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This may seem like chatter from an old man but, after many mistakes and sufferings, and because I traveled through life without understanding it well, I look at it and I look at you, and I feel that today I can tell you a little about it …
If you are young, you want to launch into adventure. You are full of life, dreams, hope, doubts, feelings, fears and confusion …
If you manage to decipher this route map maybe you will avoid the strongest storms that await you on the Path …
… And if you have already passed the threshold of forty years of age, and have lived longer in the illusion of the world, and suffered the black sky, the strong wind and the frightening waves of Life, I tell you that you are entering into a very special period that I call ‘The Golden Age’.
If you can decipher this map, you will learn how to navigate towards calm waters and how to live, most of the time, under a shining sky, in peace and joy …
Let us begin…
Until recently your body, full of vitality and in constant expansion, has been strong and almost immune to all the blows you have wanted to give it. And now, the Great Sage tells us, that at thirty-nine, your body stops growing … and the opposite process begins…
Announced by microscopic wrinkles, by small physical problems, by grey hairs that shyly appear, and because you no longer have the same energy as before, just like everything in this universe, you start to decay …
… AND THAT’S FRIGHTENING!
But that’s ONLY a small part of the story … the bad part…
Listen to the good one!
Of course, not all those who reach that biological age enter the Golden Age. Many, frightened by programming of fear and old age, think that the time has come for them to enjoy life more. Sometimes, they become pathetic humans who act like young people, thus squandering the gifts and wonders that are within their reach or like defeated and resigned living dead, who duck their heads and continue sleepwalking until their burial …
They will not understand me, but I trust that you indeed will.
Let us continue …
They have told you that you have reached ‘midlife’ … or ‘the door of old age’ and therefore you MUST react and be scared … Does anyone know when their existence will end and, therefore, what is ‘half of their lifetime’?
So I tell you that your Golden Age begins ONLY when you open the door of your Self and reflect deeply on yourself and on ‘YOUR’ Happiness …
Still bored and unhappy, you begin to question yourself and your way of life … and, looking back, you realize how many stupid things you have done when you were ‘asleep’ … and of the few wise things that you can mention … And it is then that, pushed with a force you never tasted before, you feel a strong desire to free yourself from those bonds that have made your life miserable … and that is when you understand that there is no midlife crisis, and that you are simply living a new stage of your existence…
… And that is when you realize how, without knowing it, the world caught you, and how it filled your old dreams with a thick layer of dust … and now you shake them and shine … and feel a freedom and a fighting spirit that vibrate in each one of your cells …
… And that’s when you fly to your eighteen years of age and observe when you wanted to be immortal and save the world, and AGAIN decide to launch yourself towards your goals …
… And that’s when you start to see and put together the puzzle of your life, and look for your true North …
… And it is when, with the wisdom that you have conquered through intense suffering, you see, before hidden by the dazzling light of desires, the beautiful dark clearings of Life …
… And that’s when you understand that humanity does not move at your pace, and that everyone acts and understands according to their evolution and wisdom …
… And that’s when you already know that your opinion is more important than the opinion of others … and you no longer worry about what they can or do not think about you …
… And that’s when you understand that your inner world – which you have neglected to dedicate yourself to others – acquires a fundamental importance in your existence and you KNOW that without it you will never be able to achieve the happiness that you are looking for …
… And that is when you understand that each one has his/her destiny, and he/she must live his/her evolutionary process as he/she touches and deserves … and that you can not carry anyone’s Karma …
… And, because you already understand that change happens only when Consciousness expands, you already know that you can not change others, but only support and love them …
… And it is also when you understand that you only have the right to love and not to be loved, and that you will receive love only when you are the first to give it …
… And that is when you understand that your energy is precious and that toxic friends, relatives or companions still trapped by the illusion of life, are already ‘dry branches’ that hold you back on your Path …
… And that’s when you understand that every moment is a rebirth, and that birthdays and anniversaries are no longer as magical as before …
… And that’s when you feel that every day – full of happy and unhappy moments – is yours only if you live it intensely … and in the NOW …
… And it’s when you become the spectator of your life and, like a movie, you look at it comfortably sitting on a sofa … and you watch the young man who repeats your old mistakes or, sadder still, an old man who, without knowing that, wastes his existence, runs and works without knowing where he is going …
… And that’s when you think and regret the useless torments that you have given … and suffered … and you cry for that poor ‘you’ that did not know …
… And it is when you are always more aware of your mortality, and you no longer look at your age from the moment of your birth, but as the time that you still have until your death …
… And that’s when you look at death as a fundamental part of your life … and you learn to live each moment as if it were the last … in the PRESENT …
… And that’s when you already know that ‘enjoying and indulging’ also means being alone, in silence, and meditating …
… And that’s when you understand that you’re here ‘passing by’, that everything has been borrowed for a while … and you learn to love yourself and take care of yourself like never before …
… And that is when you understand that your body is not only a means of pleasure, but the vehicle towards the happiness that you are looking for …
… And that’s when the words that have dominated your life change: ‘success’ is now ‘harmony’, ‘work’ is ‘sharing’, ‘action’ is ‘peace’, ‘traveling’ is ‘looking for yourself’ … and ‘passion’ is now ‘Love’ …
… And that’s when your little ‘I’ extends its radius, and ‘have’, ‘enjoy’ and ‘receive’ are no longer your main goals. Now your heart tells you that you must ‘give’ and ‘help’ those who need you, or who have not yet understood what the Path is …
… And, if you are a sportsman, it is when the closing time of fame and honor arrives for you … BUT, if you are a wise man or a poet, it is the time to awaken ever more the mass that suffers in oblivion …
… And that’s when you really think and you know that not knowing anything is a sure sign that you have understood a bit, and books and people that you have never noticed before, now become your Mentors …
… And that’s when valuable questions hammer on in your mind … Where do I come from? Why do I exist? Where do I go? … and you look for the answers …
… And it is then that you begin to feel the Revelation of your Self that, perfect and immortal, and always in you, now demands your attention …
… And that’s when you start or continue your search for the GREAT and, by His Grace and as if by magic, The Path and the Master come to your life!
… And that is when you KNOW that you and EVERY infinite spark that surrounds you, are part of the ONE … and that EACH ONE, full of Love and the thought of the Great, reflects ever more the Infinite Father …
… AND THEN AND ONLY THEN, your Golden Age will be a time of reward, peace, tranquility, plenitude and joy …
And I have hope that these words, offspring of my past and purified by my suffering, make you look at your soul, reflect deeply … and understand …
And I have hope that you, on the Path, will be able to enjoy this wonderful age that Life is giving you, and that more and more, you will transmit that happiness to the many seekers, and to all those who still do not know that it exists …
About The Author: Dada Japamantra
Motivator, meditation teacher, humanitarian leader, mentor and spiritual advisor. I focus my activities and existence on the motto “Self-realization and Service to Humanity.” As a monk and missionary, I dedicate myself entirely to the mission of helping people develop their inner potential Infinity and contribute to universal well-being.
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