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Christmas - Is it the right time to teach your kids about religion?
It comes up for discussion every year about this time. Suddenly
everybody looks around and realizes the "real meaning" of the Christmas
holidays has been lost, and wonders if they ought to do something to reclaim
it. And most adults, faced with the glimmer of Christmas greed in the formerly
innocent eyes of the children around them, are tempted to give lectures on the
spiritual significance of the holidays, even if they are not normally the
church-going kind. Is it possible to teach kids about spiritual values? Is it
even desirable?
Here is a SINful take on the whole question of religious education
of the young.
Osho:
Religion cannot be taught — to children or to grown-ups. It cannot even be
taught to grown-ups, so how can it be taught to children? Religion as such
cannot be taught, religion can only be caught. If you live a religious
life — and by 'religious life' I don't mean the life of a Christian or a Hindu;
by 'religious life' I mean a life full of love, prayer, celebration, joy,
cheerfulness, gratitude — if you live a religious life, the children are bound
to catch it.
Teaching is needed because you don't live a
religious life, so you tell them theories. Those theories are not going to help
at all. When a child is thirsty, don't talk about H˛O — give him water. He
needs water! Don't tell him, "H˛0 is the formula that represents water, that
represents all the oceans — don't be worried. Just remember H˛0 is equivalent
to water."
But the child will say, "How can I drink H˛0?"
And then the ridiculous thing happens: the child
will think if you repeat H˛0, H˛0, H˛0, H˛0, then maybe someday, by repeating
it constantly, intensely, chanting it again and again, using it as a mantra,
the miracle will happen....
People are chanting "Rama, Rama, Rama" ..."Ave
Maria"... "Hare Krishna"... "Allah" — a thousand and one formulas. You can go
on chanting— they are all H˛0, H˛0, H˛0. You are simply wasting your time. Not
only wasting your time, you are destroying your intelligence too. The man who
gets into such a repetitive routine becomes stupid. He loses the sharpness of
his intelligence.
What are you going to teach to the children? What
is religion, after all? Is there some way to teach it? Yes, you can teach
Christianity because Christianity is a doctrine, and you can teach Buddhism
because Buddhism is a doctrine. A doctrine can be taught, but real
religiousness has nothing to do with doctrine — religiousness is not a
doctrine, it is an experience.
You cannot teach it but you can create the
context; you can live in such a way that the child slowly, slowly imbibes the
spirit. And children are very vulnerable, very flexible, and very attentive
too! And they are always ready to learn. If something of immense beauty is felt
by them, they learn it, they drink it, they digest it.
But you teach them stupid doctrines. For example,
that Christ was born of a virgin mother — now the child will laugh at you,
because now children know much more than you think.
A small boy gave the following summary of his
Sunday school lesson: "There were these Jews who had broken out of a prison
camp in Egypt. They ran and ran until they came to a wide lake. The prison
guards were closing in so the Jews jumped into the water and swam out to some
boats that were waiting for them. The guards got in submarines and tried to
torpedo the boats, but the Jews set off depth charges and blew up all the
submarines and made it safe to the other side. Everybody called the Admiral by
his first name, Moses."
The boy's father asked, "Son are you certain that is what your teacher told
you?"
"Dad," responded the boy, "if you can't believe my story, you would never
believe the one the teacher told."
Now, telling children stupid stories you are not
helping them to become religious; on the contrary, you are helping them to
become anti-religious. When they grow up they will know that all those
religious doctrines were fairy tales.
Your God, your Jesus Christ, all will turn into
Santa Claus later on in the child's mind — deceptions, fables, to keep children
occupied. And once the children know that what you have been telling them as
absolute truth is just lies and nothing else, you have destroyed something very
valuable in their being. They will never become interested in religion at all.
My own observation is that the world is becoming
more and more irreligious because of religious teaching. No child should be
taught any religious doctrine.
Yes, when you are praying, let the child be
present there. When you are dancing, let the child be present there. And the
child will soon join you — how can the child resist joining a dance? Let the
child know that life has grace in it; let the child know that life is not only
suffering but much ecstasy, too. Let the child know that laughter is good,
divine, that love is good, godly.
And these things are not to be taught. They have
to be imbibed by the child. You have to create the vibe. And then sooner or
later the child will start becoming aware of many more things that cannot be
seen just by the physical eyes. Because you will have given him more
sensitivity — otherwise you can go on teaching him and nobody even remembers.
How much do you remember that was taught to you? Nobody even remembers;
everything is thrown in the garbage.
Three Italian Americans were driving fast on the
expressway when their car collided with a truck and they were instantly killed.
Finding themselves at heaven's door, they knocked and God answered. "What do
you want?" God asked.
"We want to come in," they replied.
God said, "Before you can enter you must answer a question." He pointed to one
Italian and said, "You, Vito, tell me, what is Easter about?"
Vito paused, then with an Italian accent answered, "That's-a when there are
lots-a parades all-a over America! Fireworks are shot at night and the people
go on-a picnics. Its-a celebrated in July."
"Sorry, Vito," God said, "but you must go to Hell."
Pointing at Pietro, God said, "You, Pietro, tell me what Easter is about?"
Pietro smiled and replied, "I know, God, that's-a when some time in-a November
the family gathers together and eats-a turkey, pumpkin pie, potatoes...."
"Sorry, Pietro," God said, "you must go to Hell."
Looking at Giuseppe, God said, "You, Giuseppe, you were an altar boy for ten
years. You go to church every Sunday. You tell me what Easter is about."
Giuseppe replied, "That's-a when the people who did-a not like your poor son
and what he said-a hung him up on a cross. For three hours your son he hang-a
there before he died. Then his-a mama and friends, they take him down from the
cross, wrap his body up and put-a the body in a cave, and they roll a huge
stone in front of the cave. For three days your son he was in the cave and on-a
the third day he wakes up from the dead, rolls back-a the stone, goes out of
the cave. He-a no see-a his shadow, so he goes back in for six-a more weeks."
You can go on teaching, nobody is listening.
Children are helpless; they have to go to the Sunday school, so they go. They
have to listen, so they listen —but they are not there. And later on they say
and they know that it was all just nonsense. They may not say, but they know
certainly that it was all nonsense.
This is not the way to help the world become more
religious. This is the way we have tried for centuries -- and we have failed.
Instead of the earth becoming more religious, it has become more and more
irreligious every day. As the teaching has spread, as there have been more and
more missionaries and more and more teachers and more and more people
indoctrinating others, the world has turned more and more irreligious — not
only irreligious but anti-religious too.
It is time to understand that something is
basically wrong. This is not the way to teach religion; religion can only be
caught and not taught. Your teachings cannot be of any help — only your life.
Live! If you really love your children, live in such a way that they start
feeling that there are things which are not visible but still they are. You
need not convince them. They don't ask for proofs, they don't understand
proofs. They are not asking for arguments — they are asking for existential
experiences. And they are always ready to go on any adventure — more ready than
you. You may be afraid for safety, security, and a thousand and one things —
children are never afraid. Children are more fearless than you. They can have a
more immediate contact with existence than you can ever have.
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