Life One, Phase Two
Life One, Phase Two is similar to the third of Hinduism’s four life stages, vanaprastha (forest dweller), when we devote ourselves to spiritual matters. Similar, but not identical. Where the Hindu leaves accumulation behind, devotees of Life One, Phase Two simply transfer their accumulating from the secular to the spiritual. We pursue the spiritual with the same mindset with which we pursued the material. We collect gurus, initiations, spiritual books, icons, music, and films; buy the very best yoga mats, meditation cushions, yoga clothes, malas, and prayer shawls; and attend as many meditation retreats and visit as many holy sites as our schedules and budgets permit. And in the end, when we are stuffed with stuff of the spirit, the question returns, “Is this all there is?”
I traveled to India to study with the forest dwellers. I packed the finest lululemon yoga clothes and carried the best Manduka yoga mat. The yogis I met were naked, with stones tied to their balls with string. I asked them where to buy the finest stones and the best string. RR