When we are old

When we are old,we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour and resistance which, through imperceptible at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society and the doctors look after us. That we shall eventually die of old age if we escape wars,accidents and disease, is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we have made. This happens at a rate which differs little from person to person. Some of  us will die sooner, a few will liver longer. However lucky and robust we are,there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive.

Young men always tend to forget this process, while some old people are oppressed by the fear of death. Mainly because the body of a young man is at its most vigorous and an old man, under the process of losing vigor with time, is becoming more and more likely to die.

However, in fact, a young man is the real one who should have this feeling of the fear of death. As we all know, living in a world in which undeclared aggression,hypocrisy, chicanery, anarchy and impending immolation often happen, a young man has reason to fear that he will be killed in next hour or next day. A young man who gives more than a passing thought to the impending fact that he would have been cheated of the best things that life has to offer, may justifiably feel bitter. In the contrary, in an old man who has known joys and sorrows, and has achieved whatever work it was in him to do, the fear of death is somewhat abject and ignoble.

What is the best  way to overcome the fear of death when we are old? The best way is to make interests gradually wider and more impersonal, until bit by bit the walls ofthe ego recede, and life becomes increasingly merged in the universal life. Just like a river, it is small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past boulders and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the water flows quietly, and in the end, without  any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their  individual being. The man, who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will  not suffer from the fear of death, since what was possible for him has been done and the things he cares for will continue.

Although almost all of the old men hope to get respect from others, and respect for elders is one good tradition in China, no necessity of making dreary clichés about respect for elders results in neglect of facts and truth.