Four Maturation (Ashrams) Stages in Life
Everyone passes through these four stages of growth in life. The first stage
is to grow the body in the youth stage. But just by physical growth alone
one cannot be called as adult or matured if the next parameter is not
allowed to grow.
The next focus should be on emotional growth or maturity.
This is why marriage life (Ritual) has been prescribed in Vedic culture.
Marriage is one among the sixteen
Samskars (rituals) advocated in
Vedic culture.
Purpose of married life is not just for keeping
company and have sexual pleasures and bear children. They are part of it.
The main focus is on the emotional maturity or growth. It is through
accommodation one matures in handling the marriage relation. The emotional
growth will not happen until the couples use the intelligence to strength
their relations. Just by emotional gratification the relation can exist only
for a short time. It is only though exercising intelligence in the relation,
one can nurture emotional maturity.
Using the intelligence in relations , then slowly Wisdom dawns. One should
use more thinking in the broader sense, not just confined to one's own
comforts and security of life. From the home one should be of use to the
society also. Slowly involving in social activities of service wisdom dawns.
This is the Vanaprastham stage.
When commitments of family is totally done, then one should have a attitude
of detachment. Detachment is not physically not mentally. This is Sanyasa.
When one develops Sanyasa or detachment which is the attitude that there is
impermanence in worldly sense, one develops to look at life with Awareness.
This is the witnessing attitude one experience in meditation.
There is no clear correlation of age with these stages. of course for
practical purpose one uses 25 years of age in each phase, it could be
shorter in different individuals , in how soon they complete growth in one
phase and move on to the next.
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Ayurveda here.
