seven ages by akshaya
TRANSCRIPT
INTRODUCTIONThis model of the seven stages of life is an important conceptual tool formulated by WIILIAM SHAKESPEARE to clarify, and so help others to similarly understand, the spiritual implications of all the individual and collective expressions of human experience and knowledge. The following paragraphs will provide a general introduction to this unique model.
Human life develops or evolves in seven stages.
The first three stages of human life are the stages of lower functional (physical, emotional, and mental) adaptation to the universal Life-Energy.
The fourth stage of human life is the stage of whole bodily surrender and adaptation to the universal Life via Love-Communion (the disposition of the heart or deep psyche of pure energy
The fifth stage of human life is the stage of mysticism, or evolutionary adaptation to the higher brain and mind.
The sixth stage of human life is the stage of ego-death, or transcendence of mind, independent self, and primal fear.
The seventh stage of human life is the stage of bodily Translation, or Transfiguration of the total body-mind and the atomic soul in the Infinite Radiance of the Living God
The first and foremost act
of every human being is the
stage of infancy, where he
makes his presence felt by
crying at the top of his
voice and many a times
vomiting any food or drink
that is repulsive, at the
nursing arms of his mother.
This period normally last till
four years of age.
The second stage is the ‘whining’ schoolboy where he learns to utter a plaintive, high-pitched, protracted sound, as in pain, fear, supplication, or complaint. His shiny morning face and his satchel; a small bag, sometimes with a shoulder strap; he creeps like a snail and not willing to go to school.
This is the third stage of man’s life. Now he is a grown up person and assumes the form of a lover. It is the time when he loves his beloved ardently. He sighs like a furnace or an oven. He writes a song in praise of his beloved’s eye brow. He also sings such songs again and burns in his emotions
The fourth stage is that of a soldier where life if full of obligations, commitments, compliances, oaths and vows. His beard is like a leopard or panther. He endlessly fights for his honor, a full presence of mind which is sudden and quick in quarrel and a heart to maintain a dignified reputation
The fifth stage is the adult-hood where a man tries to live a fair and justified life. His belly becomes bigger than normal. He is conscious about his diet and consumes a good intake of ‘capon’; a cockerel castrated to improve the flesh for use as food. His eyes are severe with seriousness and his beard is leveled to a formal cut. He is to take a lot of correct decisions to keep up with the ever changing times. So this stage is the most powerful stage in life.
The sixth stage is the middle-age. Here is where he prepares himself for the next level in life i.e. old age. He learns to relax from the hustles of life. His strength begins to weaken and spends more time within the roof of his house. He looks like a buffoon and an old fool in his rugged old slippers. He hangs his spectacles on his nose for reading and all his youthful hose; a flexible tube for conveying a liquid, as water, to a desired point; saved for the world too wide. His shank begins to shrink with time; the part of the lower limb in humans between the knee and the ankle; leg. Even his voice begins to descend to a lower tone. In his free time, he smokes his pipe and whistles his matured melodies.
The last stage is the old-age where he enters his second childhood. It is also the beginning of the end of his eventful history. It is also the stage of oblivion; the state of being completely forgotten or unknown; the state of forgetting or of being oblivious; official disregard or overlooking of offenses; He is without everything; without teeth, eyes and taste.