Children's Corner

Overcoming bad habits

Once, a person who was very troubled and unhappy in his life, went up to Swami Vivekananda in search of a solution. Swami asked him what his problem was. He whined that he was addicted to many bad habits and had tried everything to let go, but nothing seemed to work. Swami Vivekananda smiled and assured the man that He would help him.

He then called one of His disciples and whispered something in his ear and then asked the man to accompany him for a walk in the garden. As both of them walked through the garden they came across the same disciple. The disciple was embracing a tree tightly and screaming 'leave me, leave me'.

Seeing this, the person got baffled and asked Swami Vivekananda why His disciple was shouting 'leave me' when he himself was holding on to the tree so tightly. Swami Vivekananda replied that is exactly how we view our addictions. We think that the bad habits are not leaving us, when in fact it is we who are not ready to leave them.

Moral: Dear children, chanting* God’s Name helps us by creating devotion in our minds, which helps us to reduce and let go of our bad habits.

Spiritual experience of a child seeker

Perception of Sattvikta from audio cassette by two-year-old

During a spiritual field trip to India, I visited different holy sites and ashrams of the Sanatan organization. On these journeys we used to listen to cassettes released by the Sanatan organization. On one such journey, we were listening to the cassette on the different rhythms of chanting the Lord's Name that facilitates achievement of a thoughtless state. As the cassette played, my two-year-old son, on his own, automatically kept doing namaskar (touching both the palms together which is sign of paying obeisance to the Lord), even though he does not understand the Indian language it is recorded in.

– A seeker, Atlanta, USA.

[Dear Friends, The ability to perceive the subtle is higher in children than adults as their ego is lower as compared to adults, hence the young boy’s inherent understanding of the need to pay obeisance to God, even upon hearing His Name.

-Editor.]

* Chanting means constantly remembering or repeating God’s Name according to one’s religion. Additionally, the below can be followed for children:

Young children should chant 'Om Gan Ganapataye namaha' (Lord Ganesh's chant) for at least 15-30 minutes daily for divine protection, as well as 3 malas (turns of the 108-bead rosary) of “Om Sri Gurudev Datta”, everyday for divine protection.
Older children, who have been doing spiritual practice for some time, can determine their exact chant from the experiment in 124, Message to Seekers section in addition to 6-9 malas of Lord Datta’s Name (“Om Sri Gurudev Datta”) (depending upon severity of distress and age) everyday.
Parents should chant The Lord's Name for children too young to do so themselves.