The Master Course lesson of the day and the sutra are on the senior monastics accepting new monastics for training. We have a duty to pass the wisdom of our years, everything we know, to the new generation of mathavasis. The same applies to families.

Unedited Transcript:

Starting today with our Master Course lesson. Sutra 345, 'Nurturing New Monastics'.

"Siva's monastics look upon newcomers to the monasteries as potential, spiritual heirs to care for, tenderly nurture and train. They know it is their duty to pass on wisdom of their years. Aum Namah Sivaya."

Focussing on passing on the wisdom of the years, this is a concept that not only applies to monastics but, to anyone who is in the vanaprastha ashrama, age 48 to 72. Hinduism has the 4 ashramas, which help understand one's respective duties. During the first 24, we are the student. During the second 24, we are busy living life. In the third 24, we have enough wisdom from having studied and having lived life, to pass something on to others. So, age 48 to 72 in the Grihastha Dharma, is the same idea that is talked about here, in the older monks passing on their wisdom to the younger ones.

Gurudeva spoke about that on a number of occasions and stressed that it is, " ... everything you know". In his own fiery way, he said, "It is your duty to pass on everything you know to the younger monks." You would say, "Oh! What do I know?" What he meant was both your outer skills as well as your philosophical knowledge, your understanding of the devotional tradition, everything, all the knowledge you have acquired about mundane things as well as realizing the Self, the whole gamut. It is your duty to pass on all of that to the younger monks. Gurudeva would be even more forceful and say, "Otherwise you are accruing bad karma." Just to make sure, we got the point!

It is a duty. It helps life advance, when we take the time to pass on our wisdom. What we have learned about life in the first 48 years of life, we take time to pass that on to those who are younger than us. It is a duty that we have at that point in life, to pass that on.