dalaidaniel5@gmail.com

New Symbols, New Education, New Priorities. Happy children.

From the Introduction of The Navaratnas Guide, by Daniel Dalai

WE HAVE so twisted and contorted children in modern Western society it’s no wonder nobody accepts that the can do anything better than adults. But children outside of the developed world, those in poorer less-talked-about countries are fortunately less twisted and more natural. And they have astounding ability to choose right and to make decisions better than adults. That’s right, the kids in the poorer countries are gold mines of human resources. They aren’t subject to rigid thought patterns that stifle development. It’s these rigid mental superstitions and horrible customs (like FGM) that ARE THE REASON these countries don’t develop. In rigid Islamic societies half the population, the women, are sabotaged, paralyzed mentally, from being creative. In these societies the children are better fit for creative innovation than the adults, simply because they haven’t been subject to so many years of crippling brain-conditioning.

So when we speak of letting children, particularly the gentler girls, make social decisions, it may sound ludicrous to Americans who’s schools and society have conditioned girls to think that they are more or less invalid until they “grow up”, and incapable of wise decisions (likewise, until they “grow up”) because their society has never let them decide on anything as children. The truth is, children make better decisions than adults, and we’ve proven it over and over in societies where kids are less programmed.

The natural child is, before they reach reproduction age, society’s main source of imagination and happiness. They bring a positive optimism to society. Their playfulness lessens feuding and bitterness; their joyful spontaneity mitigates adults who take themselves too seriously. They are less fanatic religiously, and their affection is more unconditional, healing all ill. Their decisions have been far wiser than those made by most adults.

I have seen child leaders in all the less developed countries; children who are recognized and accepted as leaders by the adults around them. I’ve seen 12 year old boys driving bulldozers,(Bolivia), 10 year-old girls handling the distribution of humanitarian aid, (Nepal), running the border crossing (Afghanistan, much more efficiently than all previous adults)….. Leading reforestation efforts (India)…. the list goes on and on. Kids are less corruptible than grown men, less greedy, more idealistic, more loving, more generous, and much quicker to learn from their mistakes and improve. They enjoy being significant in their society and feel a strong sense of purpose. On the contrary, in countries with very high rates of child suicide, like USA and Britain, children are by comparison quarrelsome, often selfish, opposed to their parents, rebellious and bitter. This is the natural result of their twisted social environment. Don’t blame them. It’s the fault of the authorities they are programmed to obey. (who like to say they are “raising” kids, when in reality they are mostly stunting them. Kids have amazing ability to "raise" themselves if allowed).