Are old age, diseases and guilt impetus for spirituality?

[krsnaraja]

When I was in my early twenties, I did not care for prohibitions. I drank ice-cold beer after class with my classmates. I stay up late at night jamming with friends who agree without ado smoke cannabis. We even tried mushrooms growing on cow dung. We did not know it was toxic but it sure gave us hallucinations and heightened awareness. The influence to do ganja, alcohol, illicit sex, gambling maybe were due to peer pressure. Yet, I did not stop going and attending classes still drowsy and groggy from the night-out. I did not bother if these horrid activities take toll on one`s body later in life. Though there are streaks of spirituality in me but immediately shut-off when scheduled happenings in the offing. Well, I should say, I did not regret for the maximum over drive experiences in my younger days. Where I seldom go to church on Sundays to hear mass and receive Holy Communion.

Not until, I saw in the mirror, I was getting old, suffered a heart attack on September 11, 2007 at the age of 49. I am maintaining on anti-hypertensive drugs on day to day basis to avoid a recurrence. I stopped smoking 2 years ago. I drink ice-cold beer and red wine on occasions. & why not? I am still a carnivore. I do not claim to be holier than anybody here. Of course, I love Krishna. I love Christ Jesus. I try to follow the Ten Commandments. I try to follow the rules on sainthood. I do try to become spiritual in anything I do. It`s just that I still possess these genes I inherited from my parents and forefathers. I can not remove unwanted desires say, sex. I will be 59 on November 3. Yet somethings never change.



Any reaction from the audience? Do we share the same views? It`s nice to be truthful, you know.

[chimera]

My brother and I found a pack of cigars on the road when I was 7 , he 5 and we lit them up. Haven't smoked since. Nude women can cause clogged arteries in the cerebal cortex with aneurism and eventual blindness.

[mojomojo]

Right up until my late twenties, I drank heavily, smoked cannabis, did LSD and mushrooms, one day I stopped, not because of spirituality or God, because I knew if I kept going I would be dead very soon, at the time I was trying to numb internal pain.
It was around this time, I got into spirituality, the first time life made sense to me, everything felt natural and right, I learned to look inside and deal with my pain.
The odd occasion I would have a glass of wine, but that has stopped now as well
Sex is very natural and can be a beautiful thing between a couple, but from my own experience, sexual gratification for its own sake is like a fire out of control, it can never consume enough, and leaves in its wake damage.



Mojo.