Staying Young

This article is a guide to having a youthful outlook. I think that it should be useful to almost all people regardless of their age. The sooner you start to implement this advice the better. But even people who are no longer young can read this with profit.

In my opinion we grow old and lose our zest for life because we identify ourselves with the ego and the mind. Staying young is difficult because we have to unlearn our habit of identifying ourselves with the ego, our beliefs, our prejudices and fixed opinions. If we free ourselves of this identification, we will have a youthful outlook to life. Not only that but we will also live life as it is meant to be lived and have life more abundantly.

And how will we live life if we free ourselves of identification with the ego. Jiddu Krishnamurti describes the process very elegantly below:

To know that one is in a certain condition, in a certain state, is already a process of liberation; but a man who is not aware of his condition, of his struggle, tries to be something other than he is, which brings about habit. So then, let us keep in mind that we want to examine what is, to observe and be aware of exactly what is the actual, without giving it any slant, with out giving it an interpretation. It needs an extraordinarily astute mind, an extraordinarily pliable heart, to be aware of and follow what is; because what is is constantly moving, constantly undergoing a transformation, and if the mind is tethered to belief, to knowledge, it ceases to pursue, it ceases to follow the swift movement of what is. What is is not static, surely it is constantly moving as you will see if you observe it very closely. To follow it you need a very swift mind and a pliable heart – which is denied when the mind is static, fixed in a belief, in a prejudice, in an identification; and a mind and heart that are dry cannot follow easily, swiftly, that which is.

This quotation above describes something that we need to aspire to. We are not going to change as a person because of something that we read in a book. I am myself struggling to free myself of the ego and I have been meditating for years (with some degree of sincerity at least). Basically we need to be humble and accept whatever situation we are facing both internally and externally.

The path Is easy for those who have no preferences – Zen saying

 If you have no preferences, if the ego does not intrude, we will be able to follow the swift movement of life as we experience it on a moment to moment basis.

Krishnamurti did not believe in meditation or following any techniques. But I would recommend your doing either Vipassana or the method described in by Paul Brunton in his book – The Quest of the Overself.

The benefits of living life as Krishnamurti described it above are incalculable. You will be responding to the moment instead of a relying on techniques and theories that may be outdated and mistaken. This will enable you to make the right decisions whether you are a general commanding an army, at a senior management position in the corporate world or simply living an ordinary life.

I’ll end with a few quotations illustrating this principle:

The highest technique is to have no technique. My technique is a result of your technique. My movement is a result of your movement.                               – Bruce Lee

My policy is to have no policy                                                      – Abraham Lincoln

When Napoleon was once asked what principles of war he followed, he replied that he followed none.

It is not easy to attain the level of mastery of the people mentioned above but life is a struggle and you cannot escape from doing battle. So we might as well try to implement what has been stated above.

If all this seems very abstract to you get in touch with me and I’ll try to guide you as best I can

I’ll end here. Hope this helps someone. Please explore this blog for more articles on Politics, Spirituality and Self Help. If you liked this article then please share it on Facebook and Twitter and feel free to post your comments or contact me. Link to contact is below.

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