The Sage-ing^® Guild

The Sage-ing® Guild was formed in November, 2004, to support and promote the Philosophy of Sage-ing / Conscious Aging, developed and described by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi during 15 years of personal work in the late 1980's and through the 1990's. Reb Zalman's work included the 1995 publication of his seminal book, From Aging to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older, written with Ronald Miller, and the formation of the Spiritual Eldering Institute, a non-profit organization which for nearly 20 years was the public face of the Sage-ing work. After suffering some financial setbacks, the Spiritual Eldering Institute disbanded in November, 2005, about a year after the formation of the Sage-ing Guild.

The Sage-ing Guild was organized at the suggestion of Reb Zalman, to serve as a networking/support group for the approximately 300 Sage-ing Leaders (Certified Sage-ing Leaders and Sage-ing Circle Facilitators) in North America who had been trained between 1990 and 2005 under the auspices of the Spiritual Eldering Institute. You can see a History of the Guild since its formation on an attached page.

The vision of the Sage-ing Guild is Changing the paradigm from Aging to Sage-ing. The Mission, Vision, Imperatives, Values, and Talent of the Guild are all given here. The importance of sage-ing work in the lives of elders is illustrated by comments on an Affirmations page.

The activities of the Guild are defined, developed and carried out by a nine-person leadership group, the Coordinating Circle. These Sage-ing Leaders volunteer their time and talents to ensure that all Guild members can communicate with each other and have the needed support to develop and publicize their own sage-ing practices. Some of the ways this is accomplished are this public website; a password-protected web site for professional members; a Training Program to certify new Sage-ing Leaders; mentoring activities to share leadership skills; and periodic meetings and conferences to share experiences and best practices.

Currently there are three classes of Membership in the Guild, Professional Sage-ing Leader members, Associate members and Wisdom Circle members. Professional members are those persons who have completed a Guild-certified Training Program. Associate membership is open to everyone who wishes to support sage-ing work. Wisdom Circle members are honorary members chosen by the Coordinating Circle based on their demonstration of exceptional leadership in the sage-ing area.

Professional Sage-ing Leader Members of the Sage-ing Guild are found in most states and several Canadian provinces. The organization has been sub-divided into geographic Regions for ease of networking and meeting to share sage-ing experiences.

We have a Wisdom Circle of visionary advisors including: Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, Angeles Arrien, Robert Atchley, Connie Goldman, Richard Leider, Wendy Lustbader, Rick Moody, and William Thomas.

For more information on the Sage-ing Guild, please send an email to .