Sacredness of Motherhood

Indian culture has always associated mothers with divinity, and divinity with mothers. This is because motherhood is associated with the very source of our existence. Even today, people across the planet speak of Mother Earth, motherland, and in modern electronics, of the mother board. The eulogies to motherhood are many. And yet, the concept has been grossly misunderstood.

What does matritva, thaimai, or motherhood really mean? When we say the word “mother,” we mean someone who has, at least for a moment, known the experience of being an absolute offering to another life. Once children grow up, a mother may have issues with them. But the survival of the new generation depends on the mother's experience of intense oneness with her infant. Every cell in the mother's body responds to the needs of this new life. This is what makes motherhood such a unique human experience.

The sacredness of motherhood lies in the fact that nature collaborates in helping one realise there is more to the self beyond the narrow confines of the individual body. This makes motherhood a remarkable natural possibility, a stepping stone to the beyond. As a mother, you transcend your own desires and dislikes and experience a sense of unity with something more than yourself. This gift can be expanded into “yoga”, or union, which means a state of experiential unity with all existence.

Motherhood need not be a biological condition. Merely delivering a child is not a great achievement. Many cultures have stigmatised those women who did not bear children, which is deeply unfortunate. The magic of motherhood is undeniable. But its sanctity does not lie in the reproductive process. The yogic sciences make the privilege of motherhood available to every human being, irrespective of gender.

BEING A MOTHER TO THE WORLD

The bonding between a biological mother and child ensures the survival of the species. But this simple reproductive process can also become a doorway to transcendence.

The selective sense of inclusion with which a mother views her child can be widened to include the entire world. An inclusion that is absolute and unconditional – this is the inner experience of a yogi.

Unfortunately, many mothers confuse parenting with ownership. Although I was the youngest in the family, my own mother often treated me as an elder brother. Once when she expressed herself to me somewhat tenderly, I asked her in a very matter-of-fact way, "If I had been born in the next house, would you still feel this way about me?"

She broke down and went away, but returned later, with tears in her eyes, and touched my feet. A certain dispassion awakened in her that day, as she realised how identified we all are, whether with our bodies, parentage, families, homes, or communities.

When I initiate people into a spiritual process, I first ask them if they are ready to become “a mother to the world.” This is because true motherhood is not about turning a single individual into an object, a pet possession, or an obsession. Instead, it is a state of absolute love and unconditional inclusion, where you see everything and everyone - not just your biological child - as a part of you. In such a state, your actions are not determined by your personal desires; instead, you simply do what is needed at any given moment.

If the mother delivers you into the lap of creation, the yogic sciences are capable of delivering you into the very lap of the creator. This far more profound experience of motherhood is a tremendous gift and possibility that is open to absolutely everyone.

A SIMPLE WAY TO ELEVATE CONSCIOUSNESS

In the body that you carry right now, what came out of your mother’s womb is hardly there; it is mostly gone. Today, whatever the number of kilograms you carry, it is all from Mother Earth. We must appreciate and be grateful for both our biological mothers and Mother Earth. We are here because of this mother and that mother.

Every day of your life, you should appreciate all the things and all the people who are contributing to making your life what it is today. If you look at it closely enough, there is not one thing in creation without which you could exist. So, I want you to look upon everything as a mother. Today is tree mother’s day, tomorrow is the mountain mother’s day, the next day is your biological mother’s day. The reason why these days have been fixed is because otherwise, people will never think of their mother. Cultures have become like this. But if you are a little more conscious, if you remind yourself, “Oh, the tree is giving me oxygen. They are supporting me every moment,” if you recognise this with everything, everywhere that you walk, you will become conscious.

(Ranked amongst the fifty most influential people in India, Sadhguru is a Yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author. Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017, the highest annual civilian award, accorded for exceptional and distinguished service. He is also the founder of the world’s largest people’s movement, Conscious Planet– Save Soil, which has touched over 4 billion people.)