Spirituality, Disability and Aging
What does it mean to be whole? The idea of wholeness has changed over centuries, and certainly varies with cultural values. With the rapid changes of the 21st century, new discoveries and technology hold possibilities which challenge our ideas of what it means to be human, let alone what is means to be whole, what it means to be disabled or impaired, what it means to age. We live longer and have miraculous tools (mechanical, digital, chemical) to assist us or enhance our functioning when compared to previous centuries. Science and technology envision even more wonders for our future.
Yet we do age, and not all impairment can be erased. Our cutting-edge tools are not available to everyone. We move through the seasons of life and experience changes us. Many people struggle with their limitations and a sense of pressure from themselves, others, or society at large to be better, to be more like everyone else...or...perfect. Spiritually, we are an individual expression of Life, unique, yet inseparable from the Oneness of all life. Our "perfection" is in our uniqueness. Our "wholeness" is in our acceptance of that shared life.
This section invites you to explore disability and aging as spiritual experience that includes new ways of seeing healing, making whole, and taking care.
“Spiritual practices help us move from identifying with the ego to identifying with the soul. Old age does that for you too. It spiritualizes people naturally.”
NASA public domain photo
“Musings at the little shack of insight” by JAC
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“Little Shack: A Healing in Nature”: …There is an Interesting story about the creation of these trails. I had a group of Tibetan monks who came from India and were touring the U.S. I was lucky that the monks were staying at the Vietnamese monastery nearby. At that time, I was having my usual breakfast with the monastery monks and visiting my friend Tre.…(click to continue)
JAC Bio: JAC is a former computer technician and current Organic Gardener, Bee Keeper, Writer and Spiritual Pilgrim whose lifelong passion is the study and practice of transformation of consciousness. He has a genetic progressive deafness that began in childhood. Having experienced the challenges of being deaf, cancer recovery and a recent diagnosis of severe arthritis, his focus now is now on aging, and its opportunities for a higher state of being. Otherwise he says “I am just an average Joe.” His philosophy mirrors Taoist teachings that the small is as important as the infinite. Jack lives with his wife on a few acres in Texas.
Articles
"Meditation for Seniors" by Dr. Larry Morris
(archived, 1992) "New Thought and Mental Illness" by Dr. Susan Nettleton