25 October 2009

Letter from Lhasa, number 149. (Schachter-Shalomi 1995): From Age-ing to Sage-ing

Letter from Lhasa, number 149. (Schachter-Shalomi 1995): From Age-ing to Sage-ing

by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Schachter-Shalomi, Z., and R. S. Miller, From Age-ing to Sage-ing. A Profound New Vision of Growing Older, Warner Books, New York, NY, USA, 1995.

(Schachter-Shalomi 1995).

Zalman Schachter-Shalomi,

Ronald S. Miller

What is sage-ing? It is “a process that enables older people to become spiritually radiant, physically vital, and socially responsible “elders of the tribe.””

(Schachter-Shalomi 1995, p. 5).

“Throughout most of our lives, we knew what was expected of us.” (Schachter-Shalomi 1995, p. 27). If it is a nonsense to live in such a way, it is also a nonsense to find “genial” solutions for when people are too old. When people are too old, they are already irreversibly corrupted from when there were younger.

“From childhood to late adulthood, we’re like railroad trains that follow highly regular stretches of track to predictable destinations. Then, as elderhood approaches, we reach the end of the line, only to discover that management hasn’t had the foresight to lay any more track.” (Schachter-Shalomi 1995, p. 31). It is very Americanish to pretend to invent some magic solution.

Is sageing the answer to ageing? If it were imprudence, youngishism, childishism?! “Sages” are so seriously self-conceited and paranoid!

It may be that it be just a question of expectations. It seems a book wanting to convince people of something while I [a specific reader] would have expected something else from a rabbi about the question, or perhaps it is the same question “ageing and sageing” not to be a real question in my opinion. It seemed to me a recipes’ book, evidently not in consonance with my feelings when I dealt [now] with this book.

It is only a free comment. I do not give advices about reading or not reading books.

Schachter-Shalomi, Z., and R. S. Miller, From Age-ing to Sage-ing. A Profound New Vision of Growing Older, Warner Books, New York, NY, USA, 1995.