Not that my life has always been spotless, but a driving impulse toward
ethical integrity is there. It is the plinth on which my asanas stand; it is
the rock to defend like a Maharajah defending his hill fortress.
I admit I am steeped in tradition, born of my forebears and trans
mitted by them. Yet at the same time, I have been revolutionary. I have
examined the tradition in order to find the original way of seeing it, to
discover its essential meaning by hammering away at it with my own
awareness and intelligence. Tradition is like a beautiful statue, which
over the years, gradually returns to just a raw lump of stone. It is our
duty to chisel away at it and recarve the beauty of the original form
within. That is what I have done and why I can say I am a revolu
tionary seeking to uncover the pristine traditions. I am both original
and derivative, new and old. As I have pursued the Four Aims of Life,
I have also pursued the Four Stages of Life. And so must we all.
The Four Stages of Life (Ashrama)
The four aims of life are closely related to what we describe as the four
stages of life (ashrama). These are very simple, natural tendencies that
we can all experience if we are blessed with sufficient years. One can
think of them as supportive shelters that help us to fulfill the four aims
of life and keep the river fl owing between its protective banks.
The first stage takes us through childhood and adolescence to the
brink of adulthood. It is a period when we need to go to school and
learn what the people of the world think, even if their conception of
the world may be wrong sometimes. It is a time for assimilating tradi
tional knowledge through parents and teachers and elders. It is a time
for submitting to a discipline (like going to school to learn mathe
matics), which we neither always enjoy nor see the point of. This rime
is known as brahmacaryasrama. The word brahmacarya suggl'Sis s1·lf.
control, discipline, and continence, and at this point of our livt •s,
wisdom consists of hcing patient and kind and rcspt·l·tful to cu1r st·nior�
IIVINc; IN 1' 1\ I·.I'.IHIM