Motherhood as a Spiritual Path – New Delhi Times

By Dr. Pramila Srivastava

Mothers are a blessing given by the Almighty. Whilst putting all their efforts in nurturing a baby, a mother sacrifices all her ambitions, wishes and identity unknowingly paving a way to personal spiritual attainment. The essence of spiritual attainment is self-sacrifice- thinking about others before thinking about your own self and motherhood is all about helping others grow and develop into a person that God has sent them on earth to be. With Motherhood come complex responsibilities with major emotional shifts and other challenges along the way. The most empowered of all could feel weak at times; being a woman in a patriarchal world is itself a challenge so feeling weak is strengthening as well. Our weakness in the tough times gives us power to overcome them, we learn about our capabilities and we rise above our own stature. We learn to live with joy, love and the positive along with acknowledging daily inequalities, judgements, anxieties and disappointments.

A mother is a spiritual being as a woman in her path of motherhood learns to transcend from her ego and her own self for the sake of another. A woman on this path develops empathy for others and feels compassion and through this is able to enlighten in her the sense of sacrifice. Motherhood is at par with any other spiritual path. Within our daily routine of life lies the traditional spiritual path that encourages us to transcend selfishness, practice compassion and develop empathy for others. Mothers do this every moment of the day in their own way. In the process, a mother learns to develop in all directions rather than getting stalled in any one of them. Motherhood is the most appropriate vehicle to achieve enlightenment. At every step of motherhood, a woman can explore other facets of life and follow other paths but the motherhood can never be taken away. Therefore, it pushes one relentlessly towards consciousness. It allows understanding and embracing what we are while loving another human being unconditionally and helping them to grow in what they are capable of. Through motherhood, a woman is able to get to a place where she can understand the spiritual as well as non- spiritual aspects of life.

Motherhood teaches us to discover who we really are within and beyond and help others to do the same. It is not confined within the boundaries of giving birth, it is about parenting- treating and teaching somebody the values and morals of life through an understanding. It is about believing in someone to achieve what they are capable of. For instance, the nuns and the sisters sacrifice everything that is materialistic or what is perceived as natural for the society; they give up a home, a marriage and conceiving children. Contrary to what the world thinks they believe God to be their spouse and consider all children as their own. Religious women do it through their prayers and live the profoundest moments in the simplest way through the simplest human experiences.

Spiritual Motherhood is about self-giving and caring. It is not just for biological mothers as long as it involves nurturing and caring without self- interest. Limited to the perspectives and the crannies of life, at times we forget to acknowledge a mothers sacrifice, her confusing yet brilliant upbringing methods, her way of seeing the beauty in us that we fail to fathom. We never see people who do not get the nurturing, motherly love and guidance that they should have, but a mother does. A mother after experiencing motherhood becomes a spiritual soul without following any particular path, but only this one. She becomes the spirit herself that guides us through life. Spirituality is a personal journey embedded in our daily lives, which can only be achieve with a peace of mind. Achieving spiritual enlightenment becomes a journey in itself to wisdom. Motherhood helps achieve that light through the mundane. The unseen spiritual potential is reached when a mother is facing her life squarely and committing to the responsibility that comes with the honour of personal spiritual attainment. A mother sees the sacred within the ordinary whenever possible.

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Motherhood as a Spiritual Path - New Delhi Times

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