Young children are inquisitive and curious. They are trying to work things out for themselves, so it can be very effective to explain the reasons for the instructions and guidance we give them. Rather than mandating behavior or imposing a discipline based on external authority, it is better to help them see the results of acting in a certain way. The long-term goal is for them to adopt the values as their own, rather than experience them as externally imposed.
When we talk to children, we can try to put sense into their heads, but just as importantly, we should try to put sense into their hearts. We should have the patience to talk to children, to educate them. Teach children how to value their own principles. Our aim should be to instill in them good ways of thinking and feeling for themselves.
17th Karmapa
from the book The Heart Is Noble: Changing the World from the Inside Out
Read a random quote or see all quotes by the 17th Karmapa.
Further quotes from the book The Heart Is Noble:
- Healthy relationships
- There are no fixed starting points
- A noble vision
- Disconnected from our own noble heart
- Authentic love toward others
- Capacity for Change
- Finding our nobility of heart
- Loving Responsibility
- Difference without Division
- Our relationship to the material world
- Open-minded
- There are no fixed starting points
- Just Love
- My trust is a gift
- Our life is vast
- Making healthy relationships possible
- Authentic love
- Interdependent reality
- Boxing Love with Our Expectations
- We truly have everything we need already