A true regeneration or renewal of our society and culture must not ignore the important area of preparing the future generations. If India has to become ready for its destined role for the future march of humanity, it is critical that we become conscious of our role as shapers of future humanity. This is why for our present issue of Renaissance, we have taken up the theme of ‘Conscious Parenting’.
Parents influence the child’s being to a very large extent. Especially mothers, with their own evolved intuition, love and sensitivity, which are the natural outcomes of motherhood, have the strongest effect on a child. In many ways, the parental influence comes into play way before a baby is conceived. That is where meaningful prenatal education must begin, according to the Mother.
READ FULL ISSUE HERE.
Highlights
From the Words of the Mother and Sri Aurobindo
Guiding Light feature, titled The Mother on True Maternity and Conscious Parenting, highlights some key passages from the Mother’s extensive writings and conversations around the phenomena of pregnancy, childbirth and parenting from a deeply spiritual perspective.
The Mother on Conscious Conception, Soul’s Choice and More highlights the Mother’s words where she explains that a fully conscious soul can choose its body to enter the earth. But generally the parents responsible for the formation of the physical body are not conscious enough and do things in an animalistic way.
The Mother tells us that it is possible for parents to receive exceptional beings as their child through sincere aspiration. “The Superman Shall be Born of Woman” highlights a passage from the Mother’s message titled “To the Women of Japan”. This was written sometime between 1916-1920 during her stay in Japan.
As the humanity gradually moves toward a more subjective age with increasing sections of humanity recognising the need to turn inward and upward for a more fulfilled life and deeper growth in consciousness, we feature a few words of Sri Aurobindo on Parenting and Education in Subjective Age.
For the ‘Book of the Month’ we feature a book titled ‘How to Bring Up a Child’ which is a compilation of practical guidance on parenting given by the Mother and Sri Aurobindo.
Insights from Indian Knowledge Traditions
Gṛhasthadharma: The Dharma of a Householder by the Renaissance editor, Beloo Mehra briefly describes the dharma of a householder and highlights the relevance of the Indian view of gradual human development through stages of life.
Kunti – A Paradigm of Conscious Parenting by Shruti Hajirnis Gupte brings to light the heroic motherhood that Kunti epitomises for all times to come. Kunti who stands out as a symbol of patience, courage, sacrifice and forbearance.
Contemporary Concerns
In Working Mums: A Letter to All Concerned, Vidya Shankar speaks of the need for a sincere introspection and a conscious preparation when balancing the demands of parenting and career.
Many readers who grew up with mothers who worked outside the home while also fully engaged in parenting will connect with the experience Shilpi Mohan describes in “I have a working mother, Sir”: A Daughter Remembers.
Tales, Poetry and More
In our Tales and Stories feature, titled What is a Family we present a few stories told by the Mother which help children learn how to keep widening the definition of family, and thereby grow in capacity for love and affection.
Janani Ramanathan writes of Self-giving that Transforms Human Relationships and illustrates with a fascinating example from the world of literature to speak of the significance of self-giving in parenting.
In a piece titled Child as a Role Model and a Precursor of New World, Shraddha Gour Mohanti reminds us that often the presence of children has the potential to invoke in the grownups nobler qualities of the heart and of the psychic being.
Two Poems on Conscious Parenting are contributed by Imran Ali Namazi for the issue.
Insightful Conversations and Talks
Watch a recorded talk by Dr. Alok Pandey on Parenting in New Age. He makes us reflect on a fundamental question: why does one want to have a child?
In our Insightful Conversation series, we feature Conscious Conception and Pregnancy: Listening to a Personal Journey where we speak with Vijayalakshmi C. about her own experience in consciously preparing herself for pregnancy and childbirth.
In our ongoing series – Sri Aurobindo’s Interpretation of Indian Culture: The Epics, we present part 3 by Prema Nandkumar.
As always, we offer this work at the lotus feet of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother.
In gratitude,
Beloo Mehra (for Renaissance Editorial Team)