A toy-strewn house and a sea of dirty nappies could hardly be termed a spiritual experience. Or maybe it could, argues Steve Taylor.
Dirty nappies, being woken up in the middle of the night, a house full of screams and squeals, food splattered all over the walls, toys strewn chaotically over the floor, no more late nights out and no time to read books or go on courses or retreats. What could be spiritual about bringing up children? Isn’t it just one of the many things we sacrifice when we have kids?meditating andpraying in solitude. Nothing is meant to divert us from our spiritual practices – least of all a family, which takes up so much of our time and energy. In India, there is a tradition that spiritual development belongs to a later stage of life – roughly after the age of 50. First we have to live through the ‘householder’ stage, bringing up and providing for our children, and living a ‘worldly’ life. But once our children are grown up and have flown the nest, we can turn our attention to the inner world. We can start meditating regularly, and living more quietly and simply.
“When I was younger I was never in the same place. I was so restless, constantly travelling and never knowing exactly what I wanted. But having a child has grounded me, made me feel rooted. And I think you needed that sense of rootedness to develop yourself.”
Abi’s little boy has taught her the true meaning of love as well. “When you have a baby, you feel a love that you’ve never felt before. It’s so deep it’s overwhelming. And then you’re wiping their bum, getting up everynight for two years – that’s what real love is. It’s completely selfless.”
Natural mindfulness
Part of the reason why bringing up children can be a spiritual experience is because children are such strongly spiritual beings themselves. They naturally have many of the qualities which, as adults, we try to cultivate through spiritual development.
For example, children are naturally mindful. They always live fully in the present, and the world is always a fantastically real and interesting place to them. As the child psychologist Alison Gopnik puts it: “Babies and young children are actually more conscious and more vividly aware of their external world and internal life than adults are.” They have what she calls an “infinite capacity for wonder” which we adults only experience at our highest moments – for example, when a scientist is inspired by the wonder of the physical world, or a poet is awestruck by beauty. As she puts it: “Travel, meditation and Romantic poetry can give us a firstperson taste of infant experience.”
Parenthood brings a heightened sense of love and wonder
I have three young children myself, aged one, three and seven. When I go walking with my baby son through the fields and paths close to our home, I’m always amazed at how long it takes us to get anywhere. What should be a 10-minute walk by the golf course to the nearest post office can last anything up to 40 minutes. This isn’t just because his tiny legs mean that he’s a slow walker, but mainly because he stops every few seconds to examine everything. Trees, bushes, stones, leaves, wire fences, puddles, even discarded crisp packets and coke cans – everything is a source of wonder. His world is filled with fascinatingly different textures and colours and shapes and patterns and smells and sounds. He can spend 10 minutes examining a leaf, staring at it, stroking it, brushing it against his face. One of the reasons why it’s always so difficult to get him out of the bath is because he loves to just sit there and pour water down from a cup, transfixed by the bubbles and splashes and ripples.
Normally I walk to places like an arrow heading to its target – focused on my destination, paying little attention to my surroundings, my mind on other things. But walking with my children has reminded me to stop and look. It’s reminded me that almost everything is fascinating if you just take the trouble to pay attention to it. I’ve realised the joys of just ambling along, staring at the sky, looking at the plants and bushes and trees around me, taking in the reality of the moment rather than thinking about the future or past.
Become a child again
This illustrates one of the most positive effects of having children: they help us to become children again ourselves. As Dr Elliot Cohen – a psychologist at Leeds Metropolitan University – who has a one-year-old baby – describes it: “There is a new life helping you to see the world anew. In the Jewish spiritual tradition, there is an idea that through having children, you become more childlike yourself. You see the world through the eyes of child, with a new freshness and intensity.”
There is a similar idea in the Taoist tradition. The ancient Chinese Taoist text the Tao Te Ching advises us to “Return to the state of the infant”, and says that the person who “has in himself abundantly the attributes (of the Tao) is like an infant.”
As Elliot Cohen notes: “In Taoism, the ideal is to be as spontaneous and curious as a child, with that openness to experience. And the same applies on a physical level too. The aim of the Taoist cultivation practices – like tai chi and chi gung – to help the body to become as supple and flexible as a child’s body. Your body should reflect your mental attitude, with the same openness and flexibility.” The playfulness of children can bring out the child in us too. As Abi Foss says of playing with her four-year-old boy: “The innocent playfulness of children is really priceless. Your own children can bring you back to that innocent place. My head might be full of worries, but when my little boy and I do silly things together and we fall about laughing, all that stress disappears, it brings me right back into the moment.”
The poet William Wordsworth described how children see the world “apparelled in celestial light,” with “glory and freshness of a dream.” Wordsworth also describes how, as we become adults, this vision “fades into the light of common day.” However, having children of our own helps us to reawaken some of the ‘celestial light.’
In the Jewish spiritual tradition, there is an idea that in having children, you become more childlike. Perhaps this is what Jesus meant too, when he told his disciples: “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter thekingdom of heaven.” This makes sense if we think of the ‘kingdom of heaven’ as a place not in the hereafter, but potentially in the world now. Heaven is the state of wonder and natural wellbeing which children exist in – and through being in their company, we can re-enter that kingdom.
On the road
How to treat parenthood as a spiritual path
Don’t be tempted to rush your child; try not to be impatient at their slowness. Walk at their pace and be mindful with them.
Try to cultivate children’s fresh, intense vision. Imagine how the world looks through their eyes.
Let them ‘teach’ you the marvels of the world around you. Be as open and curious as they are, not taking anything you know for granted.
Give yourself wholly to play with them, allowing yourself to step outside your mental world of worries and responsibilities.
Keep the faith
Don’t be irritated when children ask ‘Why?’ questions. Encourage their sense of wonder…
Try not to be irritated by their exuberance and excitement – wear ear plugs if necessary!
Try to limit the amount of time they spend watching TV or playing computer games.
Encourage them to use their own creativity, by inventing games or drawing or painting.
Have periods of quietness, relaxation and meditation, which make them feel more at home within their own being.
Steve Taylor is a lecturer in psychology and the author of several best-selling books on psychology and spirituality,including Back to Sanity,(£10.99, Hay House).
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Steve Taylor is a lecturer in psychology and the author of several best-selling books on psychology and spirituality,including Back to Sanity,(£10.99, Hay House).
Discover more
By Steve Taylor
