A mother’s perspective

“Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They came through you but not from you and though they are with you yet they belong not to you.”
- Kahlil Gibran

These lines form my core in my identity as a mother. I volunteered together with my children at Sadhana Forest with the intention to be in an environment where life pulsates freely providing rich earth for their growth.

It is also a place which resonates with my ideals of children be raised in communities, vegan/raw vegan food, sustainability, inclusiveness, appreciation, exchange, connection to the elements and a contributive way of life.

It can happen only if there itself is a lot of air flowing in terms of diverse and wide array of people coming in, sharing their ways of life through the course of stay and loving in a way that responds to their life’s calling as against the ‘this way’ or ‘must be done’ dictates of the slave world.

Like there are multiple pores in the human body, so much a child (by extension, the mother) open their life to multiple sources of nourishment where people are just themselves. And you can be truly you only in spaces where you live.

Amidst sevas, I naturally learnt what it means to interact or indulge in a meaningful exchange while also developing appreciation and owning the tasks as if my life was complete doing just that. My complain towards tasks at home underwent a change because of this change in attitude.

I usually find people more trusting, particularly if I have to entrust them to my children, if they are capable of letting go of the usual comforts. Everyone and the living at Sadhana forest embodies just that I can offer myself freely without the need to put a guard or a shield.

When you show up this way, you understand from your life that people are essentially the same at the most fundamental level. The eternal struggle to find your place in the world ceases and I found that I began feeling more at home wherever I was. I hope that my children do gain a sense of this.

I no longer need to burn myself out offering n perspectives and can leave them with food for thought while also living as a comrade together with them.

Sadhana brings a deep sense of appreciation and grounding. Our way of living in the city is high raw vegans, sustainability and choosing more off-grid lifestyle. They are teenagers and when they see the world may retaliate or really question. I hope that finding that there are people happily embracing alternate ways of life calms their nervous system and in time they make come to recognize that it’s ok to build and live up to one’s own convictions.

I also like to take of money from the center of all equations and perhaps it may be communicated just a silent way to the children.

And perhaps, the aspect of being in silence as against the constant noise and distractions of the world.

Lastly, we have been curious to identify the plant world - the care, the properties etc so we can develop more appreciation for them during our time in nature.

Thank you Sadhana for meeting so many expectations and values in one single space. As a mother and as an individual, I couldn’t have been more gladdened.