An Ode to Mother
Kamlesh Acharya (pictured in the above photo on the right) is a published poet who credits meditation with transforming his life. Here the Indian author deconstructs the concept of the ‘mother’
A mother is a woman who bears us for nine months in her womb and gives birth to us, sometimes in tremendous pain. Paeans as well as days are dedicated to mothers, in recognition of their miraculous contribution to life. Most mothers are too lost in selfless service to their kids to notice these dedications. Perhaps, that’s what makes mothers larger than life. However, not all women reproduce and have biological children – does that make them any less of a mother?
Should the interpretation of a ‘mother’ simply be restricted to a biological mother? The woman who is ecstatic when we kick her from within the womb? The lady who cares enough to make us dinner whether we thank her for her efforts. The same lady who grooms us daily when we are babies and whose unconditional love and strength doesn’t falter even if we take her for granted. Is this the only concept of a mother?
Or does the ‘mother’ also represent goddesses from various mythologies? What about the incredibly powerful Mother Earth that nurtures us all? Is that the real mother that we shamelessly plunder for our own selfish ambitions and greed?
Or does the term ‘mother’ mean the space that holds the Earth in place? Or does it really refer to the ‘cosmic womb’ from which the Universe was created? Is it the cosmic ‘nothingness’ that gave birth to everything?
If we go by the philosophy that there is a male and a female in all of us, then all of us are potential mothers. In spiritually evolved societies, everyone is a mother – the whole society – because everyone cares and shares. The responsibility of parenting is not limited to biological parents. The whole community grieves if one of them sleeps hungry. The whole village strives to love and recover the hurt of one.
The problem is that we have restricted and localized our idea of a ‘mother’ to that one individual. A mother is not just someone who bore us and breast-fed us. A father who comes home from the office and reads us a bedtime story is also a mother, a neighbour who cooks a tasty dish is also a mother, a person who gives up his seat in a bus for an elderly person is a mother, a friend who cheers you up and listens to you when you’re down is also a mother. A woman who adopts a child and gives unconditional love is also a mother. A wife who takes care of her sick husband is a mother. A giver of alms is a mother to a beggar. Someone who says no to plastic is a mother to the environment. Someone who lives in an eco-friendly way is mothering our planet. People who fight for animal rights are mothers to nature. A stranger who hugs you for no reason is a mother too.
We don’t have to bear and rear a child to become a mother; we become a mother the moment we love and care selflessly for humanity. Caring is what a mother does best. This doesn’t undermine the wonderful biological privilege of carrying another life within you, however it opens your eyes to the concept of a mother being more than a physical vessel carrying a child.
With this new conscious understanding, everyone who acts selflessly towards others and our planet is a mother. When you make a difference to someone’s life, you’re a mother. When you hug a tree in gratitude, caress a flower without plucking it, spread your arms and appreciate the air and thank the Universe for protecting you, then you are a mother. When you smile – as if you know a secret – the secret that is love and the love outpours as tears of joy for all that is, this is being a mother.
Every day is a mother’s day and every moment a potential mother’s moment if we operate from a dimension of universal love. Let us celebrate this recognition within all of us.
Kindling the Spirit by Kamlesh Acharya is out now.
