Aging and Zazen

When I was in high-school, I lived with an elderly great aunt who had a marvelous trait of laughing at herself when she had done something foolish. I remember her laughing about putting the salt and pepper shakers in the refrigerator. Now that I am older myself, I find I have some of my great aunt’s ability to laugh at herself.

I exercise quite a bit. Indoors I do pushups, weight curls, and abdominal exercises; outdoors I do rapid walking and jumping-jacks. I do this routine every other day. In a recent morning, I laid out the dumbbells and other appurtenances as though it was an exercise day. When my wife pointed out that I had done the exercises just the previous day, I found myself  laughing at myself just like my great aunt. Also, frequently I find activities all through the house that I have neglected to complete, and then I have to go back and finish them. I can laugh at that too.

Declining mental and physical faculties are the experience of all people who live a normal life span. It is a great benefit to those who are older to have a sense of humor in response to this decline.

My great aunt had a good-humored acceptance of her aging entirely by her own nature. Zazen promotes this acceptance, too, in its gradual erosion of self, for the less self, the more humor and detachment.