The Seasons of Life

The seasons of life are represented by the passing of time and shedding of ignorance, which is the attachment to the world in its many guises. The world is everything that can be experienced repeatedly and has the effect of stirring the feeling, emotional self. Each season of the life allows specific facets of the former unconscious life to be restored to its original state of being.

From birth until puberty is the season of innocence in which the young child develops, both physically and psychologically, into the rough outline of the emerging adult. This season of the life is indelibly impressed within the being since the senses are enhanced at this time with the fragrance of nature; this creates a lasting connection with the environment in which the child is raised. As the outline of the life gradually takes form, the shadow effect of existence draws ever closer which, like the setting sun, obscures the full luminosity of the radiant source of life. The season of innocence endures until the stirrings from the unconscious arise. Into the world of time and experience every boy and girl must travel.

The season of gathering now begins as the yearning for sensual experience in the flesh. The sexual energies of the unconscious replace the sense of innocence with the vibration of the craving for experience. The young person will often go on to repeat the same experiences, regardless of the consequences of the fluctuations which upset the emotional balance of the body of self. The gathering season continues throughout the twenties and thirties as the striving to fulfil the deepest desire patterns that the person assumes will bring happiness and joy in the life. With new responsibilities such as a family, home and reputation, a sense of achievement and contentment is often attained – but a new season is fast approaching.

Now at the age of forty or fifty (or even sometimes a little earlier or later), there are two distinct possibilities which trigger the emerging new season: the season of loss or the season of elimination. The season of loss begins with the death of someone dear, or a similar emotional setback, and is accompanied by a sense of impermanence never registered before. The mat has been pulled from under the foundation of the life. What happens is a surge to the surface awareness of the value of the life’s experience to date. It’s a climactic point in the life and the individual’s response will determine the next phase of their earthly existence. Where the season of loss is most prevalent as attachment to the old way of life, there is a steady decline of the person into the geriatric condition of old age and the grave; this is often accompanied by depression and inability to connect with the wellbeing in the body. The season of elimination is a shedding of the ignorance and restrictive elements of the living experience. Although it is seen that the body is visibly ageing, there is an acceptance of what is and the adjustments necessary to function. With no regret or mourning of what was, there is now the possibility of rebirth and merging with the original season of innocence.

A seasoned man or woman is someone who has lived through all that has been necessary to surrender the need to ever experience it again. Such an individual has gained wisdom from both success and failure in equal measure. The corruption of the world is seen to have served in the realisation of the incorruptible aspect of the immortal being. The gathering season once more appears, but this time it is a gathering of the virtue of the entire experience as a being of the earth. Incredibly, each season now unfolds as the simplicity of life without effort or force. What has been lost is renewed very moment through the elimination of the past. As death of the body approaches, the truth behind the fluctuation of change in existence is perceived in its diamond-like splendour. Never changing am I but a part of life undivided, as each season is part of the whole.