Ageing Gracefully

by Mark Ulyseas

Nature in all its wisdom has thought it fit to put a timer on all things bright and beautiful. So as time passes so does life. It fades into the endless stream of collective consciousness. The self is washed away with the debris of human excess.

Recently I interviewed a Swami, a Shiva Bhakt with a degree in Maths (Hons). At 25 years of age he took sanyas. Since then he worships Shiva and spends his time touring and lecturing. No money, no ashrams and no publicity. He lives on what people give him.

At our first meeting I requested an interview to be scheduled for the following day. He looked at me and shouted, “There is no tomorrow…it is now…it is now”. The interview commenced immediately and lasted for many hours. I returned after a week to spend another four days confabulating with the Swami. I still have to transcribe the hours of recording, the copious notes and the images of life through his eyes. But one thought remained engraved when I departed – the human body is a vestibule for the soul, an enchanted waiting period before one migrates to another world, another dimension. And that growing older each year brings one closer to the Self…the inner beauty that is timeless in age. By desperately fighting against the perceived horror of growing old and wrinkly we ignore the present…the beautiful world around us…we have become obsessed with how we look instead of how we can share our inner beauty with others. A vanity best described as the frivolousness of mutton dressed as lamb.

I shall leave you now with this quote from author, Donna Lynn Hope –

“Youth. I don’t seek it through another because I have it within; it’s a state of mind, a spirit that is free, and a mind that is playful. The shell of my being is altered by the effects of time, but nothing will tarnish a soul that will never forget what it’s like to experience creation with endless wonder and appreciation. Each time I see the first snowfall of the season I feel it’s the first time I’ve seen it at all.”

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti Om

© Mark Ulyseas

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