Course Contents

Part 1: Introductory Course  (10 weeks).

 THE COURSE DRAWS ON SOME OF THE WORLD’S GREAT PHILOSOPHIC TRADITIONS.

The main topics are:

• The nature of wisdom
• Self-discovery and self-knowledge
• Different levels of awareness and wakefulness
• The power of mindfulness and the present moment
• What it means to live justly
• The nature of energy and how to best use energy
• The light of reason
• The nature of beauty
• Finding unity in diversity
• The desire for truth

There is no attempt to cover all philosophical systems, but there is plenty for anyone interested in the big questions of life and the world around us. The course includes ideas put forward by: Plato, Confucius, the Bible, Buddha, Epicurus, Emerson, Shakespeare, Einstein, Vivekananda and Shri Shantananda Saraswati, a modern exponent of Advaita, a philosophy of unity.

Parts 2-8: Topics

Part 2: Happiness – 12-week module which looks at the true nature of happiness and asks How may happiness be acquired and how is it lost?

Part 3: Love – 12-week module  love is a natural part of ourselves- discuss how we can develop a greater awareness of it in our lives

Part 4: Presence of Mind – 12-week module discusses the importance, and the power, of presence of mind in every day life

Part 5: Freedom – 12-week module which challenges some ideas about ourselves. It looks at the relationship between freedom, love and truth. And what does Shakespeare have to say?

Part 6: The Way of Action

Part 7: The Way of Devotion

Part 8: The Way of Knowledge

. . . . and the courses continue.