Do Not Undervalue Old Age
First, read this Chinese story.
There is this old man who is too weak to work in the garden or help with household chores. He just sits on the porch, gazing out across the fields, while his son tills the soil and pulls up weeds. One day, the son looks up at the old man and thinks, “What good is he now that he is so old? All he does is eat up the food! I have a wife and children to think about. It is time for him to be done with life!” So he makes a large wooden box, places it on a wheelbarrow, rolls it up to the porch, and says to the old man, “Father, get in.” The father lies down in the box and the son puts the cover on, then wheels it toward the cliff. At the edge of the cliff, the son hears a knock from inside the box. “Yes, father?” the son asks. The father replies, “Why don’t you just throw me off the cliff and save the box? Your children are going to need it one day.”
(The story is taken from the book Still Here by Ram Dass.)
Old is gold. Old people in our society have wisdom while the young have energy. The old have quietude that comes from emptying the mind. The young have efficiency and their minds are filled with information. The elders have an understanding of what is truly important in life. The young are constantly busy with acquiring what is new. The aged have their eyes on what is lasting. The youths chase dreams of glitter and glamour.
Today’s young will indeed be old tomorrow. Today’s old were young yesterday. Nobody stays young forever.
To mock the old is surely an error. To respect them is a sign of one’s own maturity.
Swami Chidananda
Tuesday, August 24, 2004