“Old Is Gold”

As many of you know, one way that Gurumayi imparts her teachings is through the seemingly casual conversations she has with people and that people have with her. These conversations are often light, fun, and very sweet. Still, their import cannot be overstated. As I’ve heard many Siddha Yogis say, in Gurumayi’s presence, every moment is a teaching moment.

During the satsang on Makara Sankranti, Gurumayi shared about one such conversation that she’d had recently. Someone happened to tell Gurumayi that they were noticing how a lot of people were getting old. Gurumayi smiled as she recalled how interesting she found it that this person would tell her that. As Gurumayi said, she herself was born many decades ago!

The teaching that Gurumayi then imparted was very meaningful for me. She said, “Why should young people worry about old people? Why should old people worry that they are getting old?”

I find this teaching to be like a koan. On the one hand, what is the point of such worry? Is it warranted? On the other hand, young people do have the responsibility to care for those who are getting older. Simultaneously, the elder generations have a responsibility to share their wisdom with those who are younger. This mutual give-and-take is built into our human society, into the communities we have created. I believe that this is what Gurumayi was conveying with her teaching: that there is a cycle of care between generations that must be continually fostered.

Part of the reason I am convinced that this was Gurumayi’s meaning is that I’ve heard countless stories from Siddha Yogis about the efforts Gurumayi has made to encourage younger and older people to come together. To give just one example: at Gurumayi’s request, and with her guidance and direction, a set of ten “Intergenerational Sadhana Satsangs” was held in the summer of 1999 in Shree Muktananda Ashram. In these satsangs, participants shared their perspectives and experiences of Siddha Yoga sadhana. The young people had the opportunity to learn from the accumulated wisdom of their elders. The elders were inspired and energized by the enthusiasm and fresh ideas of the young people. It was a lot of fun for everyone involved—a real “win-win” situation!

As someone who is relatively young and who has benefited enormously from the knowledge passed on by older generations of Siddha Yogis, I also took Gurumayi’s words as an encouragement to acknowledge these elders. When Gurumayi said that she likes the philosophy “Old is gold”—and she mentioned how even the sun is very old—that definitely made me think. I said to myself, “Wow! The sun is roughly 4.57 billion years old! And for as long as life has existed on our planet, the light of the sun has been sustaining it.”

It’s a wonderful image to hold in mind as I reflect on all that the older generations have done. I’ve had the privilege to offer seva and do sadhana alongside people who are two, three, four, even five decades older than me. I find it humbling to consider the magnitude of their contributions to the Siddha Yoga mission. I am able to do what I do—to offer my skills in service of this incredible mission—because of the groundwork they have laid, because of their years of committed seva offered to Baba Muktananda and Gurumayi. And all the while, their sadhana has only matured. Their wisdom has only become more refined and valuable, and they have been generous enough to share that wisdom with me and with other younger Siddha Yogis.

It is my hope that the young people on the Siddha Yoga path see in their elders all the life they’ve lived, all their achievements, all that they have given to the world. And I believe that, for their part, these elders can continue inspiring young people to grow in their understanding. What the elders have to give, and have the responsibility to give, is priceless. No amount of intelligence, talent, or precociousness can replace time—years and years of lived experience on this earth.

On the topic of age—I also took to heart what Gurumayi said about doing sadhana vigorously while we have a young body. Gurumayi spoke about maintaining a strong awareness of how important our body is for sadhana. The supposed “out-of-body-consciousness” experiences we hear about from people might be captivating—but, as I wrote about earlier, it is only through this body of ours, this mind, this in-breath and out-breath, that we can make any lasting progress on the spiritual path. Gurumayi has said that the body will give us the best support for our sadhana, as long as we put in the effort to take care of it.

When we are younger, it can be easy to take for granted the fitness of our body and the agility of our mind. We can trick ourselves into thinking we will feel like this forever, simply because a different reality is outside of our current conception or experience. But why wait until we are confronted with a new reality? Right? The best thing we can do is to make use of our faculties as they are now. We can harness the energy and vitality we have, and put that toward our sadhana.

While Gurumayi did speak specifically about what to do when you have a young body, I do think that this teaching applies more widely. The fact is, no matter what our age is, we won’t ever be as young as we are now. We are only going to get older—and we don’t know how much older we’ll get, or what further changes in fortune or condition the subsequent years will bring. The ideal time to do sadhana, therefore, is always now.

Now. It’s such a simple word. So unassuming. Just three letters. Yet this three-letter word holds within its womb untold promise. It sparkles with potentiality, with the whisper of something great, something bright, something so divine that is yearning to come to pass. Whether it does come to pass depends on us—on whether we seize this moment, this now.

In her poem “Waiting for That Perfect Moment,” Gurumayi speaks about this very thing. You can revisit the poem here. Don’t you want to read it again?