Conscious Aging with John Robinson, Ph.D.

Welcome to the New Aging
Are you frightened of aging? Do you worry over every new physical symptom, memory lapse, or mistake? Do you keep busy to avoid thinking about being "old" or brag about how happy you are in retirement when you secretly feel pretty low? Do you believe that aging is really about waiting to lose everything that matters? For most of human history, we viewed aging like this - as inevitably grim, depressing, and hopeless. It's no wonder no one wants to talk about it. But no longer. A radically new kind of aging is on the horizon, one that can change us, the culture and the world. And millions of us are getting ready for this new adventure.

The first wave of 76 million "Baby Boomers," representing 28% of the American population, began turning 65 in 2011. Every day ten thousand more join this amazing tsunami and will live longer than any previous generation in history – at least 15 years more than their parents! – creating an entirely new stage of life. As a psychologist, interfaith minister, author and aging Boomer, I've been exploring the possibilities of this revolutionary "Third Age" for several years and what I have learned is breathtaking. I now believe that twenty-first century aging represents a new and largely uncharted stage of psychological and spiritual development.

And I am not alone in this optimism. Rabbi Schacter-Shalomi tells us that "Elderhood represents the crowning achievement of life" and Jean Houston adds, "The years beyond 60, the years of our second maturity, may be evolution's greatest gift to humanity." Carl Jung, the great psychoanalyst, claimed that old age would not exist unless it had an evolutionary purpose. So this is what we want to understand - how can aging be the crowning achievement of life, the greatest gift to humanity, and a purposeful stage of human evolution?

Part of the answer to this question comes from the conscious aging movement which has made enormous contributions to understanding the psychological and spiritual tasks - and gifts! - of aging. One relatively undeveloped area, however, has been the mystical experience of aging, an area that has become central to my own life and work.

What might the mystical experience of aging involve? Aging represents a natural transformation of self and consciousness. The events and process of aging - changing bodies, fading identities, and losses of all shapes and sizes - steadily dissolve all the social constructs that previously defined us. One day, looking at our latest photograph, we no longer recognize our self. Whether we like it or not, we end up surrendering virtually everything we were. While we can hang onto past identities and achievements, these memories grow stale for they no longer represent who we really are. But this procession of losses, as the mystics tell us, constitutes the quintessential prerequisite for enlightenment. What's left when the ego's filters of identity, time and story dissolve is consciousness itself, which the mystics also tell us is the consciousness of the divine. We are victims of mistaken identity. We replaced the divine Self, our truest self, with the self-idea and came to believe that consciousness was simply an epiphenomenon of the brain.

But a new kind of aging has begun. Our remarkable new longevity and growing interest in conscious aging have created a new developmental stage in the human life cycle. We're living decades longer! With this gift of time, we have the opportunity to tune into the previously overlooked mystical dimensions of age. As Mystical Consciousness erases the dualistic filters of thought, we discover that consciousness is not just in us, we are in it and it is the omnipresent consciousness of God. We live in a sea of consciousness! Then, if we are willing to descend into the unfathomable depths of inner space, we open yet another deeper experience of the divine Self, an infinite consciousness that begins to rise as a tidal force of love suffusing and transforming the structures of ego and personality. Like the metaphor of "one river, many wells," we each have a channel directly into the aquifer of Spirit, and it changes us. We begin to experience the radical new possibilities of the Divine Human. Religions have long prophesized the coming or return of a divine savior - I believe that savior is us.

As I dwell in this sea of divine consciousness, I change. No longer wanting or needing a persona, I discover that I am consciousness itself. Ecstasy then erupts as I merge consciousness with physical being, and the divine Presence floods my psyche. I dissolve in that Presence and discover that its love is infinite, extends everywhere, and touches everyone, so that when I love, I touch the whole universe. In this process, a new kind of life emerges, a divine life, and the world changes before my eyes. These mystical realizations transcend religion and spirituality, transform self and consciousness, and bring new gifts to a world sorely in need of love. They can transform our aging if we are informed, perceptive and willing.

We've got aging all wrong and the culture's grim beliefs are "scaring us to death." Even our inevitable physical decline may represent a dissolution into an incredible new consciousness. But to experience this new consciousness, we need to learn what this New Aging really is. Please join me. Explore the books available on this site. Test out their arguments. Each book holds a piece of the puzzle for you - put them together and build your next life. Discover a life stage you never thought possible, never even conceived. And then let's change the world, not from the old model of heroic combat, but from the new consciousness that is the new aging.

And, as you can see, this website now includes information and events focusing on the Climate Crisis. With the publication of Mystical Activism: Transforming a World in Crisis, conscious elders and all awakening Earth citizens are called to address the dire threat of climate change and discover the power of mystical consciousness in supporting our local and global activism.

Read Past Newsletters

Sacred Activism Through the Lens of The Three Secrets of Aging

March 5, 2017

If Conscious Elders are going to light a path through the darkness of this time, we need to understand where we are and how we can most respond most maturely. So let's look at the underpinnings of our current national nightmare and the many ways we can respond.

