The Four Ashrams of Life
The model of the Four Ashramas of life comes from ancient vedic scriptures. It is a model for living in harmony with nature which divides human life into quarters.
Brahmacharya Ashram: Birth-25 years
Grhasta Ashram:
25-50 years
Vanaprashta Ashram: 50-75 years
Sannyasa Ashram:
75-100 years
The word ashram means retreat or spiritual dwelling. It derives from another Sanskrit word shrama meaning religious exertion. Thus, each of these periods of life can be seen as dwelling places with their own unique qualities, lessons and aims.
A human life is the microcosm of what is occuring on a more widespread scale in nature, and as such, these stages can be considered parallel to the four seasons of nature occuring in a given year. As ever with vedic wisdom, to respect and align ourselves with the cycles of life and nature is health and to be divorced from them causes imbalance and disease.
This model also reflects the understanding that we are not fixed but rather evolving into different roles as we age and assists us in better going with nature’s plan for us that we may lead not just a long but a deep and fulfilling life; dirgham jivityam.
The First Quarter of Life
According to the theory, the first 25 years of life should be dedicated to learning. The name for this period; Brahmacarya reflects one of the Yamas (rules of right conduct) of Yoga philosophy. It is sometimes translated as celibacy but more widely as the right use of energy, including sexual energy. It indicates that one’s energy should, at this time in particular, be funneled into the study of life rather than running after pleasure, for instance, which will distract from the pursuit of knowledge.
As my teacher, Dr Vasant Lad often says; alongside the study of the scriptures and textbooks it is necessary to ‘read your own book’ and so to become aware of your own daily operating consciousness. This practice is known in Yoga as svadhyaya (self-study) and through it we enter a journey of self-discovery that unveils our true nature. It helps us understand our thoughts, emotions, motivations, and to recognize the patterns that shape our life. While our current paradigm may emphasize external validation in our school system for example, true fulfillment comes from familiarity with the inner world; self-knowledge.
This period of life is intimately connected with dharma, the first of the purusharthas or four aims of human life. The purpose of education is to find our path in life, and develop an inner compass that will guide us to live dharmically through the rest of life.
House Holding
The Sanskrit word ghra means home and stha means stay or place. In the second ashram of life we are focussed on acquiring a home and building up our family life. Having accumulated sufficient energy or shakti during the previous 25 years, individuals may now fully satisfy the deep rooted human desires to find partnership, have children, create a home and engage in meaningful work.
Thus, Artha, the second aim of life, is intimately connected with grhasta ashram. The vedic texts define Artha as material prosperity including assets such as a house, land, vehicles, children, pets and so much more which an individual works for to provide for their family and community.
Grhasta ashram is sometimes discussed as the most important phase, because it supports all the other stages of life; it supports education (brahmacharya), it supports retirement (vanaprashta) and it supports sannyasi (especially charity for religious mendicants).
The Way of the Forest
Vana means forest and prashta means way or road. The third stage of life, the ‘forest retreat’ or ‘way of the forest’ is akin to semi-retirement from the responsibilities of the previous phase of life. Children are grown and with the education and tools gifted to them can now begin to flourish into adulthood. At this time, in both family and business matters, one should take more of an advisory role, thus leaving more space to begin the gradual retreat to letting go of worldly matters.
At this time, it is advisable to at least begin the journey inward, and placing greater emphasis on spiritual practices and internal life. The corresponding season of the year is Autumn, where the leaves change color and dry up, hence this also marks the entry of the body into the Vata stage of life, where the subtle air and space elements prevail.
The corresponding aim of life is Kama, pleasure. By this time, hopefully, sufficient wealth including property and children have been acquired to facilitate and each individual and family can begin to enjoy the fruits of their artha. The wealth of life can now be shared and enjoyed, even used to make your deeper desires come true.
Sannyasa Ashram
The last phase of life is focussed on actively recognising the impermanence of the body and preparing for the end of life. Sannyasa means renunciation, and where vanaprashta was the gradual retreat, sannyasa ashram marks the total renunciation of worldly matters to focus one’s whole energy on spiritual practice.
