What is the best gift for your children?

"As parents, we should not demand that our children be in a certain occupation; instead, we should cultivate their positive qualities, such as patience, adaptability, resilience, loving-kindness, empathy, judgement and leadership. This way, no matter which time period they are in, which countries they go to, they can easily adapt, become successful and have a good life."

- Master Jin Bodhi 

As extracted from Puti website - Walking towards Master Jin

Commentary by Jerome:

I was walking by a coffee shop when I saw a mother scolding her son loudly, "Stop playing and do your homework now! I want you to finish your homework in 15 minutes! Otherwise I am going to slap you!"

Many Asian families impose high demands on their children to achieve academic success, as many hope that in doing so, their children will end up in prestigious occupations such as doctors, lawyers, economists and politicians. They define success as having a stable job with high salary. 

Many parents send children to tuition every weekend; where in some cases the children may be reluctant, or in other cases it is unnecessary as they already have good grades. Many parents also deny their children of fun and opportunities to explore their passions and talents as they believed it is impractical. Some have music talent while others enjoy art, but unfortunately they will never be developed further. 

Parents do not understand that cultivating positive qualities such as patience, adaptability, loving-kindness and leadership are much more important than studying, having good grades and a high paying job. An individual in a prestigious and highly paid job may not be happy at work and life and may develop depression because he is not doing something that he wants to do deep inside. 

If you truly wish your child the best and want them to be happy, cultivate positive qualities in your him/ her instead. In this way, they can be adaptable and successful in whichever occupation they are in.

More information available at:
1) Official Bodhi Meditation Website 
http://puti.org
http://putihome.org