Many of us, as we reach the retirement phase of our lives, when our families are grown and we no longer spend most hours laboring for our survival or projecting what we already know into the future to possess and control more things to satisfy our desires; we begin to reflect on our limited past which can create a sense of lacking that can become a mental burden which causes us suffering. In this phase of voluntary solitude, we can be surprised by our time in mental isolation, focusing on our diminished worldly involvement, feeling alone and non-productive, constantly ruminating and comparing our current existence to the past. We spend much of our time living in our heads, trapped in thoughts, imprisoned by our memories, which restrict and limit our outlook for new, joyful ways to live now. For some, this phase can easily become frustrating, demoralizing, or even a deadly scenario.
Unfortunately, this is a challenging life situation many retirees struggle with, creating anxiety similar to when we were clawing to reach our goal of a less stressful lifestyle. No matter how organized our retirement plan, filled with family, friends, hobbies, activities, volunteering, and self-improvement, we can’t seem to shake that sense of lacking fulfillment.
In some Eastern cultures, retirement has traditionally been set aside as the phase in life to venture into the woods and become a hermit in search of spiritual enlightenment: to finally let go of physical and mental attachments to understand our purpose in life, to uncover our true Nature beneath the imperfections, to remove our mental burdens, knowing we can’t change our past, but, if blessed, we can heal our past with compassionate understanding now. In modern Western cultures, becoming a recluse appears odd, and letting go of anything seems counter-productive and impractical. However, that is precisely what our lack of fulfillment in retirement tells us. If we haven’t already reached mental contentment, this unfulfilled feeling is a sign that we have yet to find the truth of that understanding: Why am I here? Now is our opportunity to start looking, not outside, but within to regain our original innocence of constant discovery that never changes, uncover our true Self-nature, and Know Thyself—maybe for the first time.
The truth appears when we become aware that everything outside us is temporary. Our mind and body, family, friends, and possessions will all disappear; the world we created is temporary, and the temporary can never provide us with fulfillment. Nothing outside of us can provide enough material to fill that internal void of understanding the purpose of our existence. Why am I here? Each of us must discover the truth for ourselves, in this lifetime, or, as some cultures believe, we will continue to be reborn to suffer in additional life forms, until we finally awaken to the truth: Thou art That, silent, eternal Consciousness. Conscious awareness transcends all suffering of material forms in this temporary world; in that instant of awakening to the truth, we are liberated, released from physical attachments and mental expectations. We are freed from the conflicted duality of psychological time, the confusion of an imaginary self-ego, and its constant craving to be something real. Our underlying fear of life and death, of losing our self-ego, mind, and body identity, disappears as we awaken to the truth of this illusory material world, which is being created through our Consciousness. This enlightenment uncovers our true Nature of being connected with everyone and everything in this universal ocean. We have reached that: Nirvana, here and now—the mindless state of conscious awareness, fulfilled by eternal peace, Love, and joy in this ever-present moment.
So, for those blessed with the time and space to look within, to wake up and unblock the Love energy flowing through us, the time to awaken is always Now, to transform the material world around us. When we remove our prison of thoughts, comparing everything with our past and the mental illusions of objective desires in the future, we unblock the energy flowing from within. We recognize that our true purpose in this life is to be a fearless, temporary pathway for the constant creativity of Love flowing into the world, knowing the truth: Thou art That, the non-material, unspoken, peaceful, joyous sense of fulfillment—being enough, whole, and complete in the ever-present moment. We are, and every temporary thing is the activity of Love: unlimited Consciousness creating the world we experience. Life happens through us, and when we quiet our minds, we can feel selfless Love creating Life in our beating hearts!
Parallel Universe ? Art by @ramonlaasc
VAB 04-22-25
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