Deeply intertwined with the fourth and final aim of life; Moksha; freedom from worldly responsibility and desire, this phase marks the preparation to release the physical body and identity before death. In fact, a life fully lived makes us able to expereince this freedom whilst still alive. At this time there should be complete focus on merging the individual into the universal (yoga).
The success of the preceding phases in which we have learned to live dharmically, satisfied the essential desires of life and have accumulated resources to take care of our responsibilities are essential to making this a ‘tasteful exit’ as Dr Robert Svoboda calls it.
Chaturashrama in modern times
So does this model, with its roots in ancient times, still find relevance in today’s modern world?
Just as Ayurveda and Yoga, these pieces of information are timeless and to be cherished as part of the manual for living that vedic thought offers us millenia later. More or less, these ashrams are understood in the West, albeit known by different terms. However, it seems that in post-industrial times especially, our culture has simultaneously forgotten and begun to tinker with the natural order of the phases of life, resulting in more widespread crisis of identity and purpose.
“Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita, mi ritrovai per una selva oscura, ché la diritta via era smarrita”
At one point, midway on our path in life, I found myself within a dark wood, the right way blurred and lost
Dante, The Divine Comedy (Inferno)
It is interesting to note that we modern humans tend to struggle with identity around the shift between stages of life; quarter life and mid life crisis are terms we hear regularly when an existing routine of life feels suddenly dissatisfying to an individual around the transition points between ashrams.
Unfortunately, with many of us lacking awareness, a dharmic foundation for life and clarity of mind, these can be moments where the balance tips and grave mistakes are made. Rather than finding ourselves renewed, we can experience the loss of identity negatively and delve into behaviour and decisions which negatively impact ourselves and community; cue the affairs, divorces, accumulation of debt, depression, substance abuse and plastic surgeries made familiar by pop culture stereotypes of the quarter, mid and three quarter life crisis sufferer.
Perhaps having the ancient blueprint of the chaturashramas more widely available and described in relatable terms could help us better navigate those shifts in identity when life itself is asking us to change our priorities and fundamentally accept that we have different roles at different stages of life.
Stage by stage
Our current education system emphasises productivity within the working environment and external validation. There is little education regarding ‘right action’ or dharma, relationships and how to utilise sexual energy. As a result, much of the potential momentum of the brahmacharya ashram is lost and many young adults find themselves ill equipped to navigate the second stage of life.
For both men and women, one of the great transitions of life is becoming a parent. Ayurveda values this time as a sacred window in which not only the baby has entered the world for the first time, but so have a new mother and father been born. From that moment and the remainder of the grhasta ashram that identity will surpass all others in importance.
The Chaturashrama system places a great emphasis on the householding stage. Not only because of its importance in its own right and connection with the fulfillment of Kama but because it actively supports the preceding and following phases of life. Householders are the buttresses of society; supporting not only children but also the elderly.
Traditionally these three groups would have overlapped in shared, multigenerational homes allowing each stage of life to benefit from its interaction with the other. The forgotten value of householding and emphasis on productivity outside of the home has led to a decline in family size and the nuclear family. Young families feel stressed and overwhelmed, often unable to take time off work to be with their young children and missing the village of support afforded to them in older times.
Many clients I work with struggle, especially, with the transition from Grhasta ashram to Vanaprashta. Due to economic pressures, modern day humans are often forced to work full time later than their parents and grandparents. Layered on top of the menopausal transition for women which can be difficult if there is imbalance in body and mind, this shift is challenging for many.
The lack of clarity shared by empty nesters and those experiencing a mid life crisis about what to do next could benefit greatly from the reminders of ‘the way of the forest’ which gives clear advice to prioritise practices that nourish the spirit. Of course this looks different for everybody but even non-religious people may benefit from time in nature, gardening and giving back to the community in their own unique ways.
The glorification of youth in western culture makes getting old harder than it needs to be. The beauty and value of the last two ashrams of life goes widely unrecognised alongside the depreciation of religious and spiritual practices that are also being lost. On top of the fact that the effect of living without dharma, not satisfying the desires of this life and accumulating enough resources causes regret and inability to let go in later years.