I first came to Mt. Abu, where the Headquarters of Brahma Kumaris is situated, in 2015.  My son was with me and he accompanied me to attend a children’s retreat in the Headquarters.  One of the senior Rajyoga teachers told in a class for accompanying parents that you must respect your child. And the reason she said, they may be in small bodies, but the soul may be older than you. The very fact that they are attending a spiritual retreat and learning meditation shows that they are special and they deserve to be treated with respect. Throughout my parenting journey, this has been in my mind. Looking at him, I have felt that he is so small, but at the same time, I have learned a lot from whatever has come out of his mouth – as a parent, as a mother and as a human being. I really appreciate that teacher who was giving me this teaching from the outset of my spiritual journey that you need to give individual respect to every human being. If that human being is part of your immediate family, the more reason to give respect.  Whether they are young or old – the bodily age never matters. Your vision towards them should be pure. My son was only 5 when he was introduced to Rajyoga, so you can understand what a help this piece of advice was to me.

In my son’s case, he was very happy to be around the Brahma Kumari brothers and sisters, he seemed to enjoy the whole atmosphere and he was very fond of Indian food! Now he is a teen, he gets up, go to school and when he gets back home it is almost night. He is still in good connection with the Brahma kumaris family, but I understand that he has his own social life too, which is very different from that of meditators.  Internet, lots of friends, social media… I and my husband always keep in mind that we don’t want to restrict him in any way. For example, we are vegetarian, but we have given him the choice. From kindergarten till now he is taking lunchbox from home to school which is vegetarian, and in his school he is the only student who is a vegetarian. Everybody else is having the school lunch and he is the only one with a vegetarian lunchbox from home! But we have decided that if he wants to try out something, we will not stop him. But of course, we will tell him the consequences of that kind of diet. And he is someone who knows. He kind of understands everything and other kids also look up to him as someone special. I think it is because of the dignity that comes from a meditative atmosphere where spiritual knowledge is the main topic of discussion. He says some kids are even afraid of him. It’s maybe because they are not able to figure out why he is different. I think it’s the connection with the supreme. Connection with the self is of course a powerful factor, but for a teenager, it’s the connection with God he has that makes him appear different.

Yet, if at all he wants to opt for a different life, I wouldn’t bother, all I would do is to have an open conversation and lay out everything in front of him.

I always thought love and attachment is one and the same. You are naturally attached to those you love. I care for you, I am doing all this for you and in return you should be like this. Isn’t an eternal imprisonment? When my husband was driving me to the airport, he asked me a question – ‘Listen, what if I had a girlfriend in Hong Kong?’ At that time we were living in Japan. I really thought about that for a few seconds and I said, ‘I will be okay’. If this question was posed a few years back, I wouldn’t be okay. But now I thought, ‘If you have to take care of your own Karmic account, go ahead and solve it. But I will not change, I will not be affected. I will not leave you. You try and solve your own karmic baggage. He said, ‘Really?!!’ I thought he was a bit lost because that was not the answer he was expecting, he was perhaps looking for the usual emotional response.

Because of that question from him, I found out that I am quite unshakeable. Its okay, if he has to take care of something like that, let him. That’s his life, his karma. My Karma is my decision, and that’s my life. Rajyoga has made me look into life in a different way and as a result I am very peaceful in every life situation.

 
Ayako Ichimaru, 
Brahma Kumaris, Hong Kong  
(World Renowned Classical violinist)