Introduction

Theory of Spiritual Eldering

1. Elderhood: Re-memorying and En-visioning
2. Becoming a Sage

Spiritual Eldering and Personal Transformation

3. Art of Life Completion
4. Tools for Harvesting Life
5. The Eternity Factor
6. Conscious Transit at Death

Spiritual Eldering and Social Transformation

7. Mentoring
8. Elders as Healers of Family, Community, and Gaia

Resources

Handout 1 : The Sine Qua Non of Spiritual Eldering Work
Handout 2 : Hindu Life Stages
Handout 3 : Warning by Jenny Joseph
Handout 4 : Prayer of Forgiveness (Zalman Schachter-Shalomi)
Handout 5 : Wisdomkeeper (Audrey Shenandoah)
Handout 6 : Mustard-Seed Medicine
Handout 7 : Spiritual Eldering Bibliography

Introduction

The model that I'm proposing does more than restore the elder to a position of honor and dignity based on age and long life experience. It envisions the elder as an agent of evolution, attracted as much by the future of humanity's expanded brain-mind potential as by the wisdom of the past. With an increased life span and the psychotechnologies to expand the mind's frontiers, the spiritual elder heralds the next phase of human and global development.
--Zalman Schachter-Shalomi

All of us -- children, adolescents, young adults, middle-aged people, and seniors -- recognize that we are a part of the process of aging. Until recently most Americans accepted and understood aging as a process of gradually increasing personal diminishment and disengagement from life. Schachter-Shalomi's book From Age-ing to Sage-ing proposes a new model of late-life development - called sage-ing - a process that associates old age with self-development and spiritual growth. Sages, he claims, draw from the growth techniques of modern psychology and contemplative spiritual practices of the world's wisdom traditions. Schachter-Shalomi's model of spiritual eldering draws on three sources: The model of the traditional tribal elder whose wisdom guided the social order for thousands of years; state-of-the-art breakthroughs in brain-mind and consciousness research; and the ecology movement, which urges us to live in harmony with the natural world.

This Reflection and Discussion Guide to Schachter-Shalomi's book From Age-ing to Sage-ing invites participants to deepen their understanding of aging and elderhood. Part One, "The Theory of Spiritual Eldering," consists of two sessions and provides exercises to increase their understanding of the concepts and historical perspectives of elderhood. Part Two, "Spiritual Eldering and Personal Transformation," includes four sessions and covers the corresponding four chapters in the book. Using psychological and contemplative tools, participants gain an understanding of elder consciousness and the skills of life review and repair. Part Three, "Spiritual Eldering and Social Transformation," consists of the last two sessions and focuses on becoming a mentor and healing the family, community, and the Earth through elder wisdom.

The goals of this Reflection and Discussion Guide emphasize the hope of author Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, to recontextualize aging as the anticipated fulfillment of life. The four goals for participants are:

• to awaken to a vision of spiritual eldering
• to deepen understanding of aging and elderhood
• to engage in the homework of spiritual eldering - journaling, spiritual intimacy, meditation
• to witness their transformations from olders to elders.

This eight-session series of adult gatherings is designed for groups of eight to twenty participants. During the 2 ½ hour sessions participants explore their life journeys and elder consciousness through discussions of various chapters of Schachter-Shalomi's book From Age-ing to Sage-ing. Each participant needs to have his/her own copy of From Age-ing to Sage-ing. The primary objective is for each person to gain a deep understanding of spiritual eldering through experiences of reflection and discussion, journal writing, and socialized meditation.

Leaders of these spiritual eldering gatherings need to create a supportive, safe, and respectful environment in which participants can risk feeling vulnerable and can experience and share from their deepest levels of meaning making and faith commitment. As participants reflect on their elder consciousness and listen/share from their spiritual eldering work, they bear witness to their own personal transformation and to their communal transformation. All these experiences will strengthen your religious community and midwife spiritual elders throughout American society.