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Understand that transition is the very course of nature. And also understand that it is the very course of the mind to take to as well as to leave.

Q: Devotee: In life, we have to go through many stages. How do we leave each stage and move on to the next one? What sort of discipline is required?

Swamiji: Transition is the very nature of life. During conception, the ovum is fertilized by the sperm. Then the foetus starts growing. What is meant by growth? Is it not transition from one stage to another? The foetus completes its growth in the mother’s womb. Then it wants to come out. The mother also wants to push it out. With both working in harmony, the child is born. The umbilical cord is cut. Then the child becomes independent. It is an infant. How long does the infant remain as an infant? It grows into a child. And the childhood is further transformed into boyhood or girlhood. Then adolescence, youth, old-age, and thereafter life forces depart.

At the bodily level, the transition is very clear and it takes place on its own accord. You don’t have to facilitate it. You take food. The food is consumed. And thereafter the alimentary canal receives it and assimilates it. It gets converted into flesh and blood. All these are involuntary.

When it comes to the mind, assimilation or nourishment is not involuntary. You have to help and guide the mind for this transition. I have one definition for life: It is a process of living and outliving. You studied in the primary class for a year. After that you left that class and passed over to the next. There also you studied for one year. You went to school, college, etc. You became a professional.

So, transition is in the very nature of life. This transition is the inexorable necessity of life. But in the level of the mind, you have to facilitate it. Mind is generally given to the habit of holding on to things. You must learn to leave things also.

Yesterday one nurse came here. She wanted to spend some time with me. She was in Germany with her husband for quite a few years. She was feeling that she had not spent enough time with the children. Now her daughter is in confinement. So she has about three months to spend with her daughter and the grandchild. They are due to leave very shortly.

Thinking of the impending separation, she says with tearful eyes: “The thought of having to leave the grandchild and send my daughter away is already there. I am very sad and I am unable to accept it.”

I told her: “What are you saying? I don’t understand. The husband will come and take his wife, your daughter, away. Do you mean the husband should not come and should not take her away with him? What kind of son-in-law do you want? Your daughter has come to you for confinement. As soon as the confinement is over, should not the husband come and take charge? … Yes, if he should take her, then why are you crying? Suppose the husband refuses to take her, then you can cry, saying that the husband has not come. Why is it that now you are crying?” “Yes Swamiji, it is true.” “What is true? If it is true, be governed by it.”

Everything in life is in transition. Suppose you take food and the food is not digested, and you don’t feel hungry again, will you be happy? Suppose a hungry stomach, even after eating well, does not get full, will you be comfortable? So, transition means leaving one stage for the other. Growth means what? Is it not transformation? What is transformation? It is a form of transition only.

Understand that transition is the very course of nature. And also understand that it is the very course of the mind to take to as well as to leave.

When people come to the Ashram, I am very happy. When they go away from the Ashram, then also I am happy. They cannot always be remaining here. They will go away and we will have other things to look into. At the same time, I am also happy that some people come here and remain with us. They become ashramites. We need them too. The other people have their household commitments. They should come here and they should also go. They should not constantly remain here; they should go. The inmates constantly remain here, they should not go.

My mind gets reconciled with all these without any difficulty or effort. It is a question of understanding. You should help your mind to undergo this process of transition in every walk of life.

So, transition is very important. Transition or transformation constitutes the very essence of growth. Once you understand it, this understanding will help the mind to live and outlive.

– Vicharasethu-Jan 2008