Polishing the Mirror: How to Live from Your Spiritual Heart by Ram Dass & Rameshwar Das

Author:Ram Dass & Rameshwar Das
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Sounds True
Published: 2013-07-31T15:00:00+00:00

FREE TO BE

One of the reasons that old age is so disconcerting to many people is that their roles change, and with those changes they experience a loss of purpose; a diminished sense of value, identity, and self-worth; confusion about how to behave; a feeling of no longer being needed. People are uncertain how to restructure their lives, how to manifest as a being whose role is now totally unfamiliar to them. Retirement and having children leave the parental nest are two role changes that come to mind.

Recognize in yourself the conflicting forces; part of you wants to stay effective in the world, and part of you wants to be contemplative. Really give that contemplative part some space. Water it a bit and give it some sunlight to grow instead of treating it as an error. Give yourself the opportunity to grieve—for the end of dreams, for the end of childhood, for all the people that go away, for the sorrow of parting.

When you experience fear or are unsure about your situation, there’s a beautiful and very powerful mantra you can say: “The power of God is within me. The grace of God surrounds me.” Repeat it to yourself or to a loved one in need. It will protect you. Experience the power of it. It’s like a solid steel shaft that goes through the top of your head right down to the base of your being. Grace will surround you like a force field.

One of the gifts of old age is no longer caring so much about what others think of us. Aging allows us to be more eccentric. When we were younger, we were expected to behave in a certain way. As we age, we can let it all fall apart a little more. We are free to be ourselves—to follow our hunches, to experiment, or to do nothing at all—as age liberates us from our old roles and offers a different kind of freedom and an authentic way of being. Nadine Strain was eighty-five when she wrote the poem “If I Had My Life to Live Over”:

I’d like to make more mistakes next time. I’d relax. I would limber up.

I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take more chances.

I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.

I would eat more ice cream and less beans.

I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I’d have fewer

imaginary ones.

You see, I’m one of those people who live sensibly and sanely

hour after hour, day after day.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.