Great Throughts Treasury

"Children who are closer to their birth, and thus to the experience of oneness, rightly reject hypocrisy."

"A wise mother knows: It is her state of consciousness that matters. Her gentleness and clarity command respect. Her love creates security."

"Pay attention and stay centered. You carry the mantle of 'Mother,' the eternal principle of balance and stability. When your children's energy is scattered, be grounded. When your children throw tantrums, be still. Know what you stand for. Be firm and consistent to teach your children about boundaries. Thus you will root them in health and release their souls to limitless."

"To accept what you are is to be content, and contentment is the greatest wealth. To work with patience is to gather power."

"Parenting is a spiritual path which can bring great pain and great joy and which can have a tremendous positive impact on your personality and behavior. I believe our children, unknowingly and with innocent trickery, teach us the deeper knowledge of how to be a true human being."

"Tell the truth. Say what is happening. Allow what is, and allow it to be known. Bring your children up in a home that is clean and clear and honest. There is no greater legacy you can give them."

"To accept what you are is to be content, and contentment is the greatest wealth."

"Healthy parenting is especially challenging when our own childhoods weren’t healthy. It requires energy, attention, and constant restraint. Realize that you need healing. Take time out to nurture yourself."

"A parent who is protective without being kind, whose life is busy and complicated, who demands respect and expects perfection, loses her children in the end."

"Each child has his own path to follow. There is a difference between forcefully imposing a way of being and allowing your child to find his own way. A parent can certainly encourage her child when she sees him leaning toward ways that she likes. It is a way of observing and positively giving feedback to her child in whatever path he grows toward. I don?t mean not to discipline ? of course it is important to help your child know what is acceptable and healthy."

"Everyone says the Eternal One is great. Because it is great it is beyond our comprehension. If we could hold it in our minds, it would be limited. If it is limited, it is not the Way."

"I believe in empowering our children to find their own answers, their own paths. If you believe in Love, you will trust that your child will always lean toward Love."

"If you are kind, you can act with courage to support and protect your children."

"If you keep your life simple, you have lots of time to give them."

"Loving kindness, simplicity, and humility are the treasures your children will inherit."

"If you know yourself as a human being ? no more, no less ? you teach your children without imposing on them."

"There are three treasures which are invaluable to you as a parent: The first is kindness. The second is simplicity. The third is humility."

"This is the secret to raising children today: understanding that these children are coming in with more knowledge, greater power, more intensity, and more ability to keep pace with the speed of the new age than you have. They will be dependent on you to walk your talk ? to model, not just tell them ? what to do. They depend on you to be honest, for they have even better radar for hypocrisy than we did when we were their age. If and when you must take a stand, you must do so with great deliberation, grounding yourself in principles so the result is your children?s respect for you as an elder."

"You need power to function. It is the part of your being that enables your soul to shine. Power is your inner fire that runs your personality and your relationships with others. It is all-important to understand and work with if you want to be a force for good in the world, in your community, in your family, within yourself. Sometimes power comes from a very quiet, compassionate, weak-looking place, but when called upon it is all-knowing, fueling your actions with what is right and good."

"To find your own sense of power it is important to learn to listen to your inner voice and to follow it, regardless of what others tell you. You may seek out the input and advice of others with more experience, but ultimately the only way to increase your access to your own power is by relying on it and respecting it, regardless of how it looks. For some people, it looks like a big, muscular warrior spirit. For others, it looks like a small, serene, compassionate, redemptive heart. Look at Mother Teresa ? how much power she had! When your power comes from the infinite source of power ? the Tao, or God ? it is right, good, clean, and clear. Do whatever it takes to stay connected with this aspect of your being. You will need it over and over again throughout your life."

"Using force, physical punishment, lectures, and tirades does not empower; it means you are stuck in the yang side of the yin/yang balance of a healthy world ? the Tao. Your children will then inherently try to balance you by either yielding too passively and losing their own power or by fighting you to maintain their power. The predominant style of our grandparents? generation ? ?you had better ? or else!? ? is outmoded. It will not only block you from using the principle of respect, but it will disempower you, for eventually your children will laugh at you, knowing they were born with more internal power than you will probably ever have in your life."