Some people maintain or increase vigor as they get older. Others get weaker. Then there are younger people who are weak to start with. get weaker. Then there are younger people who are weak to start with. I would not distinguish people by age, but rather by the individual situation. I would treat an older person with a lot of strength the same as I would treat a younger person with good strength. There is no difference.

There was a 78 year-old man who attended a retreat in Taiwan who thought he was in good health. I told him to take it easy, but he insisted on participating in everything, with the same intensity as the others. After a while he confessed that the retreat was taking its toll, so I told him to change his method, to "give rise to a sense of shame." In other words, to contemplate one's frailty as a human being, to become aware of one's egotistical, illusory idea of oneself. The man followed my directions and his situation changed. No longer did he try to compete with the younger practitioners. He put his legs down and sat, for hours at a time, in a settled manner. No pain or stress. Later he cried, realizing his delusions, and after that his body was no longer an obstacle. He came to me, fatigued, saying that he had accomplished what he had to and that the retreat was over for him. I agreed, and he went home.