Wednesday, February 14, 2018

80 Is The New 70

On schedule, my 80th year timed out yesterday. Subjectively, I didn't feel any different: no signs of aging one day to the next, no added wrinkles, sudden loss of balance, or cognitive impairment. Objectively, no looks of concern in the eyes of the people I encountered. No one who knows me avoided me, no watchful eyes waiting for me to drop a glass or start drooling.

And yet, eighty years old (80) has such an ominous ring to it, makes a person feel that people are going to treat him like an invalid or a harebrain from now on, and he'll have to come up with stratagems and affectations to make people think he's a jolly old man to humor and laugh with.

And it probably used to be that way. Certainly, I'd never write about turning 30, 50, or even 70. But 80! That's old. How did he do it? people must wonder. I thought he was much younger...
 
JJ Semple in Shrinagar, Lashmir, 1977
In India To Meet Gopi Krishna – 1977


Don't worry; you don't have to change; I haven't. Still doing yoga, trampoline, the nitric acid dump, two mile walks, and long mornings of writing and meetings.

Do I look younger than 80? The only objective feedback I get comes in the checkout line at the Co-Op when the cashier doesn't automatically give me the senior discount; I have to request it...
 
JJ Semple self-portrait with iPhone. 2017
iPhone Self-Portrait For An Upcoming Book – 2017

When people remark that I don't look 80, I have to debate for a moment: Should I tell them about kundalini?

Oh, here he goes again! It's all about kundalini. When have I heard him say that before? Yes, it's a claim I made...years ago. I can't hide it. It's on the back of my book in large letters: "Rejuvenates the body; retards the aging process." I didn't make it up. How do I know it's really kundalini? What do you think happens when an elixir composed of psychic fuel rises up the spine to both rejuvenate and create brain cells all day long?

Many years ago, Timothy Leary said: "The body is a chemical factory." He was right then and he's still right on. I'll leave it to you to test the process in the laboratory of your own body.

The interesting thing: There's no real How-To. Kundalini takes care of that. It tells you what to eat, what not to eat; it doesn't tolerate cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs. Points you in the right direction, helping you to make better decisions — people to avoid, habits to break, efforts to support, limits to stay within.

Forty years between photos and still going strong...

2 comments:

  1. But Sri Ramakrishna died of larynx cancer, Sri Ramana died of sarcoma, Gopi Krishna died of cancer, Nisargadatta died of pancreas cancer. Sorry, can you explain that?

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    Replies
    1. Paolo,

      Thanks for the comment. Here's an excerpt from a permanent page on this blog:
      http://www.kundaliniconsortium.org/p/blog-page_16.html

      "Most degenerative diseases (cancer, diabetes, etc.) start in the gut; it's the source of our greatest ills. And that's why we need a clean, unfettered colon, especially as we age and our supply of natural enzymes becomes depleted by the things we ate when we were young, before we learned to eat right. Kundalini can help treat neural disorders, ailments arising from lack of vital life force energy. But Kundalini cannot restore organs that have been damaged by an unhealthy diet. Eat heavy, cooked, greasy foods long enough and you provide a tempting incubation environment for degenerative disease.

      "We've all seen X-Ray pictures of lungs destroyed from smoking cigarettes. This holds true for the colon as well. After years of eating heavy cooked foods, the colon becomes blocked. Thus begins the vicious cycle. Difficult bowel movements. Over-the-counter laxatives with dangerous side effects. More heavy food. A continual build up of undigested fecal matter along the colon walls. More laxatives. And so on...until the colon is thoroughly blocked."
      http://www.kundaliniconsortium.org/p/ive-been-around-for-while-so-i-can.html

      I love Indian food. However, right from the get-go, kundalini warned me which substances to ingest and which not to. Even on my trip to India to meet Gopi Krishna in 1977, I was warned – by kundalini – not to eat the food, much to my chagrin, as it is heavy and spicy. I have heeded these warnings ever since.

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