good article Times of India News paper/Be like a child

[Guest guest]

RAMNATH NARAYANSWAMY

 

 

Children have a special place in all the wisdom traditions of the

world. The gospel

according to Saint Luke says that people brought their babies to

Jesus, asking him to place his hands on them in blessing. When his

disciples tried to prevent the people from approaching their

teacher, Jesus said, "Let the children come to me. Do not stop them

because the Kingdom of God belongs to them. Remember this! Whoever

does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter

it".

 

 

In a child, the thought of the ego, the first primal I-thought is

present only at an infinitesimal level.

 

 

Identification with the body, the mind or the intellect is absent.

 

 

As we grow older, these identifications result in misery,

unhappiness and suffering. That is why we often rue the passing of

childhood. The primal I-thought is responsible for reinforcing the

notion of I-am-the-doer, I-am-the-body, I-am-the-ego or I-am-the-

intellect.

 

 

All these identifications result in suffering as they bring with

them desire and attachment. The phenomenal world is mistaken for

reality. The child is the father of man because the child does not

suffer from ego, identity or fear — the characteristic concomitants

of adulthood. That is why there is something divine in the innocence

of a child.

 

 

Sri Ramana Maharishi, looking at a child in the prayer hall,

reportedly remarked: "One can attain the bliss of Brahman only when

the mind becomes pure and humble, like the mind of this child".

 

 

The image of the child in world scripture is therefore a powerful

symbol of purity, innocence, simplicity and humility.

 

 

As St Augustine said, "Let your old-age be childlike and your

childhood like old age; so that neither may your wisdom be with

pride, nor your humility without wisdom".

 

 

The Brihadaranyaka Upa- nishad exhorts the Brahman or the one who is

steeped in Brahman, to "reject erudition and live as a child".

 

 

Sri Ramakrishna affirmed the same counsel when he said, "So long as

one does not become simple like a child, one does not get divine

illumination. Forget all the worldly knowledge that thou has

acquired and become as `ignorant' as a child and then you will get

divine wisdom".

 

 

Swami Ramdas recollects that, "When we were children we were

innocent. But there was in us a seed of ignorance which grew as we

grew, and finally overpowering us, cast away our innocent nature and

led us astray. We were thereafter caught in the toils of desire and

action and we move in a vicious circle of transitory pleasure and

pain. It is necessary to hand ourselves over to the Divine and

through His grace burn up the seed which is the cause of our misery

and bondage and regain our lost childhood. Once we get it back, it

cannot be taken away from us. The burnt seed does not germinate. We

will remain pure children for all our lives".

 

 

We find similar evocations in the Buddhist tradition as

well. "Abandon thought and thinking", said the Sage Saraha. "Be just

like a child. Be devoted to your master's teaching and the Innate

will become manifest".

 

 

Indeed, the essence of Zen according to Takuan, founder of the

Tokaiji Zen temple in Tokyo, is having "the heart and soul of a

little child".

 

 

Finally, a Tibetan master declares that the pupil "must regain the

child state he hath lost before the sound can fall upon his ears".

 

 

In a way, the Divine Musician sings to us through the purity of the

hearts of children — we can hear Him if we only listen.

 

 

So, the way to enlightenment lies in rediscovering the child in

ourselves.