Maturity

1. Maturity is Reclaimed Innocence, Not Just Aging

Maturity means the same as innocence, only with one difference: it is innocence reclaimed, it is innocence recaptured.

Beyond Simple Aging. Maturity isn't merely growing old; it's an inner evolution achieved through conscious living. While aging is a physical process, maturity is a spiritual rebirth, a return to the unburdened state of childhood innocence, but with the wisdom gained from experience. This reclaimed innocence is incorruptible, alert, and aware, unlike the naivety of a child.

Society's Corrupting Influence. Society often stifles innocence by imposing knowledge, conditioning, and expectations. Schools, religions, and cultures can inadvertently destroy the inherent simplicity and purity of a child's heart. Maturity, therefore, involves shedding these societal layers to rediscover one's true self.

Reclaiming Paradise. This process of reclaiming innocence is akin to regaining paradise. It's about approaching life with fresh eyes, love in the heart, and a silent, innocent mind. Maturity is the ultimate flowering of meditation, a state of pure isness that transcends thoughts and feelings.

2. Awareness Transforms Experience into Maturity

Aging plus awareness, experiencing plus awareness, is maturity.

The Power of Presence. Maturity arises not from the mere passage of time, but from the quality of awareness brought to each experience. Living in a state of deep sleep leads only to aging, while living with intensity and mindfulness transforms experiences into wisdom. This awareness allows one to savor each moment, understand its meaning, and grow from it.

Breaking the Cycle. An immature person repeats the same mistakes, trapped in a cycle of anger, repentance, and renewed anger. A mature person, however, learns from each experience, ensuring that the same error is never repeated. This learning isn't a result of decision or vow, but a natural consequence of understanding.

Living Consciously. Living consciously means bringing awareness to every aspect of life, from joy to sorrow. It means facing pain and pleasure with equal presence, understanding that they are two sides of the same coin. This awareness leads to a life of continuous celebration, where even death becomes an experience to be intensely lived and watched.

3. Life's Rhythm: Embracing Duality for True Freedom

Unless one understands this duality of existence, one remains in unnecessary misery.

Dialectical Existence. Life exists through duality, a rhythm between opposites. Happiness cannot exist without unhappiness, harmony without discord. True freedom comes from accepting the totality of life, with all its agonies and ecstasies.

Acceptance and Stillness. The key to transforming misery lies in being still, silent, and accepting of pain, frustration, and suffering. This acceptance transforms misery into a treasure, giving even pain a sharpness and darkness its own beauty.

The Flavor of Freedom. By embracing both happiness and unhappiness, one attains a new flavor of freedom, unclingingness, and non-attachment. This allows one to remain still and accepting, transforming the very quality of misery itself.

4. Maturity of Spirit: Beyond Personhood to Presence

The more a man goes deeper into himself the more mature he is.

Transcending the Self. A mature person transcends the limitations of the self, becoming a presence rather than a person. This maturity isn't about gaining worldly experience, but about embarking on an inward journey to the very center of one's being.

Qualities of Maturity. This journey culminates in the disappearance of the person, leaving only presence, silence, and innocence. Maturity bestows tremendous beauty, sharp intelligence, and an all-encompassing love.

Vulnerability and Simplicity. True maturity doesn't create a solid rock of protection, but rather makes one vulnerable, soft, and simple. It's about touching your inner sky, finding a home within, and acting with grace and poetry.

5. The Seven-Year Cycles: Understanding Life's Inner Pattern

In fact man’s life should not be divided into childhood, youth, old age. That is not very scientific, because every seven years a new age begins, a new step is taken.

Life's Rhythmic Stages. Life unfolds in seven-year cycles, each marking a distinct phase of physical and psychological development. These cycles reveal an inner pattern, guiding individuals through stages of self-centeredness, inquiry, sexuality, ambition, security, orthodoxy, and finally, a return to self.

Navigating the Cycles. Understanding these cycles allows for a more natural and fulfilling life. Each phase has its own unique characteristics and challenges, and recognizing these patterns can help individuals navigate them with greater awareness and ease.

Society's Role. Society often disrupts these natural cycles by imposing expectations and suppressing natural inclinations. This can lead to individuals becoming stuck in certain phases, hindering their overall growth and maturity.

6. Interdependence: The Pinnacle of Mature Relationships

Two persons, neither independent nor dependent but in a tremendous synchronicity, as if breathing for each other, one soul in two bodies—whenever that happens, love has happened.

Beyond Dependence and Independence. Mature love transcends dependence, where partners exploit and possess each other, and independence, where relationships remain superficial due to fear of compromise. It culminates in interdependence, a rare synchronicity where two individuals breathe for each other, becoming one soul in two bodies.

