Contemplative Aging: A Way of Being in Later Life

by Edmund Sherman

Overview

A unique guidebook for people at least sixty years of age on how to experience a more peaceful, aware way of being through contemplative practices and to transcend the many causes of suffering inherent in later life 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781884092992
Publisher:	Altschuler, Richard & Associates, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/16/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	196
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

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

Acknowledgments
Introduction
FROM DOING TO BEING
The Bearable Lightness of Being . . . Retired
Doing and Being in Retirement
The Interior of Late Life
Contemplative Being
PHILOSOPHICAL AGING
The Consolations of Philosophy
A Philosophical Way
The Psychological Dimension
A Natural Philosophy of Age
The Moral Dimension
THE AGING SELF
Remembering and Reviewing
Autobiographical Consciousness
Knowing One's Self
Becoming One's Self
Being One's Self
A CONTEMPLATIVE WAY
The Experiential Dimension
The Question of Transcendence
The Mystical Dimension
Contemplative Happiness
CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE
Meditation and the Art of Being
Other Meditative Practices
Practice as Process
The Telos of Practice
IMAGINATIVE AGING
The Primacy of the Image
Reflective Imagery
Time Art
Imaginative Variations
OTHER DIMENSIONS OF BEING
Spatiality
Placefulness
Solitude
Inborn and Unborn Dimensions
FINITUDE
Ultimate Concerns
Symbolic Immortality
Philosophical Finitude
BEYOND BEING?
Gerotranscendence Revisited
Experiential Enlightenment
A New Being?
The Present and the Perennial
References
Index        

Editorial Reviews

"In this radiant work, author Edmund Sherman suggests a more spiritual and peaceful way of living in the later years. He takes us on a journey through the timeless literature on contemplative traditions. Drawing on poets, psychologists, philosophers and mystics, he offers a range of contemplative practices to those in their later years." --Aging Horizons Bulletin

"People entering this new dimension in their natural life will find reading this book rewarding and it may contribute to an inner peace as they move forward withlife and the aging process. Contemplative Aging: A Way of Being in Later Life can help baby boomers coming of older age reflect on the past, deal in the present, and look forward to a realistic future."--Activities, Adaptation and Aging

From the Publisher