From Age-Ing to Sage-Ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older

What is the purpose of life lived long past the reproductive years? Using their concepts of "elderhood" and "the art of life completion," Schacter-Shalomi and Miller survey the societal changes that they believe are synchronistic events that give meaning and purpose to the burgeoning population of elders in American society and other developed countries. An increasing number of writers share these men's belief that the aged are needed to guide humanity in its values, to influence the young to make changes that consider the distant future as well as the present. Rabbi Schacter-Shalomi has spent his adult life studying numerous spiritual disciplines. He believes that the present easy access to ancient spiritual teachings that were once show more passed secretly from one generation of adepts to the next is for the purpose of allowing large populations to prepare themselves for their contribution to humanity as wise elders. The major theme of this work could be said to be the art of living and dying with meaning. Going beyond the usual observations of the characteristics of our rapidly aging population, Schacter-Shalomi and Miller have offered sound advice on how an individual can find purpose in life beyond reproduction and career. They even offer specific "Exercises for Sages in Training." (March 1995) show less