Hari Om. Today morning in the NBC 'Today' program I was listening to the story of the resilience of kids in Haiti. Inspite of the terrible tragedy of earthquake, with thousands of deaths, no homes and no basic utilities, etc. it is amazing to know that the young kids there have been the first to regain their normalcy (whatever normalcy they could get !) and bring their life back to fun and smiles ! News reporters are seeing kids playing with kites and soccer balls among the ravages of the earthquake - even those who are seriously hurt have been seen smiling and trying to enjoy.
What is it that brings kids into this state of mind ? We all have heard infants are considered to be in a Godly state of mind in their initial years. They are said to be pure and innocent in their thoughts and actions . What is the reason for this and why do we change as we grow up ?
Here is my take on it. As we learn from the concepts of Vedanta, BMI and the Pancha Kosas, it is the association of our self with the grosser layers of Body, Mind and Intellect that is the cause of all emotions including the ego. Our Self or Atman is always pure. When we are born, each of us come with certain inherent Vasanas within us - that is the reason for our rebirth as per Hindu Shastras. As we grow up, these hidden Vasanas exert as thoughts in our intellect and as emotions in our mind. In addition to these inherent Vasanas, we accumulate our own share (a big share !!) of Vasanas through our senses and actions from the outer world. All these form the thick layer of Ego within us and form a veil covering the Pure Inner Self . It is this ego in the form of various mental emotions (sadness, worrries, desire, hatred, anger, lust, etc.) that prevents us from coming back to our own self - our real nature which we are born with.
Infants and kids have purer mind and intellect and lesser vasanas. They do not have any vasanas driven ego and emotions in them. So any sadness or desires they have is momentary ! It goes away as soon as their attention is diverted and they do not keep those emotions botteld up. We have seen numerous examples of crying babies smiling or laughing the very next moment their attention is diverted !
We tend to say kids are not matured, so they have this tendency to take it lightly, but looking in from a philosophical angle, I have to ask are we as adults moving from maturity to immaturity as we age ??
Adi Shankara says in Bhaja Govindam .
'Viddhi Vyadhyabhimanagrastam; Lokam Sokhatam cha Samastham; Bhaja Govindam.."
The Very world is consumed by disease and conceit; riddled with pangs, so Seek Govinda...
As Gurudev says, pleasures and pains come and go away, not knowing that we as adults are sad, upset and angry for situations where we have no contol (like earthquake). Kids in Haiti let it pass and look for the next best chance to return to normal. So who is more matured ??
Hari Om.
- KVR
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