Your Spiritual Youth

[DGA]

TharpaChodron, your post reminds me of some recent experiences I've had with my daughter (21 months old).

Her day school was cancelled one day so I took off work to take her to the Freer and Sackler galleries at the Smithsonian (Washington, DC). Lots of Buddha statues and images. One room is set up as a shrine room as it would have appeared in 19th century Lhasa (looks Gelug to me). Anyway, the kid is absolutely entranced, and kept shouting "Buddha!" over and over at everything she saw. Tara became mama-Buddha. Padmasambhava was papa-Buddha. This went on for maybe an hour, which is an eternity for a toddler's attention span.

Weeks go by and we make a family trip to the Virginia Museum of Art in Richmond, VA. They have an interesting South Asian area. Again, mama-Buddha and papa-Buddha. She mumbled about it in her sleep on the drive home.

I bring all this up because I can't help but speculate what may become of those tendencies later on. I suppose it's up to her.

[kirtu]

TharpaChodron, your post reminds me of some recent experiences I've had with my daughter (21 months old).

Her day school was cancelled one day so I took off work to take her to the Freer and Sackler galleries at the Smithsonian (Washington, DC). Lots of Buddha statues and images.

The Sackler is really a temple, a holy place.

Anyway, the kid is absolutely entranced, and kept shouting "Buddha!" over and over at everything she saw. Tara became mama-Buddha. Padmasambhava was papa-Buddha. This went on for maybe an hour, which is an eternity for a toddler's attention span.

Weeks go by and we make a family trip to the Virginia Museum of Art in Richmond, VA. They have an interesting South Asian area. Again, mama-Buddha and papa-Buddha. She mumbled about it in her sleep on the drive home.

I'll have to make this trip soon.

I bring all this up because I can't help but speculate what may become of those tendencies later on. I suppose it's up to her.

Even before my family moved to Hawaii I saw Buddha images in movies and pictures and for me these were significant.

Kirt

[TharpaChodron]

TharpaChodron, your post reminds me of some recent experiences I've had with my daughter (21 months old).

Her day school was cancelled one day so I took off work to take her to the Freer and Sackler galleries at the Smithsonian (Washington, DC). Lots of Buddha statues and images. One room is set up as a shrine room as it would have appeared in 19th century Lhasa (looks Gelug to me). Anyway, the kid is absolutely entranced, and kept shouting "Buddha!" over and over at everything she saw. Tara became mama-Buddha. Padmasambhava was papa-Buddha. This went on for maybe an hour, which is an eternity for a toddler's attention span.

Weeks go by and we make a family trip to the Virginia Museum of Art in Richmond, VA. They have an interesting South Asian area. Again, mama-Buddha and papa-Buddha. She mumbled about it in her sleep on the drive home.

I bring all this up because I can't help but speculate what may become of those tendencies later on. I suppose it's up to her.

Children really have pure perception, don't they? Sounds like she has an innate connection to what she's seeing.

[Thomas Amundsen]

TharpaChodron, your post reminds me of some recent experiences I've had with my daughter (21 months old).

Her day school was cancelled one day so I took off work to take her to the Freer and Sackler galleries at the Smithsonian (Washington, DC). Lots of Buddha statues and images. One room is set up as a shrine room as it would have appeared in 19th century Lhasa (looks Gelug to me). Anyway, the kid is absolutely entranced, and kept shouting "Buddha!" over and over at everything she saw. Tara became mama-Buddha. Padmasambhava was papa-Buddha. This went on for maybe an hour, which is an eternity for a toddler's attention span.

Weeks go by and we make a family trip to the Virginia Museum of Art in Richmond, VA. They have an interesting South Asian area. Again, mama-Buddha and papa-Buddha. She mumbled about it in her sleep on the drive home.

I bring all this up because I can't help but speculate what may become of those tendencies later on. I suppose it's up to her.