money, if you can (in addition to the participation fee), and by spreading a word about this project.

I believe we can design our own world, by enhancing our awareness about a few issues, by taking responsibility of our deeds, and by paying forward to the motherland. Are you with me?

Please suggest some catchy Title for this project as well! I’ll need volunteers for designing of our Project Brochures, printing material, canvassing, advertising, making badges, distribution of various materials to the participating schools, colleges, offices, households etc.

I’ll also need you for your sincere efforts in transforming this “dream project” into a “dream come true project.” You may also suggest some other innovative ways to begin this project. If feasible, we will try to incorporate them in our planning and execution.

Thank you.

Warm Regards!