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INNER WISDOM & MEDITATIVE EXERCISE
A practical method to find inner peace and stillness. Awakening to the present and a meditative exercise. How to access inner wisdom and apply it in daily life.
10-week course Summary week by week
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KNOW YOURSELF
What is my real potential? How to gain greater satisfaction in life, and be free from doubt and uncertainty? We look at practical ways to explore who we really are and how to tap our true potential.
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INCREASED AWARENESS
What is our state of awareness and does it fluctuate during the day? The wise are awake, perceptive and curious. We look at deeper levels of awareness, and consider how we may become more awake to ourselves.
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POTENTIAL OF THE PRESENT
Living in the now and mindfulness. We examine the extraordinary potential available in the present moment. We consider attention centred, captured, open and scattered, and how these relate to the past, present and future.
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LIVING JUSTLY
What does it mean to live justly? According to Plato, justice and injustice do not start ‘out there’ but within us. For justice to prevail, Plato suggests that we must learn to avoid being ‘tyrannised’ by our passions and fears to the extent they overrule our reason.
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FUNDAMENTAL ENERGIES IN OUR LIVES
Sometimes we seem not to have enough energy, or the wrong kind. A wise person can act consistently despite these varying conditions. We consider how to recognise differing energies, how to gain and conserve them and how to use them wisely.
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DEVELOPING REASON IN OUR LIVES
How can we take true and right decisions? Everyone has the faculty of reason and we can all use it and develop it. We consider obstacles to reason and how practically to develop reason in our decision-making and action.
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THE POWER OF BEAUTY
Beauty has the capacity to open the heart. In this session we discuss our direct experience of beauty in its different forms: sensory, thought, feelings, inner nature, and conduct. We consider Plato’s idea of absolute beauty– ‘not knowing birth or death, growth or decay’.
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UNITY IN DIVERSITY
What is the effect of finding unity in our lives? The wise person looks for the unifying factor in life, which allows life’s apparent diversity to be seen as part of a single whole. Seen in this way, life then has the best chance of being fulfilling and happy
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LIVING TRUE TO OURSELVES
What is truth? How to discover the truth of things – not theoretically, but in our own experience? We revisit the question “who am I?” and review how our search for truth has fared. We discuss how, in our own way, we may develop this search further in our daily lives.
INTERESTED IN MORE?
Anyone wishing to continue their studies and practices is welcome to explore topics such as presence of mind, happiness and freedom in further terms at the School, and to be introduced to meditation. Continuation is always optional, simply by registering on a term-by-term basis.
For those choosing to continue after the introductory course, course fees remain at €90 per term during the first year. There is a reduced fee of €40 for those aged under 25.
Like to register?
Register for our next 10-week introductory course in Practical Philosophy, to be held in-person at our School House in Brussels.
The course fee is €90, which covers all 10 weeks. Under-25 rate, €40. The fee is fully refundable at any time during the first three weeks for anyone who chooses not to continue the course.
Other languages?
The Practical Philosophy introductory courses are given in English, usually on Monday evenings, and are held in-person at the School house in Brussels. Separate courses are also available in French and Dutch. Visit our French or Dutch language websites for more information.
A real taste of philosophy
The next 10-week introductory course in Practical Philosophy starts January 13 2025, at the School house in Brussels.
Sessions are interactive, encouraging discussion with the tutor and between group members. The course fee is €90 which covers the 10 week term. Under-25 rate, €40.