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A new and expanded version of METHOD AGING and Improvisational Longevity entitled METHOD AGING and The Infinite Game is now available in paperback HERE and at AMAZON. It is also available on Kindle at Amazon, Nook at Barnes & Noble and at the Apple iBookstore. Other eBook formats are available HERE.
METHOD AGING and The Infinite Game
You are both very old and very young. Scientists say you are made of stardust, which makes you billions of years old. On the other hand, your emotional age in an unhappy state can be that of a screaming baby. Your functional age is defined as an interaction of the chronological, physiological, psychological, and emotional ages of "you". This is an approximation of your age based on what physical and mental activities you can usually perform on a daily basis. Your age is indeterminate…you are a verb not a noun…you have no fixed age. You can learn to think of your age as an improvisation…a spontaneous movement of your bodymind…not how many years you have been kicking around the planet.
The static "you" is a stubborn illusion. "You"… your self, persona, ego…who "you" are… is a dynamic assemblage that is formed by the interaction of genetics, imprinting, learning, culture, etc....a character description, similar in many ways to a character in a film or novel, a character description which can be changed once it is recognized as such. One significant part of your character description that can be effectively re-written and re-performed is your functional age. This is Method Aging - a Cinemorphic adaptation of method acting applied to daily life. Once you are successful at this and then ask yourself..."who is it that is reinventing this "me" I identify with?"...a new perspective may emerge, as well as a new perception of your relationship with time and your story. "You" are no longer a slave to your history. You may also see that "you" are not really playing what you now realize is the infinite game..."it" is playing you. And you both are a constantly whirling field of energy and potential...dancing with the Tao.
The paperback version of The TAO of AGING is now available HERE and at AMAZON. The Kindle version is available HERE and on Amazon U.K. The Nook version is available HERE. The Apple iBookstore version is available HERE. All other eBook formats are available HERE.
The TAO of AGING
As The Tao of Aging opens, we encounter a strange old, sage-like Chinese philosopher and raconteur who claims to actually be Zhuangzi (ChuangTzu) - the second most important originator of Taoist thought after Lao Tzu.
Zhuangzi now lives in San Francisco and is known simply as "Z". As it turns out, over 2000 years after his exploits in ancient China, "Z" is still rambling about the world - trickster to the bone - tinkering with the way we look at what we call reality. He insists that he is not some mythical Taoist Immortal whose condition is due to an alchemical elixir but rather an ordinary man who pays attention to the Laws of Nature.
"I am not the Zhuangzi you have read about in books...wallowing in the mud all day. Stuck in the mud really, if you believe what you read, which you shouldn't. There are those who will say that the ideas I am telling you about now are not those of Zhuangzi - that they are different from Zhuangzi's teachings - contrary even. But if they were not freethinking - even heretical - they would not truly be Zhuangzi's - MY - ideas...
...And so you ask about some Tao of Aging? First, there is no Tao OF anything...just Tao. And Tao is not a noun, Tao is a verb. But even Taoing is not Tao because Tao has no name, even though I have just named it. Then, look for yourself. What you call your body may change in a way you call aging, but do 'you' age? Does your awareness get wet when it rains? Does your awareness turn into wearoutness over 'time'? I think not! Just think of yourself as a constantly changing field of energy and potential...swirling and twirling with the Tao..."
Is "Z" the real thing? Our conclusion by the end of our encounter with him...MAYBE...
The paperback version of METHOD AGING and Improvisational Longevity is now available HERE and at AMAZON. The Kindle version is available HERE, the Kindle, U.K. version is available HERE , the Nook version is available HERE and the Smashwords version (all other formats) is available HERE.
METHOD AGING...
YOU are a bodymind, not a body with a mind or vice versa. You are a verb, not a noun. You are fluid, constantly changing. The static you is a persistent illusion. You... your self, persona, ego...who you are... is a construct that is formed by the interaction of genetics, imprinting, and learning. You have little input into this process until after you have been thoroughly shaped by parents, peers and culture. Now consider that this you that you now seem to be is, actually, very much like a fictitious character that may appear in a novel, play or movie and may be re-written, re-produced and re-performed, using the techniques of those media. One part of your character description that can effectively be re-written, re-produced and re-performed is your functional age, which is defined as a combination and interaction of your chronological, physiological, psychological, and emotional ages. The Cinemorphic techniques discussed in METHOD AGING open the door to this transformation.
