Whatsoever your age, this good work can be begun any day. Although it becomes harder with the advent of age, the journey on this path can be undertaken at any time of life. It is better to begin this journey in childhood, but it is good to undertake it at any stage in life.
You can begin today. Older people who are willing to learn, who have an aptitude for learning, are still children even if they are old in years. They, as well, can start afresh; they, as well, can learn, if they haven’t taken for granted that they already know everything or that they have already achieved everything desirable.
Gautam Buddha had a disciple who had been a devotee for many years, and one day Buddha asked him, “Monk, what is your age?”
The monk replied, “Five.”
Buddha was surprised. “Five years old? You look at least seventy. What kind of answer is this?”
The monk replied, “I say this because the ray of meditation entered my life five years ago, and only in the last five years has love showered in my life. Before that, my life was like a dream; I existed in sleep. When counting my age I do not consider those years. How can I? My real life only began five years ago. I am only five.”
Buddha told all his disciples to note the monk’s answer well.
You should all count your ages in this manner; this is the standard for calculating age. If love and meditation are not yet born in you, your life, up to now, is negated; you are not born yet. But it is never so late that you cannot start trying. We should all strive for a higher life. And for that it is never too late.
So do not conclude from my words, because you have passed through childhood, that this talk is meant for future generations only. At no time has any man gone so far on the wrong path that he cannot return to the right one; no man has become so wayward that he cannot benefit from the true light.
Comparatively speaking, this journey does not require much endeavor. The returns in accomplishment and satisfaction at the dawn of enlightenment are much greater than any efforts you have made. The mere glimpse of that ray of light, of that joy, of that truth, gives us the feeling we have achieved such a lot with such little effort; it shows us we have attained the invaluable with very insignificant efforts indeed.
Please do not view my words in the wrong frame of mind. This is my humble request to you all.
OSHO
From Sex to Superconsciousness – Chapter #3
