Age No Bar For Spiritual Upgrade

The foundational concept of Vedanta is that the Divine resides deep within the consciousness of all human beings regardless of age or sex, race or nationality. Finding that Divine centre - the Atman - that brings us to the all-pervasive Divine - the Brahmn - is the entire purpose of our spiritual striving. This has many dimensions: Jnan Yog , the way of the mind, which revolves around the study of scriptures, particularly the Upanishads and other avenues of intellectual enquiry; the Bhakti Yog , the way of the heart, which involves deep devotion to one's chosen form of the Divine - unconditional love and surrender; the Karm Yog , the way of arms, which means that whatever we do in life should be done in an attitude of surrender to our chosen deity; the Raj Yog , the way of the breath, which involves various breathing practices and pranayams.

Individually or in combination, these yogs can help us on our spiritual journey . In Vedanta, there is absolutely no distinction based on age or sex. In a verse from the Shvetashvatara Upanishad, it is said of the Brahmn: I am this man, I am that woman, I am this boy, I am that girl, I am that old man also tottering along with a stick, I am born with my face looking in all directions.

It is obviously desirable to begin our spiritual journey when we are still young, as that will be a great support to us as we grow older. But the idea that there is no value in remembering God in old age is prima facie ridiculous. In fact, the reverse is true, as we grow older and our outer activities begin to fall away, it gives us the opportunity to deepen our contact with the four yogs that 'i' have mentioned.

The key to positive living lies in never looking back, in anger or in regret. Rather we must always keep a positive attitude towards life regardless of the situation around us. In this turbulent world, which is constantly changing, our only sure guide is the inner divinity to which we must hold on as far as possible. Giving up or accepting defeat is a negative act and will take us further away from our spiritual goal. As human beings, we will, of course, be assailed by conflicting emotions - joy and sorrow, victory and defeat. The key lies in not getting carried away by these emotions and rather maintaining a certain poise and equilibrium which will help us safely cross the turbulent ocean of life. I accept that such detachment is not easy to achieve, but nonetheless that is what we must try for in the few years of our present life on earth. We can always draw inspiration from that great verse in the Kathopanishad which exhorts us to awake, arise and walk boldly over the razor-end path that confronts us. There are no soft options left now for collective or individual transformation. It is across that dangerous and difficult path that we must go towards our chosen goal - a new India, a new world, a new consciousness on earth and a new contact with the Divine within us.

This article is a response to 'There Is No Value In Remembering God In Old Age' by Shri Anandamurti

Authored by: Karan Singh