Autumn Years: Taking the Contemplative Path

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Overview


This is a beginner's guide to contemplation for anyone in the second half of life and also a love story. Autumn Years describes the practice of contemplation as part of a strategy of successful aging. Recognizing that there is no single contemplative path, it includes: sitting meditation, centering prayer, walking meditation, and loving-kindness meditation. It also looks at other practices as well: yoga, lectio divina, koan study, music meditation, dream work, and even travel as pilgrimage. 

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More About This Book

Overview


This is a beginner's guide to contemplation for anyone in the second half of life and also a love story. Autumn Years describes the practice of contemplation as part of a strategy of successful aging. Recognizing that there is no single contemplative path, it includes: sitting meditation, centering prayer, walking meditation, and loving-kindness meditation. It also looks at other practices as well: yoga, lectio divina, koan study, music meditation, dream work, and even travel as pilgrimage. 

'Shows that marriage is as much a spiritual journey as monasticism... youth only the beginning of the human exploration of wonder, divine passion, and holiness.' Laurence Freeman, O.S.B., director of the World Community of Christian Meditation

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
This book is written for anyone growing older who feels a tug toward spiritual seeking, and since more than 76 million baby boomers-the generation that legitimized spiritual seeking-are growing older, it has a considerable potential audience. The authors use the premise of a Hindu cultural model that calls for spiritual development in the later years, after the discharge of family responsibilities. They also cite Western research on successful aging, documenting the increased life span and better health of the aging population that makes "new beginnings" feasible. From this point of departure they advocate the practice of contemplation, briefly explaining common practices (meditation, centering prayer, the study of Zen Buddhist koan riddles) and offering tips on sticking with a practice once it's adopted. The married co-authors also draw freely but not in excessive detail from their own lives and spiritual journeys to illustrate by example and also to show how intimate relationships can promote spiritual growth-a topic not often covered in other spirituality books. This brief introductory volume is both personal and personable, as a spiritual guide should be, and is recommended for beginners as well as those having difficulty seeing how Eastern spiritual practices can enrich a Christian's faith. It sets a standard as the market for "mature spirituality" books continues to develop. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780826418333
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
  • Publication date: 1/26/2006
  • Edition description: ANN
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 176
  • Product dimensions: 5.36 (w) x 8.07 (h) x 0.54 (d)

Meet the Author

Robert H. King, a graduate of Harvard and Yale, was professor of philosophy and religion at Millsaps College, Jackson, Mississippi, where he was also academic dean. His most recent book is Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hanh: Engaged Spirituality in an Age of Globalization. He and Elizabeth live in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado.

Elizabeth M. King is the author of seven books, published under the name Marilyn Morgan Hellenberg, and over 500 poems, articles, and stories, published in more than two dozen magazines from Commonweal, Guideposts, and The Living Church to Parents' Magazine, Reader's Digest, and the Upper Room. Her book God's Best for You sold over one hundred thousand copies in its Guidepost edition (1988).

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Table of Contents

1 Flaming colors, falling leaves 15
2 Crossing the abyss 34
3 Interfaith pilgrims 50
4 Finding your own practice 64
5 Supporting your practice 86
6 Relationship as practice 99
7 The outer and inner journey 116
8 The contemplative experience 136
9 Some fruits of contemplation 151
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