Parent, Adult and Child

We all have three ego states - Parent, Adult and Child. The child ego state can be subdivided into Rebellious Child , Natural Child and Little Professor. We need to shed the Rebellious ego as we grow but retain the Natural and Little Professor ego within us.

Tell me who amongst us is the happiest of all? It can be certainly a small child. Watch him in any activity- whether he is flying a kite, or climbing a tree, whether he is in a temple or in the middle of a puddle - he is totally involved. And happy. He gives his hundred percent to the moment and experiences joy.

Watch a child who is looking at a rainbow. He is filled with complete wonder. Is he concerned about the heavy rain that preceded it or the scorching sunlight which might follow? No, he is just soaking in the glory of the moment. When you take your four year old to the Church and tell him, "Now close your eyes and pray, Lord Jesus will come and bless you." What does he do? Does he question you, does he doubt? No, he accepts your word one hundred percent.

When he is playing with friends - does he pick and choose that he will play with only those friends whose fathers own a car, or who are Hindus or those who speak a particular language ? No, he goes by the language of his heart. He doesn't listen to the prejudices of his intellect.

We all were childlike once. We all possessed these wondrous qualities like unconditional love, trust, playfulness and simplicity. Somewhere on the road to adulthood we have shed these childlike virtues and adopted fear, mistrust, prejudice, doubt and selfishness. Not only have we forsaken childlike virtues, we have also started looking down upon the children as being immature and not sufficiently adult or grown up and direct them to shed them!