I read an article sometime back on Zen teaching which talked about how when we speak of others' shortcomings, we somehow have a sense of superiority in that we feel we have a right to judge them. In Buddhist tradition, it is important for followers to take a vow to never use speech to create disharmony or to talk about other's faults. It may sound a little heavy and even unnecessary to some and they may feel that it may lead to children hiding their true emotions, but I feel guiding children to speak nicely, compliment others and exhibit propriety will help them have a degree of self control on their emotions and they will learn to reject negative thoughts and words altogether.
But if our children understood that everyone, including them, has faults and makes mistakes, I feel it will help them grow up with realistic expectations of people around them and their interaction with others will become more positive. I am not saying that one should never be tough or that one should disguise their true feelings behind insincere flattery. It is a very important lesson in social awareness and relationship management that I would like to teach my child in order for him to realise that every day, his focus should be on the good in him and others and less on what others don't have to offer. So much pain and heartburn (and maybe even wars) can be averted if only people choose to speak nicely to each other and know what not to say. Today, when I think about it, this is such a powerful piece of advice and one that will stand anyone in good stead if followed religiously. But as for Thumper, I certainly remember the most impactful dialogue he had with his mother - As the lil mischief maker went on about Bambi being wobbly or something, his mother said "What did your father tell you this morning?", to which Thumper sheepishly replied - "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all". I don't remember much of that rabbit except from pictures that showed it had bright shiny red eyes (or was that the red-eye effect, who knows since it was pre-photoshop era). I was particularly fond of that character, possibly because I too had a pet rabbit for some time who was very unfortunately killed by a stray cat one night.
THUMPER BAMBI SCREEN TIME MOVIE
But besides Bambi, there was one more character that left quite a mark on me when I was young and I still vividly remember the character, even though the last time I saw the movie must be about two decades ago. The wide eyed fawn really melted my heart every time I sat down and plugged in the VHS tape into the bulky old player. I don't know about kids today but most of my millennial friends would have surely watched the movie and have felt various emotions - a slight fear evoked on hearing the eerie music that played when Bambi's father came on the screen or the searing pain when little Bambi goes searching for his mother in the wild after she was shot by hunters. Anyone who has watched the adorable disney movie Bambi as a child would agree with me that it was one of the cutest feel good movie of all times.
0 kommentar(er)
