From Age-Ing to Sage-Ing: A Revolutionary Approach to Growing Older

From Age-Ing to Sage-Ing has been a personal inspiration for me. Being recently retired, it has shown me that it's important to take all of the knowledge and wisdom that I have gained and give it back to the younger generation. If all of us healthy elders volunteered some of our wisdom in the workforce, our Social Security crisis would be greatly diminished. This is a wonderfully timely book with an important message.

this book provides an insight and perspective on changing my view of what opportunity life can create. This book has opened my mind and my heart to new possibilities. I recommend reading this philosophy when you are considering what the next step in your life may be, particularly if you are between the ages of 52 and 65 years old.

My own spiritual journey was faltering when I met Reb Zalman and bought this book. It was his humor and wisdom that helped me back onto the path. Now I go towards old age with a sense of purpose and a cheerfulness. I feel that this book was a personal invitation (to all of us) to join the tribal council of elders. I am currently rereading the book and again it is strengthening my resolve to take on the role of elder in my community.

Age-ing to Sage-ing is indeed a profound new vision for aging. In a time when our elder population is rapidly growing, it is important that people find meaning in their elder years. Rabbi Schacter-Shalomi has used his own journey as a stepping off point to assist people in making the most of the extra gift of years they have been given in this century. I highly recommend this book because it not only provides theory about becoming a spiritual elder, but also talks about tools for this and gives exercises for this in an appendix. Rabbi Schacter-Shalomi has an incredible grasp of a wide range of religious beliefs and a very wholistic view of spirituality. His message has provided inspiration for myself as well as mnay people I work with. I also recommend Winter Grace, by Kathleen Fischer.

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 the 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 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 lving 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."