I have always had an interest in philosophy. I wonder about the
“big” questions: Why are we hear? Is there something beyond what
we can see? What is happiness? And so on. I don’t spend a
lot of time thinking about them but they matter to me. I also
think about how the questions impact on me as an individual. One
of the things that I try to do is to take seriously the process of
improving myself. I don’t always do anything about it, but I do
want to. Occasionally, I will have a burst of reading self-help
books on various subjects and I do feel that I get a benefit from
this. Then, the pressure of everyday living will drive out many
of the benefits and I backslide.
In recent weeks I have discovered podcasts and have changed my daily
commute listening to these. Many of these are self-help type
things and, again, I have been feeling the benefit. Then, in
Tuesday’s
Herald, I saw an advert for a philosophy course. This
was going to take place quite locally and it immediately captured my
interest. It was Friday before I noticed the advert and it said the
course was starting this week and was running on Thursday nights and
Saturday mornings. I showed the advert to Penny and we had a look
at the
web site. Penny said she would love to do it so, this
morning, we went along and enrolled.
We were handed a folder with an introduction to the course and some
supplementary information and sat in a room with four other new
students who turned out to be George, Margaret, David and another
George. The tutor was named Martin Ross and was a little bit
nervous to start with. He told us that all of the tutors are
volunteers who also attend meetings. As the meeting went on there
was some more interaction between the tutor and the students and the
meeting warmed up and ended up pretty thought provoking.
The first lesson looked at what philosophy is and what you could get
out of the study of it. Philosophy was defined as the love
of wisdom and wisdom as the knowledge to enable life to be true and
happy. Defined this way (wishing to enable life to be true and
happy) it seems obvious that everyone would want to study
philosophy. The fact that they don’t is itself, perhaps, the
starting point for some philosophical questions.
Studying philosophy allows you to consider the fundamental questions of
human life, to gain an understanding of some of the ideas that have
shaped our world and to open out greater possibilities for our
lives.
People can be wise in different ways. A carpenter can be wise in
the ways of carpentry, an engineer in the ways of engineering and
a comedian in the ways of comedy but there is a more fundamental
meta-wisdom to do with how you live your life and your view of
reality. When you watch a skilled workmen practicing his skill,
it looks simple and easy. A wise man makes life look easy.
Ultimate happiness goes to those who live a natural and simple life.
When working towards wisdom, you can ask yourself “What would a wise
man do here?”. This question can allow you to tap into your
subconscious and to get another perspective on a problem. The
tricky thing would be to remember this when it is needed; probably when
you are under stress.
A sheet of notes was handed out at the end, mostly covering things that
had been in the course. One sentence is confusing to me,
though. “The importance of the state of our being.” I’m not
really sure what this means. