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Reflections in My Old Age- 4 Decades After
My Nirvikalpa Samadhi Experience
Im growing older but not up
My metabolic rate is pleasantly stuck
Let those winds of time blow over my head
Id rather die while Im living than live while Im dead
[Jimmy Buffett 1980]
Key words: nirvikalpa samadhi, spiritual aging, gerotranscendence, cultural gerontology, cosmic transcendence, purpose old age, purusartha, ashrama, varna, moksha, nirvana, rumi
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Growing Old with Samadhi
A phenomenological witnessing of how my nirvikalpa samadhi experience becomes increasingly poignant and provides purpose as in my old age I approach death with gratitude for its gracing.
Assuming I survive to 04_30_09- I'll be 81 years old, born the same year as Mickey Mouse- 1928 the start of the Great Depression. I was blessed to be part of the full blooming of the American Golden Age- post World War II to 2009- when portents of economic crises and political uncertainty suddenly arose. It will be a year short of the 40th anniversary of my Nirvikalpa Samadhi. I will have exceeded the life expectancy for American males and made the transition (as in punctuated evolution) from what the American Society of Aging (ASA) has defined as young old age (65-80) to old or advanced old age (81-plus). I now live alone- tend to be solitary and asocial but am not lonely- have casual interpersonal interaction as webmaster for our local Audubon chapter. I'm divorced from wife and ex-girlfriends for many years and have no close friends so although I have a loving relationship with my two sisters, Lola- a year older and Marilyn- six years older, we have lived thousands of miles apart over the past 50 years or more. Aside from that sibling affection and my compassion for nature, I increasingly look to my samadhi chronicles to find my old age purposeful. A core belief arisen from my non dual journey is that samadhi is graced to fulfill God's desire to be known. Accordingly I've assumed my "mission from God" is to convey as coherent an account of my extraordinary samadhi revelation as I am capable of and apply its unique perspective to the diverse and often conflicting canons of theist, atheist, dual and non dual traditions as well as to emergent new science paradigms and to promote a distinction between its transcendent nature from the magesteria of the psychic occult.
Travelers, it is late. Life's sun is going to set. During these brief days you have strength, be quick and spare no effort of your wings. ~ Rumi from Rumi: Daylight
Although there is great diversity within the spiritual maths of Hinduism- beliefs in Vedanta regarding duties and stages of life are common to all.
Social Aging in a Delhi Neighborhood by John van Willigen and Narender K. Chadha, 1999. As individuals age, they experience a decrease in power resources to which they adapt through choice. This leads to a decrease in their social interaction. van Willigen and Chadha argue that exchange theory also explains why individuals decide to disengage themselves from the social world. Crucial to an understanding of social ageing in Hindu communities (and the authors worked chiefly with north Indian Hindus) are the institutions of purusartha (the ?aims of life?) and asrama (the ?stages of life?). The former is a theoretical delineation of what humans should do, the meaning of their existence, how they are different from animals (dharma), how they should reproduce their own kind and the society (kama and artha), and how they should ensure their permanent release from the incessant cycle of birth, death and rebirth (moksha). The theory of purusartha offers a fine coexistence of the ideas of materialism and spiritualism; in the hierarchy of aims, moksa occupies the highest place and kama (carnal satisfaction) the lowest.
Purusartha=aims of life
prescribes four pillars in the Vedanta equation for human life:
• dharma=moral code and the continuum of reincarnation
• artha=duty
• kama=sensual gratification
• moksha=inner freedom
Historically, the first three goals, dharma, artha and kama, were articulated first (Sanskrit: trivarga), and the fourth goal, moksha, later (Skt.: chaturvarga). The fifth of the common beliefs of Hinduism is the belief in the law of karma=moral causation- also shared by Buddhist.
Ashrama=stages of life:
• The First Ashrama - Brahmacharya or the Student Stage
• The Second Ashrama - Grihastha or the Householder Stage
• The Third Ashrama - Vanaprastha or the Hermit Stage
• The Fourth Ashrama - Sannyasa or the Wandering Ascetic Stage
For me to literally take on the lifestyle of either of the last two stages is entirely too challenging- and joining an ashram
or monestary, too social and philosophically formatted. Vanaprastha is where one "goes to the forest" to attain realization
but since I had my Nirvikalpa 40 years ago, I've been vaguely mentally drifting in Sannyasa ever since. I reside in a
modest but comfortable condo in South Florida but my daily contemplations in the local library and Cyberspace could be viewed as a symbolic replication (some would say parody) of the fourth Ashrama- where one becomes "a Wandering Ascetic" and seldom stray further than I can go on my bicycle.
