Is thirty the ‘Age of Enlightenment’?
Many great saints and teachers seem to have found enlightenment or received their Divine mission at or around the age of thirty – often in connection with a river!
Shri Zarathustra (Persia, 1500 BCE) had been an ardent seeker all His life but, at the age of thirty, while bathing at the river Daiti, he finally received his message in a visitation by Vohu Manah –‘holy mind’ (a kind of angelic being – perhaps the angel Gabriel – see ‘Mohammed’ below) who led him into the presence of Ahura Mazda (‘He who causes existence’ – God Almighty), where He understood the true nature of existence. It took ten years before his preaching established a community of followers. He stressed that it was good thoughts, good words and good actions that would enable one to cross the ‘Bridge of Swords’ and reach heaven. Many Zoroastrian concepts filtered down into Judaism (the Jews were captive in Babylon for about seventy years until released by the enlightened Cyrus) and thence into Christianity (such as Heaven and Hell, Adam and Eve, and the Resurrection).
Guru Nānak (Punjab, 1469) was also thirty when, while bathing at the Kali-bein river one day, he had an encounter with the All-pervading Lord. He disappeared for three days and was finally found in the forest in deep contemplation. His first words are said to be: ‘There is no Hindu, no Muslim’ showing his understanding that God only cares about what is in the heart, not what rituals one performs. After this he made four journeys of several years each, to east, south, north and west reaching Assam, Shri Lanka, Tibet, Nepal, Mecca and Baghdad, establishing followings everywhere He went.
Shri Buddha (Bihar, 563 BCE) was twenty-nine when he left his luxurious life in the palace to become an ascetic. Six years later at the age of thirty-five He attained enlightenment after sitting under the Bodhi tree for forty-nine days. Having discovered the solution to suffering, his compassion drove him to share it with humanity and he spent the next forty years travelling, often with a large following.
Shri Mahāvīra (Bihar, 599 BCE) was also thirty when he abandoned his princely life. He finally attained supreme knowledge on the banks of the Rijupalika river under a sal tree, at the age of 42 and spent the next thirty years spreading the message.
Jesus Christ was thirty years old when He started his teaching in Palestine. In Judaism (and some other traditions) thirty is the age when a man is recognised as a rabbi –‘teacher’. He started his mission by visiting John the Baptist who baptised him in the river Jordan. The Holy Ghost descended on Him ‘like a dove’ (feeling a cool breeze on the Sahasrāra, as from the fluttering of a bird’s wings).
Jacob Bohme (Germany, 1575) was 25 on having his first vision before his more profound vision at the age of 35.
St John of the Cross (Spain, 1542) had His most profound visions at the age of thirty-two, which continued for ten years or more. He was imprisoned and tortured by his fellow Carmelite monks, but as this led to him having some profound and blissful experiences of the Divine, he was very grateful to them.
In order to arrive at having pleasure in everything,
Desire pleasure in nothing.
In order to arrive at possessing everything,
Desire to possess nothing.
In order to arrive at being everything,
Desire to be nothing.
In order to arrive at the knowledge of everything,
Desire to know nothing. St John of the Cross.
Prophet Mohammed (Arabia, 570) was about forty when he was visited by the angel Jabrīl (Gabriel) while meditating in the cave of Hira. He was in the habit of retreating to this cave every year for about a month to meditate. Cautious at first, he was persuaded after three years by his family and close friends to spread His teachings.
Al-Ghazali (Persia, 1058), one of Islam’s most profound scholars and mystics, abandoned his brilliant academic and administrative career at the age of thirty and retired from the world for ten years, after feeling that he had been pursuing fame and ego, rather than true enlightenment. Considered a ‘Renewer of the Faith’ (one of whom is born every hundred years to rejuvenate Islam) he wrote extensively on philosophy and mysticism, law and logic, and made Sufi practices more acceptable in mainstream Islam.
Nizamuddin Auliya (1238, U.P.) is one of those characters who, as Einstein said of Mahātmā Gandhi; ‘Generations to come will scarce believe that such a man as this in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth’. At the age of just twenty-three he became the appointed successor of Baba Farid and spent the rest of his life teaching, giving audience to and helping materially and spiritually the people of Delhi, rich and poor. Due to his presence there, Delhi witnessed a spiritual revival. One of his favourite disciples was Amit Khusro (said to be the inventor of the Qawalli, the sitar and the tabla; and the writer of ‘O Lal Meri’) who is buried in a corner of Nizamuddin’s tomb in Delhi.
Shri Mataji tells the story of how the Delhi Sultan threatened to have Nizamuddin executed for refusing to bow to him, but the night before the execution was due, the Sultan himself was assassinated by his favourite protégé (who assumed his title).
The author of this article was thirty years old when he reached the culmination of many lifetimes of seeking by getting Self-realisation from Shri Mataji.
According to Astrology, the period known as the ‘Saturn Return’ occurs at around the age of 27-30. This point when Saturn comes back to the position it occupied at one’s birth, denotes ‘getting serious’ about life and often involves restructuring one’s life path. This also occurs at the age of 56-60 and in one’s 80’s (often involving changing one’s life status!).
