From time immemorial there has always been a clash of ideas between the East and the West. While the East draws inspiration from things like obedience, loyalty and devotion , the West based its wisdom on the freedom of the individual, independence and rule of law. I am reproducing below the comments by Sana in India and Rhapsody in Canada in my previous post and you can see the clash of thoughts. Of course you will have your own ideas after reading these comments and I will be delighted if you can generously share them without any restraint.
A New Beginning said...
Parents are like a precious emrald, they are like a candle in a dark room, they are like an umbrella in the storms of life and like a cool breeze in summers...parents are whom we all love but still cannot love the amount they do...they are the varied hues of our life..the ones that soothe our spirits and love us like no one can ever do.
Those who respect them are the ones, who are blessed with everything in life, but those who fail to do so are like a barren land, not made to survive.
Coz love touches those who know what it means, it teaches you to respect those who helped you walk on your infant knees ...
Rhapsody B. said...
The simple truth is, "you make your children, however you don't make their minds" hence their reasoning is out of your control. Though you may teach them the way of nurturing, the importance of family, honesty, and charity they may choose to take a path different to the way they were thought and you believe. It is why as parents we must not only provide for children we must provide for ourselves for our old age, setting into motion provisions for health care insurance etc., and not build our future golden years on the premise that because we provided for our children they then will return the favor and will provide for us. Perhaps in the ideal world this is a guaranteed must carved into their DNA interwoven with the ethics of family/honor/integrity/loyalty however chances are things may not happen that way and in the real world you may be viewed as a bother and a burden from which they must relieve their selves.
As parents our responsibility is not only to our children it is to us as well. All we can do is love them as they are for who they are and pray that if you are blessed to live a long life we can live it with grace and dignity and be happy.
LONG LIVE THE EAST,
LONG LIVE THE WEST,
AND I HOPE THEY WILL SOMEDAY MEET!
21 comments:
and somewhere in between is probably where we should land. thought provoking joseph.
Interesting juxtaposition.
I think the East has a very valuable lesson for us in the West. Parents in the East, I think, devote more time and attention to their young - even as they expect more from them. In the west, we like to think we are doting parents but we are lackadaisical about their schooling, we don't know their friends, we shuffle them off to various lessons believing it's better for them or plunk them in front of a tv or game box, when really they'd be better spending time with us exploring the world and learning what is truly valuable.
A very interesting post. I had also written on the East and the West and like your closing lines...yeah, it would be good if someday they would meet... somewhere on the middle path.
I must say Mr. Joseph, thats a very wise take on comments.
I would say that we have been brought up in a way where even if a guest comes in our house we have we would try our best to make them feel at home. Our parents love and care for their parents in such a way that it becomes an inspiration for us. The oldest member of the family remains the head till the very end and no matter can be concluded without his approval. May be thats what east is all about, as you have already put it beautifully values and morals.
Hope love and peace touches all, specially those who fail to understand the value of the epitomes of love, coz its a fact that no one can love us more than our parents do :)
Thanks for the enlightening post :)
Hello Joseph, yes I guess we bring children into this world, do the best we can to put them on the straight and narrow but at the end of the day it is their decision what way they go in life.
I loved the post also the beautiful pics.
Take care.
Yvonne.
Hello Sir :) :)
Greetings :) :)
Very Beautiful Post :) :)
I admire the family traditions of the East. Being family orientated has got to be a good thing; it seems to have gone by the board here.
I recall a song of long ago :East is East and West is West, don't remember the rest. Very good post as usual. I guess with children we give birth to, we do the best we can and hope the good thoughts will prevail. Have a good week.
Haha...I appreciate ur attempt to bring together two virtually opposite groups Joseph ji. This is one example for why I'm very much impressed by your blog. I believe that both the comments are equally acceptable and true. We cannot blame either of them. Both are correct.I admire Rhapsody a lot although I know little about her. Her words are interesting and meaningful and practically applicable.
And the second person,Sana Hashmi's words are reflections of the minds of Indians.I accept with her opinion too.
