Here are the starting lines of the poem ”Seven Ages” from Shakespeare's play "As You Like It".
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.
Shakespeare's quote "All the world is a stage" could be comprehended better if we consider the line "His acts being seven ages" and the lines that follow describing the "Seven Ages". According to Shakespeare, the seven stages a human being goes through are Infancy, Schoolboy, Teenager, Youth, Middle Age, Old Age and Extreme Old Age.
Shakespeare had recognised the fleeting temporariness of the human life which is a minuscule compared to the vast expanse of the universe. He strongly reflects this idea as he eloquently deliberates upon each of the seven stages of life.
1. Infancy is spent in mewling (crying) and puking with utter helplessness and complete dependence on nurse and mother.
2. A Schoolboy continuously whines and goes to school reluctantly and unwillingly.
3. Even the lively romantic adolescence of a Teenager has its share of struggles, heartbreaks, yearnings, sighings as expressed by the phrase "woeful ballad" and one has to exert tremendous effort to garner the attention and enjoy the solace of the company of the beloved.
4. The vigour of the Youth also has its tribulations such as arguments, knee jerk reactions, competition, jealousy and the endless desires, the greatest of them being seeking acknowledgement, appreciation, name, fame, reputation, etc. which Shakespeare in his philosophical view dismisses them as mere bubbles.
5. In the Middle Age one tends to get sanctimonious assuming pompous moral authority to pass imperious opinions and sententious judgements on every topic under the sun.
6. In the Old Age, the fit and energetic vigour and vitality gets replaced by frail bespectacled body and looks like a pantaloon, a foolish old man portrayed by a Venetian character of Italian comedy.
7. In the Extreme Old Age, the strange eventful human life is approaching the end where the human being enters into childishness for the second time in life, has a frangible body with weak teeth, sight, hearing, taste, being left with nothing but the impaired senses and knocking at the doorstep of oblivion.
As a greatest thinker and legendary playwright, Shakespeare had definitely stumbled onto the path of Truth and provided it a great philosophical expression through the poem "Seven Ages". To tread on that path of Truth, first we shall seek to illumine the entire path with the help of the light of Knowledge provided by the Advaita Vedanta.
Shakespeare called this World as a stage. The great Guru Adi Shankara proclaimed “Brahma Satya Jagat Mithya”. It means Brahman (name of the Ultimate Reality) is the only Truth, the Jagat (world) is neither real nor unreal, it is temporary, impermanent, fleeting, illusory and has only apparent reality. He called the world as Vyavaharika Satya (Transactional Reality), urged everyone to recognise its temporariness and not give any importance to the Jagat apart from what is required practically to transact.
Shakespeare explained the seven stages a human being has to go through. According to Advaita Vedanta (Tattvabodha 3.4) it is not just human being but every living being undergoes six modifications and infirmities. They are as follows.
1. Asti (Existence) – formation of the foetus in a mother’s womb.
2. Jayate (Born) – the emergent of an infant into the world.
3. Vardhate (Growth) – the body grows being nourished by the food.
4. Viparinamate (Matures) – the body matures into adolescence, youth and attains its peak vitality.
5. Apakshiyate (Decay) – as the body ages, the decay sets in causing a reduction in its strength.
6. Vinashyati (Death) – finally the body decomposes and disintegrates due to the inevitable death.
Regarding the various roles played by a human being during the life time, Vedanta calls it as Four Ashramas (age-based life stages) which are Brahmacharya (student life), Grihastha (household life), Vanaprastha (retired life) and Sanyasa (renounced life). Ashrama Upanishad exclusively discusses the four Ashramas and they are also mentioned in Jabala Upanishad (4.1) and Yajnavalkya Upanishad (1.1).
By saying “They have their exits and their entrances“ Shakespeare draws parallel that just like different actors enter and exit the drama, in our real life too various people enter and exit playing their roles.
Advaita Philosophy is in complete agreement with this view but also includes multiple exits and entrances of the same individual due to rebirth. We can’t be sure about the concept of rebirth but a detailed analysis into Karma Theory can throw some light and the topic of rebirth is out of the scope of this current post.
So far we have just scraped the surface of the Truth and this is where Shakespeare stops and we need to rely on Advaita Vedanta to explore the path of the Truth by engaging in much detailed and in-depth analysis.
Identifying the real "I"
When one plays a role in a Drama, no matter how much one gets into the character played in the Drama, one does not forget one’s real identity and effortlessly knows all the time that it is just a role being played in the Drama.
In the same way if we are playing a role in this world then what is our real identity, the true Self? Shakespeare stops short of this, does not say anything about our real identity and this is where Advaita Vedanta starts.
