"Aging: Meditation as an Emotional
and Spiritual Resource"
By the Speaker Series Committee
A T-shirt reads, "It is weird being as old as old people." But we are not simply becoming old, says Dr. Robert A. Jonas, December's speaker. We are moving into another adventure and challenge, to become an elder. Are there practices we can follow to navigate our later years? Yes. They might include mindfulness, meditation, or contemplation.
With our extended longevity comes the opportunity for extended emotional and spiritual development. All the spiritual traditions teach that later life is about reconciliation—becoming reconciled with who we are.
Our guest speaker will introduce us to some basic practices of awareness and self-knowing, including meditation that can awaken us to the magic and creativity of aging.
On Friday, December 2, from 3 to 4 pm, Dr. Jonas will present some ideas about aging that he has gleaned from his 75 years as a father and grandfather, and his decades of experience as a psychotherapist and spiritual teacher.
Robert A. Jonas, Ed.D. (Harvard University), M.T.S. (Weston Jesuit School of Theology), is the director of The Empty Bell, a contemplative sanctuary in Northampton, MA. He is a retired psychotherapist, an interfaith theologian, retreat leader, musician, and spiritual mentor. He is an environmental activist, and a retired board chair of the Kestrel Land Trust.
He has published four books:
Rebecca: A Father’s Journey from Grief to Gratitude (Crossroad, 1996),
Henri Nouwen (Orbis, 1998),
The Essential Henri Nouwen (Shambhala, 2009), and
My Dear Far-Nearness (Orbis, 2022)
Details
View the Northampton Neighbor Speaker Series Archive (recorded since 2020) on YouTube and on Northampton Open Media Channel 12, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9 am and Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7 pm.