Warm wishes for each other for a very happy new year float around. There is celebration and joy and a sense of looking forward to a new year so vibrant and illuminating that every soul on this planet earth is healed in its light. For a moment , for a day we become all so very different...so very benevolent...so very well wishing... so very kind ...so very joyful!! May this Bon-homie last forever.. May this bliss never end.. May we all rise above our lower selves and lend a helping hand to the needy. May all of us " Humans" uphold " Humanity" and live in a "Humanitarian" way.
Once again, my deep gratitude to all my readers from across the world. The stats shows that the no. of readers from United States are becoming equal to the no. of readers from India. This is followed by Russia, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Ukraine, Portugal and United Kingdom as the top ten countries in readership. I thank all my readers for liking the blog and sharing your feedback and comments.
Today I would like to talk about Aging and the Attitudes about aging. My mentor Dr. Daisaku Ikeda has stated and I quote
" None of us is immune to old age. Shakyamuni once spoke of the need to conquer three forms of pride...pride of youth, of health and of life. Drunk with the pride of youth, people have an aversion to those bent with age. Drunk with the pride of health, people have an aversion to those suffering from illness or disease. And drunk with the pride of life, people have an aversion to the dead. But by looking away from the realities of aging, sickness and death, we deny our own future; we reject or inevitable fate.......
The rich life experiences of older people constitute a precious and irreplaceable resource. It behooves us, to pay attention to the way we view aging and to create a society in which the elderly can experience fulfillment and live out their lives as they wish. ....
It is terrible when the aged, who most likely grew old during long years of service to their families and to society, feel cut off from that very society. Often, they respond by closing their minds and isolating themselves. The elderly, aware that they cannot do many things as they once did, understandably find the problems and limitations difficult to accept. "
Unquote.
Today we find people increasingly becoming intolerant to aging and elderly. Intolerance to elderly manifest in different ways such as Admonishing, Ignoring and Abandoning. I see young people insulting elderly with a smug and complacent air as if they are immune to age. They seem to disparage the wisdom of the Elders and mock at it. I find many well to do children are not able to find time to visit their elders, talk with them, nurse their needs and help them to ease their anxieties into a sense of fulfillment. Even when they talk, the arrogance in their tone and pitch speaks of their uncivilized mind first. Why cant' they be a little humble, polite, well mannered and cultivated? Why..Are their hearts so full of grudges for their own woes of life that they want to blame their elders and make them pay for it with their disrespect...how pitiful..
If it is not about elderly, in general I find there is growing intolerance towards aging people. Elders are being challenged by their younger ones not today but from ages...The difference is that earlier this challenging was a part of growing up to assert one's individuality and evolving identity with a shade of youthful innocent protest...now the innocence from the protest is gone and replaced with a haughtiness....I find the younger ones addressing their elders in the most disrespectful manners, talking over them, taking precedence and main stage rather than humbly standing aside....I remember a gathering in the recent past when in a condolence meeting for a deceased relative, the younger brother opened the address instead of respectfully bowing down the occasion to the elder brother who was also present. The solemnity of the occasion, the dignity and the grace were all taken away by this very act of insolence. On another occasion I saw a young person admonishing the father on who knows the medical science better.. " You or Me"!! and the father felt devastated remembering all those efforts he did to make that child a doctor. I also find that in social chat group many youngsters address their elders not by their salutation or relation but a sign of @ appended to their names. This simply reduces the person to a Variable Name as if in a programming code. Such way of addressing each other has no feelings in hearts but only big hollow voids.... How Vacuous.. !!
Such intolerance is intolerable and unpardonable..
Why is so that the some younger ones do not want to take their elder's advice, guidance and directions. The answer is simple and a bitter truth.. They have grown up with years but their experience with life and its vagaries is very limited... The pretend to be grown up.. mimic to show their wisdom.. They are not grounded and live in fantasy of their own minds.. They lack understanding of real life, real pain, real sorrow, real joy, real loss and real gain...In other words, their limited knowledge and exposure make them believe into know-it-all disposition in a very unreal way.. They are not Connected...
I wish the coming year brings lots of wisdom and understanding of the role of elderly in our lives, in our families, in our workplaces and in our societies. Wish to see the youthful spirit combining with the elderly wisdom to create the most beautiful world around us. A world of compassion, Concern and most genuine care...
Wish you a very Happy new year once again!!!
Stay healthy, safe and let your spirit soar the highest to a life condition of unparalleled compassion!!
From-
Manish 'Pakhi'
