Gṛhasthāśrama (गृहस्थाश्रम) is the second stage of life in the traditional Hindu ashrama system. It literally means “being in and occupied with home and family”. Gṛhasthāśrama is the stage where you fully indulge in all what life has to offer.
The Grihastha stage is crucial for fulfilling the four goals of life (Purusharthas): Dharma (righteousness and duties), Artha (wealth and prosperity), Kama (desires and relationships) and Moksha (spiritual liberation). It is considered an important stage for sustaining society through family and social obligations.
It allows for the individual to experience the pleasures of the world in a wholesome manner while fulfilling the individual’s duties to duties to ancestors, gods, sages, progeny and others. It was not compulsory for everyone to be a householder but it did allow everyone to know why they should be a householder. It also gives stability to society while balancing the economy with the ecology.
Today the concept of life has changed. Many people do not know why or for what they are living. They sleep walk through life. Marriage has become an enigma. People marry or live-in for various reasons – social acceptance, money, power, fear and even ignorance. These lead to issues of their own.
So is the human being condemned to such a depressing diminishing existence?
The answer is No.
Think of your life as the Gṛhasthāśrama stage. This is the stage where you have to marry and raise a family. When you think about the next 30-odd years on these lines, you will automatically think differently. What do you want to do for the next three decades? What do you want from your spouse, what do you want from your children, what can you offer to them and others, etc. This will not only help you in taking a decision at that moment but will also let you know why you are taking that decision. There is no right or wrong here; what is there is your conscious decision on how you wish to live the prime of your life. When you take these conscious decisions, life becomes a beautiful and fulfilling experience.
If a few years down the track, you modify or take a different decision, that is fine as well. After all life is dynamic, what is important is your thoughtful response to an ever changing dynamic life.
This is where meditation comes in. Meditation centers you, it helps you in adapting to an ever changing dynamic life and enjoying every moment of it. Meditation does not require you to separate yourself from life. A Gṛhasthā or householder can have an active meditation practice and simultaneously fulfill their worldly obligations.
Enjoy living the life of a Gṛhasthā and enjoy your meditation practice also. Not only will this give your worldly life direction, meaning and structure; it will let you enjoy both – the spiritual and the temporal.