Children Must Be a Parent's First Priority

Sat: It is very important and urgent that we not only feed our children in our home and make sure that we have a nice, warm place for them but that we also make sure that they are guided to go “Home.” Home refers to the inner silence in the region of the heart. The physical home is their temporary home. People who are interested in their freedom must give a lot of attention to their children, lots of it. I give more attention to children than grownups, and everyone knows that about me. Why is that? It is because they rely on us to take them back “Home;” they don’t want to waste their time here. They are our priority in this lifetime. So when children need to learn, teach them, but teach them that which expands them, not that which constricts them. Even when you are warning your child about something, make sure it is done in a fashion where you are not transferring your own fears onto them. What is the best way to approach this? First, we must find our own silence through the guidance of the Guru. Then make sure you feed your children this silence, not by force but by action, although in the beginning when they are small, you must teach them the habit of sitting down and learning how to be quiet. Later on, as they grow up, you yourself sit down and meditate regularly and through their childhood habit, they will come and sit by you.

Give your utmost attention to the spirituality of your child, so the child can have some sort of understanding throughout his or her life. If you can do that, you have done it all, for anyone can feed your child. Maybe other parents could adopt your child and even give them a better life than you can. But what they cannot give is the guidance to take them back Home. And that is something that must not be lectured about; it has to become our way of life, which in turn communicates to the child what our priority is.

If a father does not have time for the child because he is too busy making money, what does this communicate to the child? It communicates that money is more important than the quality of life. If the mother is too busy cooking in the kitchen, what does it communicate to the child? It is communicating that “I am my child’s servant, but I am not a Guide to my child.” So emphasize on what gives you freedom, and since you love your child more than anything else in this world, you will communicate that to him or her through properly prioritizing your life. You can’t fool a child; you have to live it!

When our children see us taking time to go “Home” (to our inner silence) in the midst of our busy day, they watch us and say to themselves, “Wait a minute, I have this choice.” So we are teaching them that way. The children that are coming through nowadays know more than we do. Don’t be fooled into thinking that we are teaching them, we are just reminding them to not get too involved.

-From Sat's book, "I am the Child".