If there were regular kirtan events in my neighborhood I would be comfortable participating in a Bhakti celebration- although would mentally convert whatever specific Hindu deities like Krishna or Kali were featured in the Sanskrit chants, to an ecumenical Gaian or Cosmic consciousness.
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The following links feature various perspectives, philosophies or strategies that address purposefulness in the last stage of one's life starting with two currently popular inspirational works- the first founded in Christianity- a theistic, prophetic religion and the second in the dual/non dual theistic/atheistic traditions.
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren An evangelical perspective that says the starting place must be with a Christian God and his eternal purposes for each life. Real meaning and significance comes from understanding and fulfilling God?s purposes for putting us on earth.
A New Earth by Eckhart Tollee At the core of the teachings lies the transformation of consciousness, a spiritual awakening that he sees as the next step in human evolution. An essential aspect of this awakening consists in transcending our ego-based state of consciousness.
What Does It Mean to Grow Old By Thomas R. Cole, Sally A. Gadow - Contemplation versus activity in reflecting via the humanities on the philosophy and ethical questions concerning conduct and goals for the aged. Compares Hindu concepts of moksha as the ultimate goal of human life to that of Simone de Beuvoir in The Coming of Age where she warns about what must be done in order to escape the existential vacum of late life. "There is only one solution if old age is not to be an absurd parody of our former life, and that is to go on pursuing ends that give our existence a meaning--devotion to individuals, to groups or to causes, social, political, intellectual or creative work."
Old Age Across Cultures and Time - There is nothing inherently problematical about growing old. And yet in most nations of the world, old age is increasingly understood in "social problem" terms. As we all must age and eventually die, any cultural belief system that cannot provide security, meaning, and self-esteem for those who reach the conclusion of life's natural sequences will eventually have to change. Such is the case in the United States, where the cultural values of youth, vitality, competitiveness, and self-sufficiency are decreasingly relevant for an ever-increasing proportion of the population.
Cicero's On Old Age by Bill Long Though he was only 61 or 62 when he wrote it Cicero, he was committed to the proposition that old age was, in many respects, a condition superior to youth, and that those who found fault with it probably were the same people who grumbled about life when they were young. "There is no sudden breakage; it just slowly goes out. The third charge against old age is that it LACKS SENSUAL PLEASURES. What a splendid service does old age render, if it takes from us the greatest blot of youth!"
What Is Old Age For? by William Thomas. Old age is humanity's greatest invention, and on an even deeper level, it invented us. Old age transformed the way our most distant ancestors gave birth, reared their young, lived together, and fed themselves. Later it propelled the development of culture, language, and society.
Finding Wisdom in the Signs of Old Age by Merle Rubin - Jungian psychologist and author James Hillman offers the startling, genuinely radical suggestion that various traits we associate with old age, such as desiccation, sagging muscles, lined faces, crankiness, sentimentality, confusion, repetition and loss of short-term memory, may be viewed as signs of character formation.
One Last Chance to Save Mankind - interview with James Lovelock - With his 90th birthday in July, a trip into space scheduled for later in the year and a new book out next month, 2009 promises to be an exciting time for James Lovelock. But the originator of the Gaia theory, which describes Earth as a self-regulating planet, has a stark view of the future of humanity- but he's still looking forward to reaching 100.
Ching-an Rather weird topic extracted from Tao & Longevity: Mind-Body Transformation by Wen-Kuang Chu - regarding a transformation of saliva arising from a pre-samadhi stage of meditation. The sweet tasting hormone substance of ching-an should absolutely, be the major focus of anti-aging hormone research. Samadhi attainments are the only thing that can lead to a healthy quality-of-life longevity, and this is the major hormone (amongst several) which initiates the physical transformations of the chi and mai which enable this to happen. It is a cure for illness, aging and mental imbalance than hormones promoted by modern science- melatonin, estrogen, progesterone and other treatments for anti-aging purposes.
