We visited a petting park in Yelagiri last weekend. There was a fenced area, inside which were two big goats lying down relaxed. As we walked towards this place, we noticed two cute baby goats happily grazing outside. The mommy goat noticed us (Me and D) walking towards her babies. She lifted her neck and started making loud sounds. Soon she noticed K who was behind us. She got even more cautious. She stood firmly and made warning sounds that we interpreted as "Hey you! Don't you dare come near my babies!!".
We didn't touch her babies or try to hold them but the fact that we were coming near them made the mommy instinctively become very alert. The babies found a small gap in the fence and they went back to their mommy. She then gave them an earful for roaming freely (or that's what we understood seeing her reaction!! ) 😁😁😁
We have observed the same behavior with the mommy of our kitty babies 3 years back. She would let us lift her infants but she would be restless and ask us to put them back in the cardboard box. The instinctive nature of caring for and protecting their babies is deeply rooted in all parents, especially mothers.
But in the past few decades, it seems like many of us (humans) have lost touch with this instinctive nature. As I reflected on why this has happened, multiple thoughts surfaced.
- Lack of awareness or knowledge in raising a child which leads to a lot of self-doubt
- Lack of support from extended family
- Even if help is available, it becomes more of an ego battle to prove who is right
- Circumstances and situations in the initial years are being used to put down or find fault in the new mother's abilities - be it mom, dad, FIL, or MIL
- A lot of distractions that mask the intuitive ability
- Too many responsibilities on a mom's shoulders
- The new mom wants to prove herself as a "super-mom" capable of doing everything and taking undue stress
- Traditional wisdom is either being diluted or ignored
- Too many conflicting ideas from social media and parenting influencers cause even more confusion, leading to insecurity
In Panchakosha Viveka as part of Taittiriya Upanishad, it is mentioned that our body is made up of five sheaths or layers. Do google it if you are interested in learning in detail. It is such a fascinating topic.
The layers of Manomaya (mind), Pranamaya (energy), and Annamaya (physical body) primarily operate through our innate intelligence (intuition, instinct, gut feel)
The layer "Vijnanamaya" is the intellectual intelligence that gives us the discerning ability and the nature to be self-aware.
As we start relying more and more on our Vijnanamaya, we are losing touch with our innate intelligence. How else could we explain the trend of asking a random health influencer -
How much water should I drink?
How many calories should I need to consume?
Should I eat food when I'm hungry or when it is time to eat?
Our Manomaya is being subjected to so many thoughts and stressors day in and day out. This also has an impact on our Vijnanamaya. Our discerning ability and decision-making get impacted as Vijnanamaya gets weakened. When our Vijnanamaya is weak, we end up relying on the intellect of the self-declared experts.
Be it parenting, physical health, mental health, or our life choices, both Vijnanamaya and Manomaya play such a vital role.
They are connected in a vicious cycle - if one gets impaired, the other gets impaired too.
They are also connected in a virtuous cycle - if one gets strengthened, the other gets strengthened too.
Will share more on the practices that would help strengthen each of these layers.