A yogi does not measure his life by the years but by the breath he takes. To say that he is old is an impossibility and a joke. Old age is a mere reflection of the mind, and not of years. Weakness and decrepitude creep in for lack of trust in truth, in justice, in oneself, and in one’s kinsmen.

These are the signs of old age:

• • As soon as the freshness and interest is gone out of one’s life, he is old.
  • When one talks about killing time, he is becoming old.
  • He who is interested in nothing new is old.
  • He who is timid and afraid to take on new enterprises is old.
  • He who has no self-reliance is old.
  • He who repeatedly calls for help is old.
  • The habitual fault-finder and complainer is old.
  • He who values mundane wealth more than uplifting thoughts is old.
  • One who clings to life and does not let go is old.
  • One who does not enjoy humor and has lost his smile is old.
  • One who does not enjoy the song of the birds or the beauty of the flower is old.
  • One who has no control over his limbs and is horrified of death is old.
  • One who does not enjoy stillness, quietness, and silence is old.
  • One whose mind is like a crowded abode full of strife and misery is old.

But one who remains in the garden of delight and smiles perpetually is young. One whose heart is every fresh, ever green, is ever young.

Editor’s note

This is an excerpt from the entry “Perpetual Youth” by Swami Rama and is found in the book Love Whispers by Swami Rama, published by Himalayan Institute Press.