My tribute to Mothers...

...all Mothers, who somehow in some lifetimes have been my Mother. Do I know you Mother, when we meet again in this life? I myself, who also have been a Mother to others in some other lifetimes, do I know who were my children?

Mothers…the figure of Love, Care, Concern, Ever Giving, All Forgiving, All encompassing, silently sufferings and the list goes on. Mothers, she concealed us in her body for 10 months. Within these 10 months, she accepted the discomfort, the anxiety, the danger and lovingly nature us – do we know? Are we thankful? Our birthday is actually the suffering day of our Mothers but she bore with the pain and traumatically waited for our arrival and the suffering is only beginning.

Mother…gives her life to protect us. When we come into this world, we are helpless little thing. Mother feed us with the milk she produces and we happily suckle at her breast. All the food she took is ours to take and take for granted. She woke up all nights if we are sick, she carried us in her arms and forgo her own rest – yes, she is that great! Mothers watch over us carefully, feed us, clean us, provide for us, dress us and watch us grow. In the course of our growing, she worried about our health, our safety, our education and our future. She is afraid that we grew up wrongly and without love. Mothers of today and yester years, in whatever era have not changed – their qualities remain the same. 

Many of us thought that Mother is only the current maternal Mother of ours. Actually, all the women we know are/were our Mothers before. Do you believe? The amount of merits our Mothers did for us, the greatest is she gave us Life. With this and all said, if you carry your Mother on your shoulder and run 10 times around the world, you are not able to pay back her kindness. So if you have not been nice to your Mother, please go and give her a hug and say “thank you” before it is too late.

Mothers, is not only human Mothers. I saw a documentary how birds guard their eggs. In the heat of the day, in the cold of the night, in heavy downpour and in time when the bird of prey stooped down, they never leave their eggs. Day after day they sit to hatch and father birds take turns. Until the eggs hatched and the chicks appeared, Mothers birds will be busy feeding the hungry mouths. It is heart warming to see how Mothers encouraged the chicks to fly, taught them how to hunt and only leave them when they are grown. 

The documentary also brought tears to my eyes when a Kingfisher who built her nest by the riverbank did not leave her eggs during heavy downpour which finally overflow and filled her nest with water killing the egg and the Mother Kingfisher. This is the love of a Mother.

I also remember the Szechuan Earthquake, a mother and father sandwiched their child protectively between their bodies by hugging each other tightly. This selfless love gave the child life....but both parents perished. Do you still question your parents love for you?

Therefore, in many many life times, we have accepted the kindness of our Mothers, no matter what form she took. In many many life times we have also been Mothers to various life forms too.

I miss my Mother. Now that she is gone, I wished that I could have been a better child. It is always when something is lost than we realized how much it meant to us. My parents gave me what I am today.

I am forever grateful to all my Mothers. As I am striving for realization, may I always carry them on my shoulder. May all my Mothers be happy wherever they are and one day when I reached the "yonder shore", may all Mothers reached the "yonder shore" with me too. In all my lives, may I not forget the kindness of Mother Sentient Beings.

As we enter into the Month of May... I wish Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers who have been my Mother in whatever forms I have taken. May you all be Well, be Happy, be free from Sufferings and comes under the blessing aura of all the Buddhas.

OHM MANI PADME HUM...