QNA WITH SRI SRI
MONDAY, JANUARY 18, 2016

Q: My children have gone abroad for higher studies and I am now alone at home. I often do not know what to do, and feel a sense of emptiness.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: See, until now, your whole world was limited to your children and their wellbeing, isn’t it? Your world was restricted to a small boundary. You only thought about 'My children; me, mine”, etc. Now that you have more time on your hands, I would suggest you to involve your neighbours and dear ones and conduct satsang regularly. Get engaged in some social service projects, and work for the society. There is so much you can do.
If you know children who are in need of a loving parent or grandparent – then make yourself available for them and take care of them. Engage yourself in some service project. Or, you can sit and read the scriptures and other books. You can take up writing as well. Today you need not even go anywhere, just by being at home and writing, you can reach out to so many people. You should always share knowledge with others. This kind of social arrangement or framework has been in existence in India since many ages. This stage of life is called the Vanaprastha Ashrama (the third phase of the Vedic Ashrama system which starts when a person hands over household responsibilities to the next generation, takes an advisory role, and gradually withdraws from the world).

Once your children have grown and become independent, hand over the keys and responsibilities of the household to them. This is the way to be happy. If you cling onto the keys of the house till your last breath, then you will become miserable and also make others miserable around you. You should not do this. As time progresses, you should hand over the responsibilities to the next generation and let them lead their lives independently.

The essence of the Vanaprastha Ashrama is that after reaching a certain ripe age, one must share all that one has received in life with others. Whatever wisdom you have learnt in life till that age, you must share it with others. So after reaching the age of 50 or 60 years, one should act in accordance with the Vanaprastha Ashrama. By this age, you have had enough running after “Me; mine; my life”, etc. Now you must dedicate your life to helping and uplifting others. You must now expand your boundaries of care and concern for others, rather than limiting it further. This entire framework of theAshrama System has been so intelligently conceived and put in place in our society.

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