Nature Versus Nurture (Some thoughts on RoseBuds, Children and Self Realization)

Got this forward called 'God's Rosebud' which indicates the role of ego .

This is a generic forward originating from some western religious sites. 

Also found it on SpeakingTree : http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/god-and-i/gods-rosebud

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GOD'S ROSEBUD

: A new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day.
Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice.
The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals.
The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry.
But because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact. It wasn't long before he realized how impossible this was to do. Noticing the younger preacher's inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it,the older preacher began to recite the following poem...

"It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God's design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine."
"The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so easily,
But in my hands they die."

"If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God's design,
Then how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?"
"So I'll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to God for guidance
In each step along the way."
"The path that lies before me,Only my Lord and Savior knows.
I'll trust God to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose."

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Set me thinking as to what, how much and why we should try teaching to our children.

Should we leave to themselves without interfering in their development.
Because sooner or later they will come up against the same wall of uncertainty, limitations and resulting frustrations and questions that people have had for aeons.


As Kabir says :
"Dheeray Dheeray Re Mana, Dheeray Sab Kuchh Hoye
Maali Seenchay So Ghada, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye"

At most we can tend the rose bush by giving it access to earth, sunlight, air and water.
The gardener however is optional, as God has made each living thing capable of fending for itself and developing itself.

There are many wild Rose bushes which prosper without any gardener.
Children are like that too. They grow irrespective of parents, teachers, society.

Why then do we need schools and other institutions to pass on things? If we do need them How much do we need them?

Too much of these  things will harm the Rose bush and too little will also harm it.

The only role of gardener is to supply the things that the Rose bush requires at appropriate times in appropriate quantities (appropriate to the needs of the bush - NOT the gardener). The gardener will disappear but a tree he planted may live for many centuries. The key words being 'appropriate to the need' I think.

Things are required in different doses at different 'Ritus' of life.
Our ancient 'Rishis' made the different 'Ashrams' for this reason.
The Rishis also realized that not all people are having same goals - Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. They also saw that at different times/circumstances people can change their views and goals. This happens as a result of their Samskaras and their life experiences.

The Rishis insight into 'Ritam' the foundation of 'Ritu', showed them how one can co-operate with the inner and outer Nature i.e. atma and param-atma.

Like the sugar pills of Homeopathy, they mixed in different potencies of medicine (Parmatma) through stories, songs, rituals.
The more diluted the potency the more powerful and long-lasting the effect.

Children at young stage want stories of Bala-Krishna (or today's Chotta-Bhim or SuperBoy)
Teens want stories of hero-worship (Krishna's adventures in an Adult world or today's Superman/Batman).
Adults want stories of self fulfillment (Ramayana/MahaBharat - Kings/Queens controlling Nature/Others)
Older people want stories of experience and wisdom (Yoga - controlling Self)

However with the advent of British education all this was discarded.
That system was trying to supply British administration with clerks and staff.
People who follow orders and don't think (too much) for themselves.
Today the same system supplies MNCs with clerks and staff.

Each person comes with his own unique combination of desires, goals, experiences and Samskaras. So each person needs his own unique path to self-realization. This unique path he/she has to walk by oneself. With the help of their own Inner Guru. The Outer Guru can only point the way. The exact specific steps etc have to be taken by the person.
The needs of the person are of prime importance. 

As Rajiv Malhotra describes in his book 'Being Different' - this is the Pull-mode of Santana Dharma i.e. the person takes as per his/her 'Patrata' (in English we can very loosely translate this as a phrase - Requirement-Need-DigestionPower etc).This is quite different from the Push-mode of other religions.

All we can hope to do is to go back to our own Roots of Ritam.
And re-discover the connection with Parmatma.
Whether we succeed or not depends on efforts of parents, teachers and most importantly guidance from realized Gurus.

Abandonment vs. Attachment. The middle path seems like a balanced way.

Rest is between the Rose bush, the Rose and God.