Awareness Began with a Work Trip to India
The path of the less traveled: Spiritual Awareness in Parenting - Part 1
As a parent, I have made a ton of mistakes. Words have left my mouth like there was a short in my brain, words uttered that I am not proud of but have conveniently tucked away. I’ll admit, I have also taken a few jobs that would purposely allow me to leave my kids to travel. My spiritual life consisted of watching Wayne Dyer pace the PBS stage nightly at 3am, talking about the “Power of Awareness” along with some emotional journaling with no visible progression and abiding by the “because we’ve always done it this way” Jewish traditions.
Those were the early years in my 30s when I had no awareness, and not many productive communication skills.
One thing I knew for sure in those early days. There was an abrupt ending to who I was becoming as an individual and my identity was jolted into mother, wife, and house manager roles. As for work, recruiting students on college campuses, that was a role too. It was fun though as it brought me to college campuses all over the United States, Europe, and India.
Little did I know, that the India trip was another seed planted for what was to become my spiritual journey.
I traveled to Bangalore with two work colleagues who were also fair-skinned and light-haired women like myself, there was no blending in among the darker melanin-skinned people. Our resident colleague, Praveen hired a car to take us to and from the office and was our guide to the city and most importantly the good food. We were treated like queens in the Leela Hotel which felt like a palace, greeted daily with a “namaste” bow, by beautifully uniformed attendants. While namaste technically means the light in me sees the light in you, it is also a greeting. I was curiously enchanted.
The city was a cacophony of sounds, chaotic streets teemed with rickshaws, cars, motorbikes with families, people and cows, as well as air pollution, my senses were fully engaged. The meetings with my work colleagues from Singapore, Japan and India were filled with laughter along with insightful meaningful experiences.
I knew I needed to discover more of this country that brought the wisdom of yoga and other practices which influenced many, including my Aunt who lived in an Ashram with her Guru at one point. (I had no idea that two years later, I’d be meeting Ram Dass, nor did I even know who he was at this point.)
The U.S. “blondies” and I got into our tin can mini-minivan with our new Indian friend and his American boyfriend whom we also knew from work, and made as many stops throughout the city as possible. We visited temples, museums, FabIndia for gifts and The Bangaluru Palace that was now a museum. However, it was the ISCKON temple that I found most intriguing. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) also known as Hare Krishna Movement founded in the year 1966 by Srila Prabhupada, with the objective of spreading the message of Krishna as explained in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam.
The residents of the temple were dressed in the familiar peach robes, bald heads adorned with a pony tail. Growing up, my parents shared their fears when we saw the Hare Krishnas gathered at the airport and on street corners playing music and chanting. They had heard they take children to brainwash them and disconnect them from their families. And why did they believe that? Didn’t George Harrison sing about it?
I secretly felt like I was doing something forbidden because of my Jewish upbringing and I was excited to find out what it was all about. Removing my shoes with a small smile, all I could think about was, “If they could see me now…” I was ready to experience whatever would follow. With its massive structure upon a hill, feeling the cool worn almost soft cement beneath my feet was welcomed in the heat and we climbed the stairs stopping at each level to view the alters of Hindu gods. I had no idea what was happening or what each deity meant as the chanting and music flowed from the top.
I could feel the energy, vibration of something profound, committed and benevolent in the chanting. It was pure validation that we are more than our bodies and minds, we are energy, vibration that has an opportunity. An opportunity to… I wasn’t sure yet.
As we arrived in the temple a large shrine dedicated to Krishna and Radha are elevated and covered with offerings of flowers. Krishna and Radha are essentially male and female versions of the Divine. I’m not going to claim I understand much about the Hindu tradition and I’m still learning. Overall, this temple represents the teachings of the Bhagavad-gita. This ancient text is the story of Krishna and it holds the key to living a positive and spiritual life is to pursue detachment and to foster the qualities of compassion, kindness, and selflessness.
Why I’m telling you about this experience?
I came back from that trip a different parent. Nourished from the inside, more patient, more curious, less ego perhaps.
Taking the ego out of parenting is not an easy thing for we need it to keep our kids safe, to provide for them, to have all the answers. We actually don’t need to have all the answers. Saying, “I don’t know” is powerful. It creates trust, approachability and validation to the younger people.
Employing real listening skills requires getting quiet. The thing is, it doesn’t matter how you get to your spiritual path or to God, it’s just that you recognize that you have a path at all. Life isn’t happening TO you, it happens FOR you. Our children are here FOR us, to TEACH us. What is your child trying to teach you?
LET’S HANG OUT TOGETHER!
Calling all parents - JOIN US:
Shelley Durga Karpaty on Insight Timer
Meditation, Journaling, Using the Power of the Enneagram
Saturday - April 15th - 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm PT
Do you ask yourself these questions:
How can I gain a deeper understanding of myself?
How can I gain access to my inner voice and my inner guide for more clarity?
How can I incorporate meditation into my daily life?
The Enneagram is an ancient system or tool that guides us to our authenticity. While there are 9 points or types on the Enneagram, we all consist of parts of each type. The Enneagram helps us to get out of the box of our personalities or patterns to understand who we truly are and how we relate to the world.
Just beautiful . I too had a spiritual awakening in India ! Thank you for sharing the exquisite details of your experience and how it changed your parenting . “Get quiet “ ...beautifully said . Xx