Introduction§
It’s tough being a Hindu teen in the 21st century, whether you live in India or in the West. There are too many examples of what you should not do and too few examples of what you should do. Even your own relatives may barely live according to dharma. My Gurudeva, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, believed in providing the tools people of all ages need to face life’s problems. “Give a man rice,” he would say, “and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to grow rice and you feed him for a lifetime.” For this second book of the Hindu Youth Series, I requested our team of editors, writers, artists and reviewers to create ten stories illustrating ten methods from Hindu tradition to control your mind and handle your emotions, to face difficult situations with wisdom and determination, and to tap into the depths of your innate spiritual qualities and powers. Set in modern-day US, India and Canada, the tales are intended for youths of age 14 and up—a period when more grown-up challenges come to us, sometimes so large we wonder if we can handle them. §
Each story illustrates one life-management method. For example, in Chapter One, Ramya learns how to handle the emotions of being rejected when she is pushed out of a school clique. The method she learns involves writing down disturbing, hurtful, angry thoughts and then burning the paper in a fire—which is a way to drain the emotions from an experience. §
The story in Chapter Four involves a boy named Ranjit whose anger results not only in miserable relations with family and friends, but also injury to himself. He learns to apply several methods Gurudeva advised for anger management. §
A word of caution: some of these stories explore tough subjects and harsh situations—the aforementioned violent anger, the suicide of a friend, the divorce of parents. Yes, we could have developed every story with a light-hearted theme, but that would not reflect the world our children live in today. They need to learn Hindu ways of keeping on track, or getting their lives back in accord with dharma, or at least making the best of bad situations.§
Parents who wish to teach these life skills should study and understand the principles; then, as opportunities present themselves, help their young teenagers discover how to implement each skill. To facilitate this process, a set of discussion questions is included at the end of each story. A lively discussion of each story should lead to a clear understanding. Hinduism is, after all, an experiential religion, one whose tools for right living can benefit your life, but only if you first understand them, then adopt them and put them to good use.§