We Need the time to read Novels

"If you play golf, chess, scrabble, start reading novels etc....you are going down" so says MM.

I don't know about playing golf, but I do know that if you don't read more novels when you are younger you will find never get to read much when you are older. If you think that you can reserve evening time for reading, you can forget it. After a couple of pages you will be trying hard to grasp what you are reading before drifting on to slumberland. In fact the best time to read is when your mind is fully alert ie. in the morning and after an afternoon nap. So if you don't intend to retire at all you will never get to enjoy reading; unless of course you are lucky enough to have a job that allows you to read during office hours.

Coming back to MM's comments advocating that we do not retire, I feel we really have to be very careful not to promote an utilitarian culture where people are valued only if they are deemed to be still productive. My fear is the psychological impact it may have on older folks who are incapable of finding work or who are limited by health and agility. Many may end up feeling useless and a burden to family and society.

In Jiu Zhai Gou, we were told by the tourist guide that old folks move to stay at the temples to pursue Buddhist studies. There is meaning and purpose in every stage in our lives, the final phase being one of consolidation and the discovery of the true "I". Let us not deprive ourselves of it.