Question: There is a classic saying that in his life a person should plant a tree, build a house, and beget a son. Suppose he has built his little house, planted his garden, and so on. What is the meaning of all this? Grandchildren run around who hate their grandfather; children wait for him to finally die. And nothing good happens at the end of life except disappointment.

Must a person necessarily come to disappointment at the end of life?

Answer: You don’t have to; you don’t have to be disappointed. It is up to you. As a rule, people who die a natural death agree that they must die. They simply die from exhaustion.

Question: But not from joy, not with a smile?

Answer: No, I would not say that because it is a kind of deliverance. A person does not think of death as something terrible. It appears to him as liberation from various problems, especially those that cannot be solved that are still hanging over him and he is tired of.

Comment: I have seen many people your age who have given up on themselves.

My Response: They simply have nothing left anymore. Especially when a person retires, he has nothing left but to continue his animal existence for as long as his body lasts. Then, of course, nothing can be done; you live involuntarily because the body lives.

Comment: But at the same time they do not want to perceive anything. It is as if they have shut themselves inside their little world.

My Response: Tired! Tired.

Comment: Once he was ready for anything. You explain to him…

My Response: You cannot explain anything to him because inside us operates the desire that causes all our actions.

Around 50 and onward, a person’s desire begins to fade. Until 40 he lives with open eyes. From 40 to 50 one begins to stabilize, and then one begins to decline in one’s desires. And when these desires completely disappear, the body dies.

Desires bring about life, flourishing, or the death of the body. That is all! The body by itself could live for thousands of years. It is the desire that leaves.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Purpose of Life,” 9/19/10

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