In many respects, Trump represents our collective shadow - all the repressed, censored, dark, eruptive energies we have buried inside us. But as Jung told us, the shadow is 90% gold! Jeremy Taylor, a specialist on Jung and dreams, recently wrote, "…the 'hidden gift' in the colossal projected shadow of Donald Trump is potentially granting us all 'permission' to explore and manifest our deepest creative energies and responses to the world, without concern for the limitations of conventionality, 'group-think,' or premature, merely habitual… moral restraint." He adds, "Not too surprisingly, when viewed in this light, the excitement and enthusiasm that he invokes and evokes in his followers is also a shadow parody of the liberating joy that always attends successful, transformative creative expression, where and whenever it manifests." In depth psychology, the shadow, trickster, or devil archetype unleashes huge transformational energies. Trump may be the precursor of an enormous change in the collective psyche.

And, as philosopher Grant Maxwell observes in his new book, The Dynamics of Transformation, the evolution of genuinely new ideas and forms is typically unpredictable, disruptive, and shocking. He also suggests that some great and as yet unknown archetype may now be constellating in the depths of the human psyche. In other words, this disruption may be opening a new chapter in the history of democracy, unconsciously inviting us all to participate in a more vital, creative and engaged citizenship. Something deeper is at work here, a new expression of the human enterprise and a new worldview.

How do we respond? Here are some ideas from The Three Secrets of Aging:

Secret I. Initiation. This is also a time of collective initiation. Elders are being collectively shocked into a new historical era, a time filled with new tasks, gifts and challenges. This is not the old world we were accustomed to and we cannot go back. But this is a time of psychological and spiritual renewal unprecedented in human history, one that creates a quantum leap forward if we participate meaningfully. This is a time for discerning what makes you come alive and doing that!

Secret II. Transformation. This situation is not what we think it is. The frightened mind always generates frightening ideas and emotional reactivity. This is likely something larger and more creative. Indeed, it may be the doorway to the next state of human consciousness. So we ask, "Can we look at the world without projecting so many distressing catastrophic fears and images, and instead engage discernment, creativity and love?" This is a time to deepen our awareness of eternal values and recognize the world as self - and then act from the deep oneness of being.

Secret III. Revelation. Shock and loss can awaken us to the infinite beauty of being. We are so often caught up in our head, thinking thinking thinking, and missing what is right before us - family, friends, love, and this amazing Earth. Crises bring us back to the present, and the present holds everything we need. I remember an old friend of mine telling me about the day her house burned down. She suddenly found herself feeling incredibly free, free to create a new life, to release the shackles of her old self and pursue a new adventure. The present is revelation happening. Get on board. Make this a time of growth, connection, awakening, and transformation.

Finally, in a paper I posted in the Newsletter section of my website (johnrobinson.org) and reposted by Chaplaincy Institute website, I argue that we need to respond the turmoil of these times in Four dimensions: the psychological, spiritual, mystical and Sage's Wisdom. Here are some ideas from that paper:
• There are many things we can do in the psychological dimension. For example, we need to work through our feelings rather than react blindly or collapse in despair. And we need to realize that anything we feel deeply will change, releasing new energies and creative insights for positive action. Decades as a psychotherapist have shown me this.
• In spiritual dimension, we need to ask ourselves bigger questions and about the spiritual meaning and purpose of this time in history. For example, "What are my ultimate spiritual beliefs about why this is happening?" "How would my personal spiritual heroes respond to this situation?" And we need to return to our spiritual practices to stay centered and grounded.
• In the mystical dimension, we need to spend time in the Presence, and let its nature and consciousness expand our awareness and response capabilities. Similarly we need to pray and ask for divine guidance.
• With respect to the Sage's Wisdom, we can review all we've learned from conscious aging books and workshops to respond to this nightmare with the wisdom and maturity of real experience. In activating this wisdom, we will find our own voice as enlightened elders and grow a community of loving engagement.

Conclusions
So you see, it's not a single response that matters but an integrative and multidimensional one filled with maturity, love and genuine wisdom. We have been to this kind of edge before in our personal and collective history, and we have the ability to stand in this fire and respond according to our deepest nature and principles. Trust and explore the possibilities of the psychological, spiritual, mystical, and Sage levels of response, and let The Three Secrets of Aging change you so you can change the world.

Now Available: "I Am God:" The Poetry of Mystical Consciousness

Read Past Newsletters

Sacred Activism Through the Lens of The Three Secrets of Aging

Selected Works

Mystical Aging

Spiritual Fiction

Aging Men, Mythology, Spirituality

Memoir, Mind-Body-Spirit

Elder Fairy Tales

Nonfiction, Mind-Body-Spirit

Non-fiction, Body-Mind-Spirit

Psychology/Spirituality/Men's Issues

Psychology/Spirituality

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