14 September 2010

What I Try To Teach My Kids

Most parents insist on teaching their children the value of success: To excel in their studies and make a lot of money. I am all for that. A child eventually needs the skill of mastery over money in order to succeed in this world, and one way of attaining this is through a thorough understanding of the inner workings of the world, and this is attained through education, through a life-long passion for learning. In my mind, the path to true education starts with learning arts and letters. Arts and Letters opens the gateway to learning the sciences and mathematics. After all, how can one effectively learn and communicate these concepts without first obtaining a good grasp of language.

But I am not sold on the concept of measuring success through wealth and education.

Since I was a child, I have observed how many people measure a person's worth in this world by how much money he has, or how educated he is. While it is indeed a practical metric, especially in this material world, it should not be the definitive barometer for judging the success of one's passing through this temporal world. We have been told, time and time again, that money and riches will not get you to Heaven. Money itself is not bad, it is how you earn it, how you use it and how you look at it that is important in the matter of money.

Education, as well, is fleeting. When we grow old, we almost always lose everything we have stored in our minds. When our bodies give in to the compounding years, we will have little use for our hard-earned education. Moreso for those who succumb to senility in the latter part of one's lives. However, we must remember that education is important for us to understand the meaning of one's existence, to understand the ways of the universe. To that end, education is important. To the end of attaining titles, prestige and honor where none should exist, it is fruitless. In fact, in the path to the true light, you do not need a Doctoral Degree to understand its secrets.

One these two items, Education and Wealth, take heed of the perspectives we take on them. As with a double-edged sword, there is a path that brings us closer to light, and a path that drives us away from it.

Going back to the matter of success, then, the proper use of money and education, which is to attain enlightenment and to make this world a better place for everyone is vital to the equation. Money and education directed towards nothing more than personal gain is a waste of one's lifetime.

And remember this truth: Money and Education can be lost, but that which benefits your Soul, which is virtue, remains forever.

If you were to ask me how I would educate my children, and measure their success in life, I would say this: I would rear my children to be kind and compassionate, sincere and righteous, detached from materialism, and a productive member of society. Whether he becomes rich or not, does not matter, as long as he is a conscientious worker, survives and provides for his family. He must be adequately educated, enough for him to be cultured and decent, not necessarily a doctor or lawyer. If he wants to be one, and he wants to be wealthy, by all means! As long as he/she remembers what is important in this life, and to always Love God with all his might and Soul!