Swami Brahm Bodhi

Building up the human character

---

🙏🙏 Om Hari Sharanam, Gurudev.
What are the essential elements that strengthen a human being’s character? In the age we live in, we deeply need strong character, meaningful social dialogue, and a clear and constructive way of thinking. For guidance on how such qualities can be cultivated and widely shared, we reflect today on this question. 🙏🙏

Dear devotee,
You had asked two questions—first, what elements are necessary to build and strengthen human character.
Let us reflect on this today.

Human character stands upon three foundations—thought, feeling, and action.
Psychologists call them Knowing, Feeling, and Willing.
Knowing means right knowledge and right understanding.
Feeling means emotional sensitivity and human compassion.
And Willing means action, conduct, and behaviour—what we actually do.
Thought influences feeling; feeling, in return, shapes thought; and together they determine our conduct.

When thoughts are pure, feelings noble, and actions ethical, a person becomes virtuous; and only then does character become strong.

Now the question arises—From where do these elements come?
Human beings receive ideas, values, and inspiration from many sources:

1. The family
2. Mass media—television, mobile phones, newspapers, cinema
3. Books
4. Friends
5. Schools
6. Religious centres—temples, mosques, churches

From the combined influence of these sources, a child’s thoughts are formed, emotions refined, and behaviour shaped.

But today we face a serious challenge: most sources now transmit negative thoughts, negative emotions, and unhealthy models of behaviour. A child’s mind is delicate and absorbs impressions quickly. This is why parents must remain alert from the very beginning.

We cannot lay carpets on every road in the world, but we can wear shoes and protect our feet.
In the same way, we must strengthen, purify, and safeguard a child’s inner being—give them a mental armour through which harmful influences cannot enter.

When children are young, impressions are deepest. Therefore:
✓ Show them carefully chosen programmes that inspire good thoughts and goodwill.
✓ The sacred character of Lord Rama is especially helpful in this regard.
✓ Keep books like Amar Chitra Katha at home—children naturally absorb values through pictures.
✓ And all this must be done between the ages of two and six; this is the true period of formation.
A pot can be shaped only when the clay is soft; once it is hardened, the task becomes difficult. Yet the encouraging truth is that even a hardened pot may not change its shape, but its colour and polish can still be changed—similarly, even a grown person can be transformed, though the task becomes harder.

The most decisive foundation of a child’s education is the character of the parents themselves.
If elders in the house follow bad habits, they lose the moral right to restrain their children.
A child’s company must also be good—for company shapes the future.

And in the end, if parents spend even half an hour daily imparting the wisdom of Ramcharit and the Bhagavad Gita, the seeds of noble thought will surely be sown in the child’s mind.
Those very seeds, in time, grow into the great banyan tree of a strong and luminous character.