Contemplative Aging : A Way of Being in Later Life

by Sherman, Edmund

• ISBN13: 9781884092992
• ISBN10: 1884092993
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-07-13
• Publisher: Univ Pr of New England

Summary

In modern societies people are expected to remain "activity-oriented" in their later years, rather than change to a more contemplative, spiritual, and peaceful way of living. The latter, however, is ideally-suited to people in later life and offers many healthful benefits. Dr. Sherman explains why this is so in Contemplative Aging--a book that shows the way to add a different and deeper dimension to the activity-oriented image of older age promoted in the media, and how to transcend the many physical decrements and emotional losses of loved ones in later life. Extensive research evidence exists for achieving such a way life--called "gerotranscendence"--which is clearly described in Contemplative Aging along with the psychological and philosophical foundations and practices that can lead to the existential and spiritual benefits of gerotranscendence. Based on the author's ongoing work with older adults and the timeless literature on contemplative traditions around the world--expressed by poets, psychologists, philosophers, mystics, and rationalists--Dr. Sherman presents a range of contemplative practice methods and exercises designed for those already sixty years or older and the millions of "baby boomers" about to enter their later years of life.

Author Biography

EDMUND SHERMAN, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Social Welfare, State University of New York at Albany, where he taught graduate courses in aging and human development and conducted research on aging at the Institute of Gerontology. He is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, and has authored numerous articles and books on aging, including Counseling the Aging; Working with Older Persons; Meaning in Mid-Life Transitions; and Reminiscence and the Self in Old Age.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
From Doing to Being	p. 8
The Bearable Lightness of Being ...Retired	p. 8
Doing and Being in Retirement	p. 10
The Interiority of Late Life	p. 15
Contemplative Being	p. 17
Philosophical Aging	p. 22
The Consolations of Philosophy	p. 22
A Philosophical Way	p. 25
The Psychological Dimension	p. 27
A Natural Philosophy of Age	p. 32
The Moral Dimension	p. 36
The Aging Self	p. 42
Remembering and Reviewing	p. 42
Autobiographical Consciousness	p. 43
Knowing One's Self	p. 45
Becoming One's Self	p. 51
Being One's Self	p. 57
A Contemplative Way	p. 60
The Experiential Dimension	p. 60
The Question of Transcendence	p. 62
The Mystical Dimension	p. 69
Contemplative Happiness	p. 74
Contemplative Practice	p. 76
Meditation and the Art of Being	p. 76
Other Meditative Practices	p. 84
Practice as Process	p. 87
The Telos of Practice	p. 90
Imaginative Aging	p. 96
The Primacy of the Image	p. 96
Reflective Imagery	p. 100
Time Art	p. 106
Imaginative Variations	p. 110
Other Dimensions of Being	p. 116
Spatiality	p. 116
Placefulness	p. 119
Solitude	p. 122
Inborn and Unborn Dimensions	p. 124
Finitude	p. 130
Ultimate Concerns	p. 130
Symbolic Immortality	p. 133
Philosophical Finitude	p. 143
Beyond Being?	p. 148
Gerotranscendence Revisited	p. 148
Experiential Enlightenment	p. 152
A New Being?	p. 154
The Present and the Perennial	p. 160
References	p. 166
Index	p. 177
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