December 31, 2021
Now is the time when many of us go through the tortuous and often repetitive process of making resolutions for the new year. Health club memberships swell, and health club activity increases…for a month at least. This is the year we are going to lose that pesky ten pounds, learn a new language, take that trip you have been putting off, or write the next great novel. The following is an excerpt from a piece a friend of mine sent me. It may help you think about your New Year’s resolutions, and put them in perspective.
Ancient Hindu teaches us about the stages of life, or ashramas. The first is Brahmacharya, the period of youth and young adulthood dedicated to learning. The second is Grihastha, when a person builds a career, accumulates wealth, and creates a family. In this second stage, philosophers find one of life’s most common traps. People become attached to earthly rewards—money, power, sex, prestige—and thus try to make this stage last a lifetime.
The antidote to these worldly temptations is Vanaprastha, the third ashrama, whose name comes from two Sanskrit words meaning “retiring” and “into the forest.” This is the stage, usually starting around age 50, in which we purposefully focus less on professional ambition, and become more and more devoted to spirituality, service, and wisdom. This doesn’t mean that you need to stop working when you turn 50. It’s only that your life goals should adjust.
Vanaprastha is a time for study and training for the last stage of life, Sannyasa, which should be totally dedicated to the fruits of enlightenment. As we age, we should resist the conventional lures of success in order to concentrate on more transcendentally important things.
The Spin Doctor 