Sathya Sai Baba - Discourses - Karma Marga, Jnana Marga, Bhakti Marga - All lead to the same Destination - Discourse of Sathya Sai Baba May/June 1974 Sankara, Ramanuja, Madhwacharya the three great Acharyas were teaching three different aspects. Sankara was propounding Sayujya or identity with the Lord while Ramanuja was talking in terms of Sameepya or closeness to the Lord and Madhwa was preaching in terms of Salokya or living in the domain of the Lord- telling us about the three paths for the realisation of truth, namely the Jnana Marga, the Bhakti Marga and the Karma Marga but all these aspects must be treated as complimentary and not contradictory.
No Aging in India By Lawrence Cohen 2002. Perspectives on cultural and religious traditions regarding old age in India. This chapter describes the sacred city of Varanasi and the sacred city of the Hindus- Kashi where the authors primary research was done.
Rumi?s Poetry of Aging by Harry R. Moody. What Rumi understood is what may be called a transpersonal approach to sorrow. For Rumi, this approach is suggested by the technical distinction between the "ego" (nafs) and the "spirit" (ruh). The ego represents a limited dimension of selfhood and conceals a transpersonal spirit, which is much more vast.
Wei Wu Wei - Why Lazarus Laughed: The Essential Doctrine, Zen-Advaita-Tantra.
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The great sage of Tantra, Sri Aurobindo viewed one tradition of Vedanta dharma as corrupt- the hierarchy of casts prescribed by Varnas- in which all Hindus were born and never escaped:
Varnas -as it evolved into a system of inherited caste:
Brahmin - "scholarly community," including teachers, doctors, and other scholars.
Kshatriya - "warriors and rulers or politicians community"
Vaishya - "mercantile and artisan community"
Shudra - "service-providing community"
Dalit - "untouchables, those without varna"
The first three varnas are called 'twice born'. They are allowed to study the Vedas.
As with purdah in Islam there are those habituated to the process that defend the caste system and maintain that it contributes positively to the self esteem of individuals and sustains a harmony within the culture.
Interpolations and combinations of thousands of soteriological features have resulted in a spectrum of spiritual philosophies from atheistic to theistic and hundreds of sub sects of Vedanta, Advaita, Dvaita, Tantra, Shaivism, Jainism, etc. Among the many Hindu schools there is a broad range of disparaties regarding the timing and disposition of moksha=mukti and the importance and effects of nirvikalpa and other samadhi.
Mukti/Moksha Mukti (Sanskrit: release) or
Moksha (Sanskrit: liberation) refer, in Indian religions, to liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth and all the suffering and limitation entailed in embodied worldly existence. There is some dispute as to the relationship between Jivanmukta who have attained Moksha and continue to survive in non dual consciousness, those who experience Videhamukti (Sanskrit for disembodied liberation) in Parasiva- the realization of the self at the point of death and whether nirvikalpa samadhi or sahaja samadhi is an imperative that releases the soul from reincarnations.
One scriptural scenario sums up the various features of videhamukti saying: Blessed are those who are aware that departure, mahasamadhi, is drawing near. They settle all affairs, make amends and intensify personal sadhana. They seek the silver channel of sushumna which guides kundalini through the door of Brahman into the beyond of the beyond. They seek total renunciation as the day of transition looms strongly in their consciousness. Those who know that Lord Yama is ready to receive them, seek to merge with Siva. They seek nirvikalpa samadhi as the body and earthly life fall away. Those who succeed are the videhamuktas, honored as among those who will never be reborn. Hindu tradition allows for vows of renunciation, called atura sannyasa diksha, to be taken and the orange robe donned by the worthy sadhaka or householder in the days prior to death.
Nirvana or
Samyag-Samadhi (Pure Realisation Or Liberation) - To look upon light and darkness, pleasure and pain, profit and loss, fame and censure with an equal mind is 'Samadhi.' Buddha termed this equal-mindedness as Nirvaana.
Spring Rain Sangha: The Basics of Buddhism - For the remainder of his life, the Buddha taught the dharma to others- men, women, and children; rich and poor; people from all walks of life and all levels of society- so that they, too, might attain awakening. He established a sangha, or community of monks and nuns, to maintain his teachings after his death. Then, one full moon night in May when he had reached the age of eighty, he lay down between two trees in a forest park and gave his last teachings to the assembled followers, counseling them to be heedful in completing their practice of the dharma. With that, he entered total nirvana.
