Serve and Grow Young - Pt.1

It is no fun growing old in a society obsessed with youth.  So I have decided to follow Baba's example and not pay any attention to my age.  After all, only my temporary body is growing old; the real Me is as young as ever.

A friend, seeing a picture of Baba for the first time, remarked that He certainly didn't look His age.  I agreed, stating that He was beyond time as we reckon it and that any of us who follow His example could probably weather the years equally well.  It all depends on discriminating between useful activity and mere restlessness, and emphasizing the proper aspect of our being.

In one of His many discourses on Santhi, Baba says, quite logically, that unchanging peace cannot be found in an ever changing world.  His advice is to "engage in never changing tasks and enjoy the Bliss of the Atma.  This must be the chief effort of the Jivi, its perpetual aim, the greatest adventure in this world.  All other tasks are humdrum and silly; they glitter for a moment and vanish."

Waste of Time and Energy

There is no doubt that, especially in the highly respected West, we waste a great deal of time, energy and resources on fashion, fads and foolishness that contribute very little, if anything, to what should be our goal in life.  From hula hoops to encounter groups, we get caught up in an endless succession of activities and expenditures as we seek to fill our leisure hours.  "Man is a bundle of impulses and intentions," says Baba.  "The impulses are the fuel, the intentions are the fire.  The fire can be put out only by laying aside the fuel of impulses.  The dying down of the fire is the attainment of peace."

Laying aside our impulses does not imply stagnation resulting from inactivity.  Instead, we are admonished to "arise and work (for) Work is the mission of man,"  The key is to establish a worthwhile goal and the proper environment for achieving it.

In Baba's words, "Until you fix upon a certain direction for all your thoughts and activities, you will only be building shadowy castles in the air and roaming about in them."

~ Jay Jarrett ~

(Sanathana Sarathi - April 1990)

(To be continued)