How to answer this question ?

hrastro · Sep 20, 2014

My 10 year old reads tons of books and asks about 400 questions a day !!

Like most mothers, I am equipped to answer most of them or at least point to the right direction.

But yesterday I was combing my hair to drop him to music class, he was sitting on my exercise cycle, all ready with the bag and his jacket and started this question

DS : Amma can there be any person who doesn’t have any desires?

Me : What !!???

DS : Amma, Give me an example of a person who doesn’t have any desires!

ME: You tell me kanna! (No mood to think, have to rush to drop him at music class)

DS : Only a robot can have no desires, it will just do whatever we program it to do!! Just think amma, if I have no desires, I will tell “I don’t want anything, I just want to serve people”, a “want” is still in this sentence too! That I “WANT” to serve people – then my desire would be “service to people” and even that would be counted as desire!!!

ME : Kanna, lets rush, music class time !!!

Later I asked him where he read it, he pointed to the sticker on the refrigerator that says “Desire is the root of all action, whether good or evil”

What should I tell him? How do I talk such things with a 10 year old?

He knows about karmanye vadhi karaste and do your duty and the results is in God’s hands.

Please point me to some story or discussion point or incident (He knows most of the Hindu puranas and epics and characters) so that I can use this question of his to teach him life lessons?

I have upcoming travel next week and have the time to start a discussion on this topic.

I've written about my son's other questions here
[h=2]DS is King and I'm the Minister ???
Dadhichi and my son's questions ![/h]

hrastro · Sep 22, 2014

I can understand that many read this without any comments!!!

Even I was speechless for his question!!

But over the weekend I was chatting with a wise 65+ aunty who is well read.

She told me that once a man came to a guru (Sai baba?) and said

"I want peace" "I want peace"

Guru said -
Remove the EGO "I"
Remove the DESIRE "WANT"
And all that remains is "PEACE"

So simple and yet so profound!!!

aabcii · Sep 22, 2014

good me to looking for the answers for such questions

padmaja909 · Sep 22, 2014

So how did you explain it your son in easy words, so that he could get answer to his question and understood it.

hrastro · Sep 22, 2014

Padmaja!
I got one story from aunty... Am still collecting some more stories. I'm going to be travelling for 10 days once school holidays start for dussera - then I'll start the discussions!!

And in the meantime he had another question today morning - while I'm hurrying him for maths exam -

DS : Amma, if we know ourselves very well, how can we suddenly transform to the most talented and most happy person?

ME : Now, where did you read this (I already know he got this from Narendra Modi speech, but need time to think)

DS: Modi speech on teacher's day, Amma!!! But I know one thing I CANNOT DO - I CANNOT BE GOD!

ME : But Kanna, if you know yourself, you know that you ARE GOD then NOTHING is impossible!! You can do anything that you set your mind on!!! You just have to be determined!!!

rush rush to exam!!! Not the end - I know he'll come back for more

padmaja909 · Sep 22, 2014

your DS is very inquisitive. this is the first step for good future hrastro. blessed you are.

Shanvy · Sep 22, 2014

hrastro,

I wanted to reply exactly with the same of saibaba, yes that is from sai baba , that i have heard and read a number of times. he says when thoughts remain as thoughts they are nothing and harmless, but when they become strong and take the form of desire, they become the root cause..

but wondered if a small boy can really understand the conquest on SELF. so was wondering on the stories that could show that desire was the root of all evil.. though maybe yayati's story would apply, then wondered if it really is the desire to be young that was the cause of all the sufferings or the greed but then greed arises from the desire for more and the desire for more arises from the want..
a 10 year can make you think and think in circles, but i love the thought process, have one at home who can spin me around my own axis every now and then..

mahabharatha is all about desires and the resulting actions, reactions of human desire.
krishna's gita, if that does not explain this question nothing else can.

there is a wonderful sermon both from osho and ramana maharishi. they have a wonderful take on this topic desire the root cause of all evil..
http://www.oshorajneesh.com/download/osho-books/zen/Zen_The_Path_of_Paradox_Volume2.pdf
(I know many do not consider him a saint. i do not. but there is no harm in learning what he has understood.)

RAMANA MAHARSHI | abide in the self..
http://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/who_am_I.pdf

I have been reading..and some of them were these books that i came across.

i will add the story that will suit here if i can..it is kind of hard to exactly give the right one..

hrastro · Sep 22, 2014

Shanvy,
I know you have enough experience with your own inquisitive kids, so will surely know how to approach this Thanx for visiting my thread and giving me suggestions!

Even I feel the same about Osho - whatever his actions were, he had understood what life was about and he has shared that knowledge - we can always learn from it!

Thankyou for sharing the books, they are absolutely amazing and in such easy language too and something that I can load on my phone and refer back when we're travelling!

Yes, DS and I have very long discussions on the mahabharata - but more about duties and attitudes and about being in action and being determined to fight against odds and doing the right action - but actually I myself dont understand the Gita as much as I would like to, I learn something everytime I read it - so I have not discussed that with my son! Maybe I should be more confident about that !

I must start with Yayati's story and maybe add Pururava's desires and then Satyavati's and Shantanu's desires which resulted in the downfall of the Kurus!!

Of course, Bhishma's birth itself was the result of the 8th Vasu's wife's desire for the kamadhenu!! Well well getting more ideas !

Shanvy · Sep 22, 2014

exactly,

the whole of mahabharatha is about learning about SELF at the end. be it krishna, be it yudhistra everybody had to pay for their desires at the end.. mahabaratha's branch out stories are more interesting and will have more in answer. did you know that gandhari's 100 sons birth death is said to be related to a anthill that gandhari destroyed. kunti's desire to see the authencity of the boon, satyavati's desire, every story int he mahabharatha was designed to show the hundred flavors of human traits. the good did have a few bad qualities and the bad did have a few good redeeming qualities.

if you like those will share some more works of ramana maharishi and paramacharya that are on my ipad. keeps me grounded and happy. and will definitely ask my son what would he answer if he was asked this question now..he is a now a hormone directed teenager (lolz, i hope he does not read this..the tempers, the moods make me coin this) it would really help me learn about his thought process too.

aabcii · Sep 22, 2014

nice to read all the comments .. new generation nowadays is more smart and telented ..got many strange questions which we start sweating to get the answer .. but its alll their thinking innovation