With origins from the mist of time the diasporas of Hindu ontology have evolved practices that confuse superstition with religious rites but may still
survive on the fringes of various traditions. One of the more prevalent practices is jal samadhi=suicide by
drowning in the Ganges or other
sacred sites connected to rivers- still sometimes committed by sadhus. Recently Chaitanaya Brahmchari a holy man from Allahabad, site of the Kumbh Mela festival where millions of Hindus ritually bathe in the the river, has threatened jal samadhi to protest the severe pollution of the sacred water.
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A new age of old age? Gerotranscendence and the re-enchantment of aging (alteration of consciousness) by Hakan Jonson and Jan Arne Magnusson: Briefly put, gerotranscendence is a theoretical concept coined by Swedish gerontologist Lars Tornstam that describes an alteration of consciousness in old age. The development of gerotranscendence is seen as a "natural" process that has been obstructed by structures of modern Western societies. Gerotranscendence marks a paradigmatic shift from positivist to phenomenological gerontology. Tornstam asserts that gerotranscendence marks a paradigmatic shift from positivist to phenomenological gerontology. We force upon the elderly our own value-dependent theories, which at the same time means that deviations from the theoretical predictions are looked upon as being abnormal, pathological, or whatever term we decide to use. In order to explain the difference between the paradigms Tornstam uses a comparison between Zen Buddhist and Western consciousness
A Case for Self-Transcendence as a Purpose of Adult Education by V. Quinton Wacks Jr. - Associate Professor of Psychology and Coordinator of the Gerontology Program, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, TN. Jung (1933) frequently spoke to the importance of the second half of life:
A human being would certainly not grow to be seventy or eighty years old if his longevity had no meaning for the species to which he belonged. The afternoon of human life must also have a significance of its own and cannot be merely a pitiful appendage to life's morning. (p. 109) Part of this unique significance of life's second half is the transcendent function.
Gerotranscendence from young old age to old old age. Tornstam, L. (2003) Online publication from The Social Gerontology Group, Uppsala. Simply put, gerotranscendence is a shift in meta-perspective, from a materialistic and pragmatic view of the world to a more cosmic and transcendent one. According to a qualitative study (Tornstam, 1996 a, b), the gerotranscendent individual typically experiences a new understanding of fundamental existential questions - often a feeling of cosmic communion with the spirit of the universe, a redefinition of time, space, life and death, and a redefinition of the self and relationships to others. In this study, the three dimensions of gerotranscendence were approximated and operationalized in three measures: cosmic transcendence, coherence and need for solitude.
Against Transcendence By Jason Pontin, February 2005. When technology appropriates the transcendental it becomes science fiction. Most technologists believe in transcendence some of the time, and some technologists believe in it all the time. At those moments when they believe in it, they're crazy. When they believe in it completely, they've become trolls. Most responsible biogerontologists are more cautious about the applications of antiaging science.
Aging and the Religious Dimension by L. Eugene Thomas, Susan A. Eisenhandler; Auburn House, 1994. For a variety of historical and intellectual reasons, religion has received scant attention in Western social science. Kant's distinction between "is" and "ought" has led to the sharp distinction between fact and value. This distinction has served as the basis for the ideal in the social sciences that research should remain "value free," and that it should be conducted in as "objective" a manner as possible. This in turn has led to the strong emphasis on quantitative techniques in all fields of the social sciences, which seek to eliminate as much as possible the subjective element. Gero-Transcendence: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration Lars Tornstam
Aging and the Meaning of Time By Susan H. McFadden, Robert C. Atchley 2006 The authors, from diverse disciplines in gerontology, act as guides in the exploration of the realms of time in later life and its meanings. As the authors examine how the study of time can give new meanings to aging, they also consider the religious and spiritual questions raised when human beings consider the temporal boundaries of life.
The effects of religion on subjective aging in Singapore: An interreligious comparison by Xu Jianbina, Kalyani K. Mehtab, Department of Social Work and Psychology, National University of Singapore. Findings indicate that religion can play an integrative role that facilitates adjustment to the aging process. Also, they suggest that though there are fundamental, irreducible differences in terms of religious beliefs and practices between Buddhism and Christianity, there are far less differences in the ways they impact on the integrative aging process.
Existential and Spiritual Issues in Death Attitudes by Adrian Tomer, Grafton Eliason, Paul T. P. Wong. An in-depth examination of death attitudes, existentialism, and spirituality and their relationships; a review of the major theoretical models; clinical applications of these models to issues such as infertility, bereavement, anxiety, and suicide.