According to Advaita, each one of us find ourselves playing a role in this world as explained in the Four Ashramas (age-based life stages). But the real identity of “I” is the Consciousness, the Concentrating Capability, the Thinking Ability, the Knowing Power, Chit Shakti (Sentient Energy). This is exactly what is conveyed by the Maha Vakya (Great Sentence) in Aitareya Upanishad (3.3) of the Rig Veda which says “Prajnanam Brahma” meaning “Consciousness is Brahman”. Each one of us is a Conscious Entity and our mind acquires this capability of being conscious from the energy called Atma Shakti (Svetasvatara Upanishad 1.3, Kaivalya Upanishad 1.21) .
Difference between Drama and the World as a stage
There are several differences between a Drama and the World as a stage. Some differences are trivial and inconsequential. However there are some differences that are highly important, extremely significant and are pregnant with potent Truths about our very life.
Mundane Differences
In a Drama, for every character the entries and exits are pre-determined. In the world as a stage each individual’s entry (birth) is an accident and exit (death) is certain and inevitable. Between the birth and death lies the life of an individual and during that life time several people provide their entries and exits to discharge their unscripted roles.
In a Drama, a script exists and is religiously followed to the tee. In the real life, no script exists and one can say that the script gets written every moment as the unpredictable mysterious play unfolds being enacted by the actors who are guided by their own minds and intuition.
In a Drama, one can choose to be an actor or be a part of the audience or choose to be neither and can remain completely disassociated with the Drama. In the real life, one has no such choice, one must and should play the role as the show must go on and does go on as the real life show is an unstoppable juggernaut.
In a Drama, we have a separate audience and they are not part of the drama. In the World's stage, the actors themselves are the audience and there is no separate audience as such.
In a Drama, there is only one single drama which everybody is part of. In the World's stage there are as many dramas as the number of actors. Mandukya Upanishad (1.3) calls it as Jagrat Avastha (Waking State) and one’s waking state is completely different, distinct and unique when compared to the waking state of others. Each individual is the one and only sole witness of one’s own waking state as well as its active participant.
Important Differences
In a Drama, all the actions are done without the sense of doership or ownership because one is always aware that it is just a role, not real and the real identity “I” is distinct from the role being played. In the real life, every action is done with an extreme sense of doership and ownership, one never considers it as a role and instead considers the role to be very real and strongly identifies “I” with the role being played.
In a Drama, Dvandvas (pairs of opposites) such as pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, etc. experienced are not real (Bhagawad Gita 2.14 - 2.15, 2.38, 2.45). Unfortunately in the World’s stage, every individual is in the clutches of the Dvandvas and continuously oscillates between the two extremes of exultation and exacerbation.
In a Drama, irrespective of the character being played one always knows that the role is unreal and the real Self is different from the role. In the real life, everyone is deluded by the wrong identification of “I” with the role being played. Every individual is asininely oblivious to the real Self, the Sentient Energy powering the body and the mind and it is uninterruptedly propelling everyone to enact one’s role in this World’s stage.
In a Drama, an accomplished professional forgets the real Self and completely gets into the character being played. It is exactly opposite in the World's stage where an accomplished professional, a Self-Realised person who is called Jnani never forgets the real Self and is all the time aware that it is only a role being played and the real Self is a Sakshi (Witness) and is never affected by the happenings. The concept of Sakshi is explained in Drig-Drishya Viveka.
Experiencing the real "I"
Shakespeare by proclaiming that “World is a stage” has definitely stumbled onto the path of the Truth. Though he has just scraped the surface of the Truth, yet his statement paves way for in-depth, extensive and comprehensive analysis and articulation to understand, appreciate and grasp the points listed above under the sub-topic “Important Differences” between a Drama and the World’s stage.
As part of the first step toward discovering the real “I”, Advaita Vedanta urges us to recognise and realise that we all have Thinking Ability. Then the question boils down to
1. is the real “I” the Thinking Ability (Atman - Self)?
2. is “I” the thoughts we generate (Anatma - Not-Self) using the Thinking Ability (Atman)?
We normally identify “I” with the second one because we are always associated and mixed up with this Anatma (Not-Self). Self-Realisation is nothing but to be able to successfully identify “I” with the first option which is the nameless, formless, Thinking Ability (Atma Shakti).
To experience the real “I” all we need to do is everyday for few minutes we need to exist determinedly with 100% concentration holding onto just one single thought “I am a nameless, formless, Thinking Ability”.
Whenever we are in 100% concentration at that moment we experience the “being” and “existing” as nameless, formless, Concentrating Entity, Thinking Ability, Observing Power, Consciousness, Awareness, Knowingness, Chit Shakti (Sentient Energy), Atman (Self).
When we manage to exist as a Thinker with the single thought “I am a Thinker”, “I am a Thinking Ability”, “I am a Knowing Power” that state of existence is nothing but pure Sacchidhananda Swarupa (Sat-Chit-Ananda, Existence-Consciousness-Bliss).
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