Spiritual Connection. This interdependence is not merely a social, psychological, or biological arrangement, but a spiritual connection. It's a state where love opens the gates of paradise, rather than the gates of hell.

The Essence of Love. Only this third possibility, interdependence, can truly be called love. The other two are just arrangements—social, psychological, biological, but arrangements. The third is something spiritual.

7. Gift-Love: Overflowing, Not Needing

Man becomes mature the moment he starts loving rather than needing.

Beyond Deficiency-Love. Immature love is rooted in need, a deficiency that seeks to be filled by another. Mature love, on the other hand, is an overflow, a gift that arises from abundance. It's about giving unconditionally, without expectation of return.

The Flower in the Forest. Like a flower blooming in a deep forest, mature love exists for its own sake, regardless of whether it's appreciated or reciprocated. It's a state of being, not a relationship dependent on external factors.

Freedom and Space. Dependence breeds misery and slavery, while mature love flowers in freedom, requiring space and non-interference. It's about giving without conditions, recognizing that love is a by-product of being.

8. Marriage: A Crucible for Real, Not Romantic, Love

Marriage simply brings out whatsoever is hidden in you—it brings it out.

Beyond Romanticism. Marriage should be a realistic decision, made after the honeymoon, when the initial romanticism has faded. It's about accepting the responsibilities and challenges of life together, rather than hoping for a fairytale existence.

A Catalyst for Growth. Marriage doesn't destroy love; it reveals what's already present. If love is genuine, marriage provides an opportunity for it to grow stronger. If it's merely a pretense, marriage will expose the underlying reality.

The Essence of True Love. True love is a deep understanding that someone completes you, making you a full circle. It's about enhancing each other's presence, giving freedom to be yourself, and understanding that love is not a passion, love is not an emotion.

9. Meditative Parenting: Nurturing Unconditioned Souls

Make love only when you are ready to be in a meditative space.

Conscious Creation. Children should be conceived not through mere biological impulse, but through deep, meditative love. This involves melting into each other's beings, setting aside egos and ideologies, and becoming simple and innocent.

Respecting the Guest. Parents should treat their children as guests from the unknown, respecting their individuality and providing them with freedom and protection. This means avoiding conditioning and allowing them to discover their own truth.

The Gift of Freedom. By giving children freedom, even against their own desires, parents create a bond of love and respect that lasts a lifetime. This freedom allows children to grow into unique beings, unburdened by the expectations and limitations of their parents.

10. The Crossroads: Choosing Eternity Over Time

In a moment of meditation you suddenly see that you can move in two directions—either horizontal or vertical.

Two Paths. Life presents two paths: the horizontal, leading to mediocrity and death, and the vertical, leading to eternity and immortality. The horizontal path is characterized by time, ambition, and worldly pursuits, while the vertical path is marked by silence, blissfulness, and inner exploration.

The Penetration of Light. The moment eternity penetrates time, through meditation, is the beginning of enlightenment. This awareness allows one to see the world differently, with ambitions and desires evaporating.

The Mirror of Truth. A person moving vertically becomes a mirror, reflecting the true face of those who come close. This can be both inspiring and frightening, as it exposes both beauty and ugliness.

11. The Vertical Path: A Journey of Less, Not More

What is the vertical line? Of being less and less and less, to the point of utter emptiness, to the point of being nobody.

The Begging Bowl. The horizontal path is a pursuit of "more," an insatiable desire that can never be fulfilled. The vertical path, however, is a journey of "less," a stripping away of ego and attachment until one reaches a state of utter emptiness.

The Authentic Sannyasin. The man of the vertical path is the authentic sannyasin, content in being nobody, immensely happy with his inner purity of emptiness. This nothingness allows him to be in tune with the universe, to become the whole universe.

The Essence of Enlightenment. Enlightenment is not about accumulating knowledge or power, but about becoming so nonexistent as an ego that the whole oceanic existence becomes part of you. It's about losing your boundaries and merging with the infinite.

12. Death: Not an End, But a Culmination

Death is the culmination, the fulfillment. Life does not end in it; in fact life flowers in it—it is the flower.

A Circular Change. In existence, death is not an end, but a transition, a circular change from one form to another. It's a natural part of the cosmic rhythm, as essential as birth.

Transcending Fear. By understanding the interconnectedness of life and death, one can transcend the fear that plagues humanity. This understanding allows one to live more fully, embracing each moment with joy and gratitude.

The Ultimate Friend. Death, when approached with awareness and acceptance, becomes the ultimate friend, the crescendo of life. It's the highest peak that life achieves, the flowering of existence.

Last updated: February 10, 2025