Adding Life To Our Years

[Guest guest]

People often say that Science is evil. This is not true because Science is just

knowledge. However, knowledge can be used for either good or for evil

purposes; this is the choice that humans make and therefore it is

wrong to blame Science as such for many of the problems we face today.

 

There cannot be any question that Science has conferred many benefits

on humanity, one of these being the increase in longevity. Way back

around 1940, the average life expectancy in India was just 27 years

but today, it has climbed to well over fifty. In the advanced

countries, it is quite common to see people live beyond 70 and even

80. This is good news no doubt but there is also, unfortunately, a

flip side to it. Late President Kennedy called attention to it in his

own characteristic way; he said we have added years to life but we

still have the task of adding life to years. What exactly did Kennedy

mean? That is what we wish to reflect on presently.

 

It is nice to live longer but old age also brings its many " gifts " ,

like arthritis, hip fracture, and so on, all of which handicap a

person. And this precisely is where the problem starts. Who takes

care of the old, especially those who are not keeping in good health,

are disabled in some way, are infirm, suffer from dementia, etc?

This problem is at once an individual and a social issue, an issue

that is rapidly becoming more and more critical as the number of aged

people in many societies is constantly increasing, even as the birth

rate is declining perceptibly.

 

Let us start at the level of the individual. Every individual on

earth exists because of his or her parents. It is the parents who

bring the person into the earth. It is they who take care of the

person in infancy, when the baby simply cannot survive on its own.

Particularly the mother, who most lovingly makes an enormous

sacrifice to take care of the child, not content with the enormous

difficulty she had to bear while carrying the baby in the womb and

the pangs she suffered at the time of giving birth.

 

All this is well known, but unfortunately quickly forgotten by the

children when they grow up, especially these days. For thousands of

years, people in all societies regarded taking care of parents in

their old age as a mandatory responsibility. True the going was not

always smooth, but for the most part, old people were taken care of

and not discarded like worn out socks. Things changed drastically

when children started going away to other places for work, settle

down in big cities where accommodation was limited and so on, making

it difficult to maintain old people. Added to all this, the lady of

the house was often a working-woman and that compounded the problem.

 

In the affluent countries, the problem was partially solved by the

emergence of Retirement Colonies, into which old people could move in

without botheration to their children, with their offspring making

occasional visits. But this system is running into problems of its

own, with many in the lower income bracket having little savings to

put away for old age and retirement homes. Often such people have to

survive by becoming baby sitters for their grandchildren. In other

words, instead of being taken care of, they have to bring up children

once more.

 

In India, there was an ancient tradition according to which mother

was regarded as God. Not any more, with many sons abandoning their

mothers and leaving them to be cared for by the daughters. In one

house, the daughter-in-law was so hostile, she would lock up the

refrigerator when she went for work; the poor aged parents of her

husband would be left hungry throughout the day till the husband and

wife returned in the evening. It was only then that they got some

scraps as the evening meal. The son's home had thus become a prison.

Swami once narrated a story concerning this sad state of affairs but

we shall not go into that now. However, we would like to draw

attention to what Swami says about the debt everyone of us owes to

our parents.

 

Baba says that if a person borrows from a bank say, he has to settle

the debt; if he fails to, he would be in trouble and would have to

face action. It is the same with parents, especially mother. Baba

says every human being, whether it is a man or a woman, occupies the

mother's womb for nine months. What about paying " rent " for that?

Baba adds that is why mother is called a parent – the word is a

reminder that one must PAY RENT to one's mother! This is typical of

the way Baba plays on words. But behind that is a serious message.

Paying rent to the mother means taking care of her in her old age. If

one defaults, one will get paid back by destiny for sure – that is

what the Law of Karma is all about.

 

In a home for the aged in New Zealand regularly visited by Sai

children, the inmates were very happy whenever the children came

because they gave the old people the love that the sons and daughters

ought to have offered but failed to. There was one particular lady

whom the children loved very much. One week when they came, they

found the bed occupied by the lady was empty. When they asked where

the old lady was, they were told she had passed away. The children

sat there and wept. One wonders whether the sons and daughters of the

old lady grieved as much.

 

We would do well to remember that the Love a mother selflessly

showers on her young baby to nurse and protect is actually the Love

of God – the physical mother is merely a proxy for God. That is why

in ancient India, it was mandatory to regard mother as God. As Swami

says, there is no mother who hates her son but there are many sons

who, when they grow up, develop an aversion for their mother because

mother is now a drag. Can one afford to forget who gave one one's

life, besides providing so much love and protection?

 

Yes, people are no doubt living longer but unless life is made

meaningful and pleasant for the aged, the extension of their life

might well be worthless. This enrichment of old age can be done not

by machines, not by technology, but only by humans, especially sons

and daughters. Is this asking for too much? Or should parents also

should be disposed off when they become old like old TV sets, cell

phones, computers and cars are got rid of? Is that what progress is

all about? Think about it!

 

Jai Sai Ram.

Swamy Mahadevan

Bow to Shri Sai-Peace be to all

Baba Bless you ever!!!