Book Review
Book Review : From Age-ing to Sage-ing
Warner Books 1997
Author Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi wrote, "I was approaching my 60th birthday, and a feeling of futility had invaded my soul … no amount of busyness or diversion could dispel.... I feared becoming a geriatric case that follows the predictable pattern of retirement-physical diminishment, a rocking-chair existence in a nursing home, and the eventual dark and inevitable end to my life. I wondered, with an extended life span guaranteed by medical advances and our health conscious life styles, could I convert my extra years into a blessing rather than … ?"
The book From Age-ing to Sage-ing answers that question by proposing a new model for ageing through a process of spiritual eldering. This is a vision for living by conscious choices which counter social expectations and stereotypes of old age. Instead, elders can again become wisdom keepers, models for the next generations to follow.
Drawing from the newest consciousness and mind-body research, yoga, humanistic and transpersonal psychology, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, shamanism and contemplative techniques, Schachter-Shalomi said, "People don't automatically become sages simply by living to a great age. They become wise by undertaking the inner work that leads to expanded consciousness."
The Hindu tradition sees life in four stages. People have an important "job" in old age: self-realisation and service to society. The first stage is a student, then house-holder, and then at about the age of 50 they begin detaching from their families and social identities and devoting more time to spiritual development and meditation. In the fourth stage all their time is devoted to self-realisation, spiritual instruction and service to society.
Schachter-Shalomi said a similar attention to spiritual development in this model allows elders to regain positions of reverence and authority that can help heal our families, renew political life and restore the Earth to eco-health.
Well, one important tool for harvesting life is lifelong learning thus making it age-irrelevant.
Lifelong Learning
Today this idea is compatible with the view that the second half of life is one designed to allow for cultivating inner wisdom and self-integration. To this end, many opportunities are created to facilitate older people to attend institutions of higher education. Other forms of adult education are also expanded.
The growth of senior educational facilities and the elimination of mandatory retirement are important for older people. Between the mid-90s and today, the field of ageing has undergone a paradigm shift...from the biomedical decrement or failure model of ageing,... to the more optimistic “successful” or “productive” outlook on ageing (p.206).
A new theory of ageing is now developed called "gerotranscendence” which means developing a new, more reflective, perception of life. Gerotranscendence helps to spawn spiritually-oriented educational programs and might be represented by Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi's thoughts in From Age-ing to Sage-ing.
It is important that there is diversity in older learner programs because there is no unified elder group. Rather there is as much diversity among older people as younger ones. Not one size fits all.
True to the author’s concern that as a new and active image of the elder population is produced, and age becomes a less-relevant demographic cipher, the special educational advantages that have previously been developed have fallen by the wayside. Recent data suggests that enrolments in adult educational programs are decreasing. Elderhostel rates have dropped and nursing homes rates have increased. The average age of participants has increased from 68 to 75.
Source: The Older Learner's Journey to an Ageless Society: Lifelong Learning on the Brink of a Crisis by Ronald J.Manheimer. Journal of Transformative Education, July 2005, 198-220.
Information on Lifelong Learning Programs at Australian Catholic University please follow the link to the Centre for Lifelong Learning at http://www.acu.edu.au/research/Research_Centres_and_Flagships/Lifelong_Learning/index.cfm (Director, Professor Judith Chapman or email jchapman@patrick.acu.edu.au)
