baby boomers cut their spiritual teeth on timothy leary, richard alpert, a.k.a., ram dass, joni mitchell, and grace slick the the airplane. we had pure mind expansion at our disposal and, along with the beatles, began to explore meditation, tai ji, breathwork and, of course, psychotherapy.where are we now? the first of us boomers, born in 1946, are 71 now. we have bus passes and pensions, glasses and dental implants (if we can afford them), orthotics and knee replacements. what has happened to our spiritual endeavours? we may have gone on meditation retreats, trying to reach the promised nirvana. we may have had years of therapy, trying to find peace with our inner demons. we may have had marriages and divorces trying to find happiness in relationship. we may, or may not, have had children for many reasons. we may have had 'good' jobs, or we may have worked it mac donald's. we may have decided it was a load of c--p and dropped the entire pursuit. our lives have unfolded as they did.what do we have now? what has endured from our first tiptoe into our spiritual lives? anything?regardless of the answer to that last question, spiritual, or contemplative, practice is essential to conscious ageing. to make space regularly for quiet, inner looking allows us to see truth...the truth of who we are at this moment. we may find distress or peace, questions or answers, calm or upset. in all of these discoveries we are in the truth of the moment, this moment, the only moment.
this daily quiet, this moving into the heart, may, just may, make it possible to be present in the moments of pain or fear as the body changes. it may, just may, make it possible to find passion and connection at those moments when we might feel out of control and helpless. it may, just may, be the moments when we can find and abide in our own truth and goodness.this quiet practice may, just may, make it possible to live fully each day, appreciating every moment.it may, just may, make it possible to be aware at the moment of death.