The Cambridge Handbook of Age and Ageing- Edited by M. L. Johnson, V. L. Bengtson, P. G. Coleman and T. B. L. Kirkwood, Cambridge University Press, 2006. (book download) With 7 parts, 72 chapters, 110 contributors and 744 pages, this is a mighty tome. Thomas Kirkwood argues that, although there are no specific genes for ageing, a number of genes regulate the ?durability? and ?maintenance? of the soma. Ultimately, evolution has not prepared us well for ageing. Importantly, the scientists who see the big picture and who wish to work with the big picture must also recognise that the grand problems and solutions they envisage do not imply that all aspects of our well being necessarily pivot upon our science, or our capacity for ?outsight?. As described by Marcoen, the spiritual path- the path of insight- is a path towards self-realisation, where everything connected with the self/time, space, life and death, good and evil, the rational and irrational dimensions of the mind, and so on- crystallise in an ego-transcendent state. Here, a new sense of uniqueness, inspiration, creative receptivity and equilibrium between the internal and external worlds of experience opens and allows for a new ethic of compassion, of giving of oneself to others. (Michael Hogan, Department of Psychology, NUI, Galway, Ireland)
Religion, Spirituality, and Older People by Alfons Marcoen (Chapter 4.11)
The experience of the transcendent is also the root of empathic compassion and altruism, idealistic commitment to the betterment of the world, and the awareness of the tragic character of human existence. The spiritually mature and ethically committed person has integrated diverse visions of life and humanity into a complex system of meaning in which there is tolerance for ambiguity and paradox. Transcendence (of ordinary consciousness, the self, and usual habits) in one form or another is always a component of a spirtual orientation to life.
Self and Identity in Advanced Old Age: validation of theory through longitudinal case analysis. by P.G. Coleman, C. Ivani-Chalian, M. Robinson - Department of Psychology, University of Southampton, England, United Kingdom, 1999. Case studies drawn from a 20-year longitudinal study of aging were examined for the support they provide to two theoretical viewpoints on the self in later life: one focusing on management of self-esteem, the other on development of identity as story. The five cases selected for scrutiny represented diverse trajectories of self-esteem. They furnished ample illustrations of certain key aspects of both theories, including assimilative processes of coping, depression related to absence of accommodation, maintenance of life story themes, and life review processes. They did not, however, give strong support to the dichotomy, drawn within both theoretical models, between younger and older old age. Examples of accommodation, disengagement, and self-transcendence, hypothesized to typify advanced old age, were relatively few in number and emerged only toward the very end of life. It is argued that examination of prototypical cases provides a useful approach to validating and developing theory. A conclusion drawn from this study is that more analysis should be carried out on the lives of persons who exemplify the theoretically ideal characteristics of advanced old age.
Mountain Climbers vs. Vegetables: Avoiding cliches in aging coverage - Lecture by Robert A. Rosenblatt, 2002
Aging Spiritual Nondual Google Book search - enter: aging+spiritual+nondual
Reflection and Discussion Guide A Unitarian Universalist Association program for a multidisciplinary vision of growing older By Rabi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi and Ronald Miller From Age-ing to Sage-ing©, 1997. - invites participants to deepen their understanding of aging and elderhood. The model does more than restore the elder to a position of honor and dignity based on age and long life experience. It envisions the elder as an agent of evolution, attracted as much by the future of humanity?s expanded brain-mind potential as by the wisdom of the past.
(m-g: After writing my Reflections on Old Age I discovered Zalman also features asrama in his elderhood model.)
The Church of Yahweh A paper by Rabi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi The Revealing Science of God has a three-fold purpose:
1. To look at many of Hinduism's fundamental tenets in terms of physics. I will be concerned only with Newtonian physics and the laws that govern our everyday world. Einstein's theories of relativity, of which Newton's laws of motion are a subset, are outside the scope of this discussion.
2.To use the laws of physics as a link between Hinduism and Christianity, as a basis for dialogue.
3.To apply the methods of scientific research to the quest for knowledge of God.
Aged resources
American Society on Aging- organization of multidisciplinary professionals in the field of aging whose resources, publications, and educational opportunities are geared to enhance the knowledge and skills of people working with older adults and their families. Aging Today ASA bimonthly newspaper
Trinity mega-perspectives on aging, dying and death.
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