Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academy-advaita.com
The Netherlands
30 October 2019
Children (4)
“Eyes of God”
The mind functions in the past or in the future but never in the present moment, which is the here and now, because the here and now moment is thoughtless. If so, how could the mind know what the behaviour by the children for the moment should be?
The mind cannot and does not know, but only thinks that it knows. The mind only knows the behaviour that is expected and wants the expected behaviour, which is the past behaviour, for the present moment.
As the mind with thoughts is absent in the moment that is here and now, it can never control the past moment, but only recollect the past moment. What use can the recollection of the past moment be when the past cannot be applied to life, which is in the present moment ‘here and now’?
Life is in the present moment, which is the ‘here and now’; it is not in the moment that was. The past can never be a moment because there can only be one moment at any moment and that moment is the ‘here and now’.
Therefore, every moment is the present moment ‘here and now’ and there can never be a moment that is the past. All moments are in the now and nowhere else. The past moment is an auditory illusion of sound.
All expected behaviour is in the past that can never exist. The behaviour, which is here and now that exists, is nevertheless illusory. Hence, it is impossible for expected behaviour to be applied to the present here and now moment.
It is the same with the behaviour of the moment that is rejected. It just cannot exist in the present moment because the mind with thoughts is absent in the present moment.
The behaviour of children that man rejects is just as illusory as the expected behaviour of children. The present moment is all there is in life and it is without behaviour.
So accept children as they are, including their behaviour, because the children are in the moment here and now, which is without thoughts of how behaviour should be.
Wisdom reveals that behaviour is included in the singular movement of life, which is spontaneous, uncontrollable and unpredictable. This wisdom signifies that the singular movement cannot be what it is expected to be. The singular movement is what it is.
The enlightened, therefore, accept children and adults as they are in every moment.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright V. S. Shankar 2019
Editor’s Note:
There can be no knowledge of the ‘here and now’ except as an illusory concept, although it is fair to say that it is a commonly-used expression. The expression wears an acceptable face, gifted by the intelligence of life, so that men and women may come to understand the ‘here and now’ that is, if they are meant to.
Children live naturally in the ‘here and now’ that is; in the moment that is. They do not live in the illusory world of the adult where mind exercises its thinking function and accepted behaviour regulates and controls. Until….until that is, the words of the wise, as gifted in this article, are understood and the integrity of childhood is respected.
Julian Capper. UK
German Translator‘s Note:
Adults today have a naturally conditioned mind that pretends that there is more than a singular moment in life. Therefore, they constantly try to shape or adapt children's behavior based on illusory conclusions from the past for the future. It is the loving respect for life as it is, lacking in the conditioned mind, though involuntary and illusory.
The wise, as Dr. Shankar shows in this article, are permanently aware of the deception of the mind in the singular moment of life. Therefore, they live with all humans, animals and things in the being moment "here and now" in unconditional love and respect for all behaviour, as illusory as it may be.
Marcus Stegmaier, Germany.