Maturity |
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Recently psychologists at several universities announced the results of a long research project involving thousands of human subjects in several countries. The not very startling result was that the brain does not complete its physical development until about age twenty-five. Of course automobile insurance companies have known about this for many years, but not why. We really do not know exactly why even yet, but what we do know is that the human brain does not deal with risk as effectively until age twenty-five.
If maturity were defined by the ability to properly assess and act on the various kinds of risk that are encountered by us, then we would be "mature" at roughly twenty-five. But, we know better than this. We know from age thirty-five that certain wants have paled into insignificance and that our sense of ourselves has changed. At forty-five we know even more about ourselves and our friends. At fifty-five we begin to feel our age a bit and yet we feel very much on top of "our game," whatever it is. We have a new sense of confidence and general understanding of things. At sixty-five we are basically grateful for survival, but the inner sense of confidence has given way to a new sense of hightened perspective and wonder. If we did not, living with the mistakes of our younger friends and associates might be difficult. I suspect that seventy-five will be a very good time for "putting it all together," getting that world view that has always seemed incomplete. I suspect we begin to trim off ideas and habits of mind that are not used as much, discarding them for a clearer picture. Beyond the 70's is terra incognita for me, I have only sketchy ideas from relatives I have known well. All of this is simply to say that as the years progress, so do we. We become better at some things and less good at others. All the while this is happening to us we are exposed to ideas that we never pursue. One of those is Zen, for instance. Very few people actually become adept at Zen despite its ubiquitousness in American and European literature. What happens to us when we miss an experience like that? Have we given up a manner of self-realization for good? Are we spiritually crippled because we have not experienced a "mystery" others have seen and talked about? I think not, or not nearly. I believe that the human experience is convergent, that those of us who maintain a good mental health and openness to life generally arrive in the same general area of maturity. Maybe not, but I hope so. I believe now, (and I did not twenty years ago) that we are capable of extending our mental and spiritual reach by practice ... gentle practice. When I first met Dr. Silke Eden I was unprepared for the journey that would eventually overtake my life and give me direction. She simply said that there was more, that I already knew it, but that I was too skeptical and much too interested in sex.
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