Free all creative urges. (Science has confirmed that age doesn’t affect the right brain.)
Let go of the delusions of the past, weakening their hold on the present and the future.
Perceive the reality of old age by immersing oneself in the senses. Live deep in the Center.
I believe that old age is a new adventure to be looked forward to – if we want to make it so. Traditional societies linked old with wise; the old were esteemed, included and listened to. Today our culture values the young, the beautiful and the “successful”. Many of the very old are being ignored. Because more of us will have a long old age, isn’t it time that we explore the mysteries and the possibilities of this last period. of our lives.?
Old age is a practice – a gradual, evolving process. We follow a changing reality as we shift to the more spiritual, the non-material, the non-mental. We are no longer so attached to the self we have known nor to its past joys and sorrows. There is less either/or – no pro or can. Dualism is not useful; judgments have no place in non-linear thinking. Our determined activism becomes dispassionate. We are more tolerant and patient. “Fun” turns into joy as we deepen our awareness of what is beyond our personal boundaries. By connecting us to the whole, old age is broadening, Widening, deepening; we are awakened.
Letting go of the past has been difficult for us. NOW, in old age, letting go occurs naturally if we simply allow it. No more “should”, no more worry. We move away from the specific to the general, away from the part into the whole. We clear the deck! Living old age is freedom- gliding into the big wide world. Let’s loosen up, enjoy! Be contented with what is – no more yearning, dreaming – condemning or regretting.
Old age gives us the freedom to know who we really are, as we connect with the world through our senses, – by hearing, touching, or seeing what we have not known before .. We find out what lights us up the most, inside – and then we follow it. Old age is a time to be old and new at the same time. To be adventurous – in our inner life and to look at our outer life differently, primarily through the senses. In old age we clearly recognize pain and joy. So simple – they are right there, uncomplicated and pure.
Mushin with the Happy Buddha at Morkami
But those of us living old age as a new age have a responsibility to ourselves and others. A responsibility to know ourselves – who we are and who we aren’t so that we may express this self – to let others know who we are. To interest them in who we are. We come from a different place – so we must know it, feel it, express it. Let’s take our place in the world, – our world, more sensual, creative and joyful.