Continuation Courses

We spend all day long engaged in action. What does philosophy say as to how this can take place in a way that is not limiting but liberating? Have you ever wondered what creates, sustains and completes an action?

Can we act without any pressure from within or without? Is there a way of acting with complete freedom? If so, would we choose to? What blocks or hinders action and what is the effect when we properly attend to anyone or anything?

When actions become liberating rather than binding the power of devotion naturally opens up in a person. It is said that ‘love is the natural in-between’. This may be directed to anything, a football club, family, a job, a cause, or to a God. This is an exceedingly powerful force in human life. The aim will be to understand how this power of devotion can help to bring about both an understanding of people’s true nature and an expression of that nature.

What does it mean to be devoted to freedom or wisdom? What are effects of devotion? How can blind devotion be avoided?

It is through action, Love and knowledge that the essential nature within everyone may be expressed. They act as channels for this expression.

Plato uses the analogy of a ship sailing safely to its destination to illustrate the need for real knowledge of navigation. Human life also needs to be directed by knowledge as distinguished from mere opinion, belief or supposition. Where does knowledge come from? How does knowledge appear? What is the difference between information and knowledge? How can knowledge be transformative? What is reason and how does it work?

Every human being has a body for action, a heart for loving and reason for choice. How can these three ways unfold together to reveal a life lived truly and happily? The French philosopher Pierre Hadot, said: “In ancient Greece, philosophy was a way of life …it was a mode of existing-in-the-world, which had to be practiced at each instant, and the goal of which was to transform the whole of the individual’s life.”

Are there principles of day to day living that will withstand pressure and change? How can we live in a large, universal world instead of a tiny house?