The Father
One did not know
What to make of him.
A living saint?
Or a misguided fool?
But the words
Seemed to enter a place
That words rarely do . . .
He was asked,
What it means to be a good father.
And what he taught his children.
This . . .
Is what he said.
You ask me what it means to be a good father.
I cannot begin to answer the question.
For perhaps you should have asked one
Who knows about such things.
I do not know what my children think of me.
And, frankly, it is not my place to know.
Whatever I did
That happened to provide benefit
Or happened to cause harm,
Was from a place of Not Knowing.
It is easy for a man to take credit for the good.
And to take blame for the bad.
And though I am forever willing to accept blame . . .
To take credit, would be to imply strategy and knowledge.
Am I a good father?
Are the children good children?
What is good?
And who can say?
How can one make conclusive judgments
When he knows so little.
Might they adore me?
Perhaps.
Might they ridicule me?
Perhaps.
Might they turn their back on me?
Perhaps.
Who can orchestrate
The complexity of emotional outcomes?
One may say to me
That I did my best.
For me to accept this
Would be to accept
That I could not have done but a single thing more.
While it may be easy
To wish I would have changed things.
It is not so easy to say
What they should have been changed-to.
One may reasonably state
That all things fail.
If done by the hand of man,
This is most certainly true.
What can a man give
Other than all that he has.
What is there to be prideful of
If ‘all that he had’
Includes the good
And the bad.
Hope is understandable.
But it is not wise.
For it pressure’s nature to give
What it often cannot.
You ask me what I have taught my children.
When it is more about what they have learned.
Teaching is a falsehood.
For it places the burden of omniscience
Upon one who does not know.
There is much to learn,
But little to teach.
Perhaps it should be said
That no child become his father.
For no matter the noble qualities of the man,
Shall they never supplant
Those of the child.
I am ready to listen to my failures,
Rather than my successes.
For the former are the result of my influence.
And the latter, despite it.
Namaste.
Kapil Gupta is a personal advisor to Kings, Queens, CEO’s, Professional Athletes, Celebrities, and Performing Artists around the world.
His books include:
Atmamun: The Path To Achieving The Bliss Of The Himalayan Swamis. And The Freedom Of A Living God
A Master’s Secret Whispers: For those who abhor the noise and seek The Truth about life and living
Direct Truth: Uncompromising, non-prescriptive truths to the enduring questions of life