Journey of recognizing and fulfilling motherly responsibilities!!

Happy Mother’s Day!

On this Mother’s Day I want to share my own journey of recognizing and fulfilling motherly responsibilities I was given in this life.

I did not really understand my role as a mother, and was, honestly, a little confused by what I needed to do to fulfill it. Two specific questions that reverberated in my heart were “what is it that I need to do and how should I perform the responsibilities as a mother”?

I was more of an outgoing person who preferred to volunteer at the Sai Temple, or go to the office to further my career, or spend time with my friends. But inside my heart I had lots of love for my kids, but just did not know how to fulfill it practically from my heart… so the Divine decided to help me through a lady.

I remember one day, when a lady that was helping me with my kids told me, “Chandra I am cooking this curry for Jay, I asked why she was doing it and she mentioned simply because Jay loves this curry.” I was surprised. Doing something like cooking this dish simply because he loves it hadn’t crossed my mind.

She went on to tell me that at the temple, where she knew that I loved to volunteer, anyone can come to do the work, the Divine can bring right people to fulfill the temple tasks, but at home, the responsibilities of the kids were assigned to me. So, If I don’t cook or take care of them, no one will come to do that. She also told me to do this as a service from my heart, without thinking “I own these kids or they belong to me.” They have come to me in fulfilling a sacred account (runanubandha ) between us. In fact, this is true for everyone —family members, co-workers, close friends)—everyone we meet in this life comes to each of us because of a sacred account.

This realization really shifted my perspective. I realized that being with my children was a deep service that I had the chance to perform, and that this could also be a place where I deeply connect with the Divine within me. So I started doing the chores at home from my heart and mentally detaching myself from my career and work responsibilities, this helped me to give them my full attention with 100% love without any expectations in return.

Doing this has allowed me to be taught by them, instead of thinking that I am always their teacher or a boss. It has allowed me to deepen my experience of unconditional love, and even learn more about discipline with them.

Just to summarize: In motherhood, we are fulfilling a sacred role. “We do not own our children”—this was an important mantra that got etched deep in my heart. They are “Beings” unto themselves. Through this opportunity we can perform our motherly actions without attachment to rewards, recognition, or expectation. It is only when I realized this, and began to embody it, that everything changed.

And here is a key point: We do not try to let go of our attachment to our children, or to rewards and expectations. This would be immensely difficult. Simply by doing my daily meditations, while remembering that my role as a mother is to support their development, to nurture them as they grow into their Soul’s expressions, and they came to us because of a sacred account. When this realization gets etched into our hearts, we are brought into non-attachment. This is an easily done and natural process.

Please leave a comment to let me know what resonated with you most.

OM!!

Chandra.