And one thing in the comments to this post that makes me delighted is that the West are appreciating the tradition and customs of the East.But it can't be said that we have nothing to learn from the West.Indeed, there's a lot we need to learn from them.They assign value to each and every community.They are more broad-minded humans beings than most of us.
I pray God that one day both these groups stand as one and there be no racial and regional discrimination.Special thanks to you Joseph ji for your good attempt.
My prayers and wishes.
By the way the flowers in your photos are awesome.
Hello Joseph, Many thanks for your visits which is much appreciated.
I value your opinions and it is so kind of you to take the time to read what I write.
Take care and be happy
Yvonne.
I feel it is not the question of east and west alone . Here we are more protective and there they are more independent - it also depends on the individual to an extent. My mother and me are always there to extend help to each other and we also have difference of opinion on few issues, at times I feel she is demanding too much time bcos she likes to talk and I have no time to sit and talk so much. But then my children spend sometime with her so she feels happy . I don’t think my children (once they start working) and next generation will bother so much as we do. First and foremost I doubt if they will find time to do so…… I only hope she carries on like this without being too sick or else it will be difficult for each other. One more thing is we should not keep any expectations I feel as expectations leads to disappointments, though we all do.
Our children are God's gift. We should provide for them to the best level we can. But they are not an insurance policy for our old age. They are not our property.
We should also take care of ourselves, keep ourselves fit and healthy so we will not be a burden to our children in old age.
Honouring your parents brings great rewards like long life and success.
It is not simply a matter that in the west all people are selfish and in the east all people are kind and self-sacrificing. Such generalisations over simplify a complicated matter.
I'm sitting here looking at this blank section where my comment should be. It's not that I have nothing to say I've got too much to say. Where to begin?
The indifference between the East and the West is a reality, we should pay attention. We have seen from history what happens when it gets out of control.
I got to come back I am out of focus. nikgee
Hi Satheesh:)
Many thanks for your interesting comment and working out a compromise formula. Hopefully we will take the best of both worlds and arrive at a suitable solutions.
Have a nice day Satheesh:)
Joseph
Hi Rema:)
Many thanks for your lovely comment and a fantastic conclusion--EXPECTATIONS LEAD TO DISAPPOINTMENT.
Best wishes:)
Joseph
I think we should gather good and practical things from the East and West both and adapt it to our life and culture and faith.
I have seen children being neglected and abused by parents and parents controlling and spoiling their kids too. This is extremism.
I know a woman who was treated like a demi goddess by her parents and spoilt rotten....now after being married and having 2 kids she is living a selfish and useless life and I blame her parents 75% In fact she caused the early death of her parents, they grieved so much for her disruppted life.
Hi Joseph!
All I can think of this by Kahlil Gibran.
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said,
"Speak to us of Children."
And he said:
Your children are not your children:
They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
© Kahlil Gibran, 1923, 1973.
The Prophet, Alfred A. Knopf: New York, 1973.
Wow, Joseph, what a contrasting post, so interesting to see the subtle differences. Now being from the West, had I read her thoughts without this contrast, I would have agreed with her and not questioned a thing said. But after reading the respectful and loving comments from the child of the East, I saw so clearly a respect that I have never been around in the West. Now it may well be that there are many families that do honor and respect their parents the in the way she wrote about, but I haven't seen it and it makes her thoughts profound to me.
Great post Joseph, the merging of cultures has so much to offer.
God bless,
Fred
Wow, Joseph, what a contrasting post, so interesting to see the subtle differences. Now being from the West, had I read her thoughts without this contrast, I would have agreed with her and not questioned a thing said. But after reading the respectful and loving comments from the child of the East, I saw so clearly a respect that I have never been around in the West. Now it may well be that there are many families that do honor and respect their parents in the way she wrote about, but I haven't seen it and it makes her thoughts profound to me.
Great post Joseph, the merging of cultures has so much to offer.
God bless,
Fred
I feel it's better to have a wise mix of both approaches. I've seen some of my friends getting stifled by parental pressures and expectations. This in the long run will affect their lives and dictate their behaviour as parents, and thus, the next generation also suffers.
:)
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