Elders

Dear children,

I have just returned from a city called Sydney, which is in Australia. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot. Do you know who built Sydney? It was prisoners who were accused of petty crimes. I am told that today, the great grand children of the convicts are highly respected. What I am trying to tell you, dear children is that you can change a difficult situation into an opportunity to do something good, and be admired for it. I visited the 'Rocks' the place where the convicts landed, erected tents, and built a nation!

Australia's story begins with Captain Cook and his ship HMS Endeavour in Botany Bay in 1770. I read that the local Aborigines did not react to the docking of the ship and the entrance of the Whites. They continued doing whatever it is that they were doing without getting distracted. Australia is the world's largest island and the only nation that began as a prison! The first faint signs of life have come from Australia. Indigenous stories talk of a Rainbow Serpent that slithered across Australia and created mountains and rivers. Hindus believe that the world rests on a snake.

It was during the gold rushes of the 1850s that the largest gold nugget was found. Australia's convict settlement converted into a thriving colony. Before the white people docked, Sydney was inhabited by the local people called the Aborigines. The Aborigines believe that every rock tree and waterhole has deep religious meaning, and that all animals, kangaroos, lizards, honey ants, had sung themselves and the world into existence. 

To the whites that landed there, the above theories did not make sense. So they did not give the Aborigines the respect that they deserved. That was a mistake because actually the Aborigines were very wise people who knew a lot. We must also respect the wisdom of the elders in the family, because they have learned so much over the years! If you remember, I have told you about Hanuman in the story of the Ramayana. If you do not remember, click here.

Coming back to Hanuman, when Ravana abducted Seeta; Hanuman visited Ravana's court to urge the latter, to return Seeta, so that a war may be averted. But instead of listening to the wise words of Hanuman, Ravana started to laugh at Hanuman's appearance. And a terrible war came to pass, in which so many were killed and Ravana was defeated! What I am trying to say dear children, never judge a person by the way he or she looks. Listen to the wise words of a person, without making fun of his appearance. 

Aborigines believed that the word was first perceived as a 'Dream' Hindus believe that the Universe was first a thought in God's Mind. That is not very difficult to understand. Whatever you do, whether good or bad, starts with a thought, it only then becomes an action. Think about it! 

We have to respect the Elders and Custodians of Ancient faiths. We have to honor everyone's spiritual belief.
Which means, that we have to respect all the religions of the world, because they all teach us to be good. 

There is a Lakota prayer: 'Mitakuye Oyasin' which means 'We are all related' Hindus say: Vasudeva Kutumbakam' Which means that we all are members of God's family. If you believe in the above prayer, then not only will you become strong, but you will strengthen the whole world!

You are going to be the leaders of tomorrow's world. You need to think right. Then you will become the parents of a better world. Will you do it for me?

With love,
Dadi-Ma Nani-Ma