Mindfulness Meditation (For Everyday Life)

to satisfy our own needs, we are, I believe, in deep
trouble. Like it or not, children are and will always be
their own beings; but they need great love and
guidance to come to full humanness. A proper
guardian or guide needs wisdom and patience in
abundance to pass on what is most important to the
generation coming along the path. Some - myself
included - need virtually constant mindfulness in
addition to our basic instincts for nurturing and loving
and kindness in order to do this job well, protecting
them as they develop their own strengths, views, and
skills for moving along the paths they will later
explore more fully on their own.
Some people who find meditation valuable in their
own lives are sorely tempted to teach their children to
meditate. This could be a big mistake. To my mind,
the best way to impart wisdom, meditation, or
anything else to your children, especially when they
are young, is to live it yourself, embody what you
most want to impart, and keep your mouth shut. The
more you talk about meditation or extol it or insist that
your children do things a certain way, the more likely
you are, I think, to turn them off to it for life. They will
sense your strong attachment to your view, the
aggression behind your dominating them and
enforcing certain beliefs that are only your own and
not their truth, and they will know that this is not their