Source: Spirituality and Practice
“Becoming a Wise Elder with Angeles Arrien” is an 18-part e-course in Spirituality & Practice’s Elder Spirituality Project. It is based on the realization that the skills developed during the first half of life are not adequate for the frontiers crossed as adults age. The attitudes, disciplines, and life skills that elderhood demands are completely different. Many world tales and perennial wisdoms point to eight gates through which adults must pass in order to fully develop into wise people. Each has its own gift, task, and challenge. They include:
• facing new experiences and the unknown,
• discovering one’s true face or authentic identity,
• exploring relationships from the crucible of love, intimacy and forgiveness,
• approaching service, creativity and generativity from a place of legacy,
• developing character and deepening wisdom,
• opening to the presence of grace,
• moving into surrender, acceptance, and equanimity,
• practicing non-attachment and letting go.
The leader for this online course is Angeles Arrien, Ph.D., a cultural anthropologist, award-winning author, educator, and consultant to many organizations and businesses. She is the President of the Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research and regularly lectures and conducts workshops worldwide, bridging cultural anthropology, psychology, and comparative religions. She is the author of seven books including The Second Half of Life: Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom, winner of the 2007 Nautilus Award for Best Book on Aging. She is profiled as one of the Living Spiritual Teachers at Spirituality & Practice.
For this e-course, Angeles Arrien explores the eight gates to becoming a wise elder in 18 emails. Each contains a short essay and suggestions for applying this wisdom in your own spiritual journey, including:
• practices in how to trust the new and unfamiliar,
• how to create openings and initiate ways to collaborate and unify,
• how to resolve inner and outer conflict,
• time-honored skills that foster a clear mind, an open heart, a strong spirit, and courageous action in the world.
(6 CEHs for Chaplains available.)
