What is the secret of longevity?
Keep a noiseless heart, sit just like a tortoise, walk such as a pigeon and sleeping just like a dog sprightly.
~ Li Ching Yuen (chinese herbalist, said to have lived to 256 years http://bit.ly/1XnTO2X)
What do those words really mean?
“Noiseless heart” – Silence, where otherness is absent
“Sit like a tortoise” – Be Present, where otherness is absent
“Walk such as a pigeon” – Mindful Motion, where otherness is absent, and Flow is
“Sleep like a dog” – Deep, dreamless sleep, where otherness is absent
Where otherness is absent, of course, No-otherness is, as it is, unchanging. This implies living from and as True Self.
In practically all cases, the form of the body-mind, once born does end.
But a body-mind soaked in light of True Self may live longer in the world of form. In India, stories of “Siddhas” abound, who have lived hundreds of years. Stories of unique beings like Mahavatar Babaji are very much in vogue even today — Babaji is said to be over a thousand years old and yet in the body of a young adult. Then there are the “Immortals“, a dozen or so exalted beings, that are said to be eternally alive in form; among these, Hanuman, revered as a deity by millions, is said to be in form today, having lived hundreds of thousands of years. While stories of longevity and immortality abound, there are real stories of really awakened Masters, like Adi Shankaracharya, who lived only for thirty two years, but whose short life in form, changed the world’s understanding of Reality, Non-duality, No-otherness.
Real longevity, thus, is the recognition that who we really are already is the eternal True Self. Scriptures also say, that the long living sages, the immortals, all the deities stand in awe and respect in service of one who is fully awake!
Real longevity comes from realizing who you really are, and being who you really are, the infinite, eternal, One without a second.
Real longevity is being True Self.
Love
Sundar.
~~–
Your real nature is not limited. It is wholeness.
Your true self is not time-bound. It is eternal.
Realize your true self. Experience Enlightenment.
Awaken from otherness. Experience Reality.
Experience No-otherness. Find who you really are.