Three open discussion sessions on aging were held in March and April 2010 at the Halifax Shambhala Centre. A summary of the first session is provided in a previous post on this blog. Here is summary of the second and third sessions.
Summary of the second session:
On Tuesday, March 30, from 4-6pm, the second ‘Open discussion on aging in Shambhala’ was held with ten people engaged in a lively two hour discussion. The list of topics arising from the previous session (March 15) was noted. In this session the discussion delved more deeply into some of the previously identified issues.
Three topics seemed to stand out: (1) helping people prepare for ‘old age’ through awareness of benefits and available supports; (2) beginning to define the role of ‘seniors/elders’ in the Shambhala community, this being the first generation of practitioners to enter old age in large numbers; and (3) how to develop a more organized and visible community care process.
There was a general sense that ongoing discussion/work group(s) would be helpful.
Summary of the third session:
On April 6, 2010, the third open discussion on aging was held at the Halifax Shambhala Centre. Ten people participated, several of whom had not been at the previous two sessions.
Amidst the wide ranging discussion the overall theme that emerged had to do with developing mutual supports among older Shambhalians.
First, there was talk about creating on-line groups that would allow people to keep in closer communication with one another.
Second, there was an extended discussion about community housing; ways in which older Shambhlians could live closer together. The complexity of actually creating housing projects was acknowledged.
Finally, there was a strong interest expressed in forming an ongoing group to discuss and share the “experience of aging”. This group would not approach aging as a problem. Rather the intent would be to simply examine the ground, the actual experience of aging.
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