Philosophy & Spirituality of Aging
(continued)
Meaningfulness
“Our own brain,
our own heart is
our temple; the
philosophy is
kindness.”
- Dalai Lama
On Having an Ageless Soul
With a view on bolstering good and positive thoughts
about growing old, I recently read Thomas Moore’s newest
book, Ageless Soul: Living a Full Life with Joy and Purpose.
I’ve always been a big fan of Moore, who is currently 77
years of age. Two of his books I have read repeatedly,
among more than 20 he authored over the years, are A
Life at Work, and Care of the Soul, which was a 44-week NY
Times best-seller back in the early 1990s, and still
resonates today. I also enjoyed A Religion of One’s Own, his previous
book, published in 2015. READ MORE
Think Deeply, It May Do Some Good
As I have noted in a good number of previous posts, early
old age, which varies for some, ranging anywhere from 45
to 65, brings lots of consternation about who you really
are and what you are doing with yourself in work and
elsewhere. You come to an intersection where you think
more deeply about where your compass is pointing, and
it’s almost like going back in time to when you were first
trying to figure out what you were going to do with your
life, maybe even as far back as elementary school. READ MORE
A Relatively Brief Review of
My Studies on Aging
I’ve been studying what it means to grow old, from
philosophical, psychological, sociological and spiritual
perspectives. I have developed a substantial personal
library on aging. I’ve been reading through concepts about
meaningful aging espoused by such authors as Thomas
Moore, Joan Chittister, James Hillman, Gene Cohen, Carol
Orsborn, Lars Tornstam, Carl Jung, and many others. I’ve
started to cover the world of work and leisure during the
last third of life, and the phases of inner change many of
us go through when we reach our sixties. I’ve also delved into theology
and spiritual practice, including Zen, Christianity, and Buddhism.
READ MORE
Remembrance Thinking & Character
Development in Old Age
In “The Mature Mind: The Positive Power of the Aging
Brain,” the late Gene D. Cohen, geriatric researcher on
positive aging, wrote about a “summing- up” phase in life
that typically hits people in their late sixties and into their
seventies and eighties. Cohen identified this phase as “a
time of recapitulation, resolution, and review.”
Recapitulation, according to Google dictionary, is “an act
or instance of summarizing and restating the main points of something.”
Resolution is “a firm decision to do or not to do something.” And review
is “a formal assessment or examination of something with the possibility
or intention of instituting change if necessary.” Let’s call recapitulation,
resolution, and review the 3Rs of Old Age. READ MORE
Attempting to Piece Together the Meaning of
Life Puzzle: Efforts to Know More
My self-guided research on the philosophy, psychology,
sociology and spirituality of aging has taken me along
numerous streams of valid and authoritative information.
Perhaps I should not say self-guided, however. Many of
those streams are discovered in the reference sections of
the papers and books I’ve been reading, as well as, of
course, where the search engines take me. Yet, there’s no
mentor or teacher involved. So, it’s also fair to say that the
work is substantially autodidactic, which means self-
guided. READ MORE
Contemplating Consciousness:
How Our Awareness Speaks Volumes of Questions
without Answers
The simple definition of consciousness provided by
Merriam-Webster is “the quality or state of being aware,
especially of something within oneself.” And, of course,
when you look a bit deeper into that definition and
attempt to further define and question why and how we
have consciousness, and what its role is in the universe, you can easily
find yourself perplexed. READ MORE
Growing Up a Good Catholic
Growing up in a blue-collar, mostly Catholic, close-knit
neighborhood where everyone knew everyone took on an
aura and profoundness that shaped me deeply. We lived
on the same street that housed the convent, rectory and
elementary school under the umbrella of St. Francis of
Assisi and the good pastor in charge of it all, Monsignor
Valenti, a very odd figure, in my mind, but a true priest by
way of the honorable version of Catholicism. He would be
considered a rare and extraordinarily moral and celibate
bird today. READ MORE
Burying the Past:
A Dark/Bright Story and a Saving Dream
The darkened gray street lined by dirty concrete curbs and
sidewalks fixed itself into my internal being, like a young
man communing with some form of nature’s beauty,
except this was urban ugliness, lacking any positive vibe,
consisting only of more forthcoming mediocrity — a
future devoid of substance. READ MORE
Sermon from a Non-religious Old Guy
Of all the issues and challenges that erupt when you
reach your 60s, the one area of concern that seems to be
extraordinarily prominent in my thoughts is whether my
life has achieved any true and authentic meaning and
purpose. And, of course, everyone has their own
interpretation of what is meaningful and purposeful in
their lives. READ MORE
What Shapes Us?
I believe in the theory that my physical body is only a
holder of an individualized, eternal, inner core that is
essentially part of a greater good and divinity, but I can’t
prove it. Our bodies eventually disintegrate into bones
buried under ground, stored in mausoleums, or burned
and grounded by cremation services into ashes. Our souls,
our inner selves, however, never die and go on after death
into something extraordinarily stunning. Such a belief is
soothing, a calming balm in a world of confusion and
unanswered mysteries. READ MORE
My Two Diametrically Opposed Near-Death
Experiences
What I Learned When Faced With The Prospect of Dying
Sooner Rather than Later
There were two times in which I was near death. Both
involved hospital stays, and each brought opposing ideas
about dying. The first happened when I was 31. The
second was about three years later at the age of 34. Since
then, I’ve had a few more debilitating and serious hospital
stays but none as harrowing as those two near-death experiences in my
early thirties. READ MORE