The Second Half of Life - Paperback

Opening the Eight Gates of Wisdom

This collection of teachings, reflections, and stories from around the world open us to the challenge and deeper mysteries of the "great crossing" at midlife.

Working with the images, poetry, metaphors, and other forms of symbolic language from diversified cultures, Angeles Arrien introduces us to the Eight Gates of Initiation.

Readers are taken step-by-step through each gate to learn more about: How to effectively cope with the natural challenges of health and an aging body, Your secret longings: how they give you direction and inspiration to begin a project that is connected with your life dream, the gate of intimacy: two dangers that can stop your crossing,

Ways to balance the two distinct meanings of life: your external, quantitative and material experiences, with the internal, qualitative, sensory experiences, Retirement - from what toward what, and more.

Dimensions: 7.76" x 7.32"
Details: Hardcover, 207 pages
Author: Angeles Arrien

Testimonials

From AudioFile

Subtitled THE BLOSSOMING OF YOUR CREATIVE SELF, this lovely and complex program is about opening to the deeper mysteries of who we are at midlife and recovering the great dream we have for our lives. Angeles Arrien, author, cultural anthropologist, and eloquent storyteller, describes the three principles that should inform the second half of life: generativity, intimacy and creativity. One way to follow these principles is to perform daily the three cross-cultural tasks referred to by Arrien as "the Blessing Way"--say a prayer or set a sacred intention, express gratitude and perform at least one life-affirming action. Many stories are interwoven throughout the program: Solomon's Wisdom, Pandora's Box, The 12 Labors of Hercules, and The Nine Muses. Eloquent and provocative, Arrien provides not only stories and myths, but also many practical instructions to encourage us to change at mid-life. To paraphrase the poet Rumi, Arrien inspires her listeners to drop "the shrouds of insufficiency" and to return to our souls' highest nature. A well-crafted, superbly recorded, and rewarding audio work.

About Angeles Arrien

Angeles Arrien is an anthropologist, educator, award-winning author, and consultant to many organizations and businesses, including the Fetzer Institute. She lectures nationally and internationally; conducting workshops that bridge cultural anthropology, psychology, and mediation skills. Requests for her expertise have taken her to Bali, China, Indonesia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Spain, Denmark, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic), Germany, Ireland, South Africa, and Canada. Her work with multi-cultural issues, mediation, and conflict resolution has been used with the International Rights Commission and the World Indigenous Council. She has also presented her material on the Cable News Network (CNN).

Keynote addresses and presentations include those given at the Gorbachev Foundation State of the World Forum, Wharton Business School, International Women's Forum, Leadership Institute of Seattle, International Global Learning, American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley, Kellogg Foundation, Motorola Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Labs, Bob Barkley Foundation, Professional Business Women's Conference, California Judicial Court Family Services, National Organizational Development Network Conference, U.S. Journal Training, Inc., Odwalla, International Association of Public Practitioners, Grupo Femsa / Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezume and Grupo Pulsar (Mexico), and the International Peacemaking Conference with three Nobel Prize winners.

Within the medical community, Angeles has consulted with Kaiser Permanente Group, Pride Institute of Colorado, California Pacific Medical Center, Sutter Community Hospitals, Planetree Foundation, Columbia Rose Medical Center, and American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Dr. Arrien has taught in the University of California system at Berkeley, Los Angeles, Irvine, Davis, Santa Cruz, and San Francisco. She is an associate professor at two Bay Area graduate schools, the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. She co-designed and implemented the Social and Cultural Anthropology Program at CIIS and received their Distinguished Teaching award. She is also core faculty with the End-of-Life Counselor Training (EOL) program sponsored by Alaya Institute connected with Zen Hospice.

She is the founder and president of the Angeles Arrien Foundation for Cross-Cultural Education and Research, and a Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Dr. Arrien's research and teaching have focused on values and beliefs shared by humanity cross-culturally, and on the integration and application of multi-cultural wisdoms in contemporary settings. She teaches universal components of leadership skills, communication, health care, and education. Her work reveals how indigenous wisdoms are relevant in our families, professional lives, and our relationship with the Earth.

She is the author of The Four-Fold Way™: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer and Visionary, published by HarperCollins, San Francisco and Signs of Life: The Five Universal Shapes and How to Use Them, winner of the 1993 Benjamin Franklin Award. In addition, she has written numerous articles and teaching modules on a variety of topics and has received three honorary doctorate.