Generation Gap

Author(s): Dada Bhagwan
Publisher: Dada Bhagwan Foundation

Page 20

societal pressures of remaining married?
Questioner: Is it always the father who is wrong?
Why does the father have to suffer so? He suffers because of his own bad conduct from his previous life. If in past lives he had not lost control and not abused his children, he would not be suffering in this way now. Karmas were bound because he did not have the correct understanding, the original control. So here, I am emphasizing control, correct understanding. In order to practice control you must understand all its laws.
Dadashri: The father is always in the wrong. Because he does not know how to be a father, everything gets ruined. To be a father requires a lot of purity from within, so much so that even his own wife will respect and revere him. The standard of purity in relationships with his wife is this. His wife will beg to him for sex. Only when he attains this level, is he regarded as a certified father.
Your children are your mirror. They reflect your own faults. (P.75)
Questioner: If a father does not assert his fatherly authority, his senior position in the family, is that a mistake on his part?
If we had purity and good moral character, then even tigers would not harm us. So imagine what an impact it would have on our children. Our morality is displaced and that is why we suffer. Do you understand the value of morality?
Dadashri: No it is not a mistake. Only then will things be resolved.
Questioner: Would you please explain in detail what morality is, so that everyone can understand?
Questioner: If the father does not assert his authority, what guarantee is there that children will listen to him?
Dadashri: Of course there is. Your good character will have its effect and impact on the children and the world too.
Dadashri: Morality is the deep inner intent (bhaav) never to hurt anybody even to the slightest extent, not even your enemy through the medium of thoughts, speech and acts. Shilvaan is one who is sincere, moral and does not harbor any intention to hurt any living being even to the slightest extent. Even a ferocious tiger will be pacified in the presence of such a person.
Questioner: What can a father do if his children are of the worst possible kind?
Questioner: From where would parents of today acquire such qualities?
Dadashri: There again, the root of the problem is the father.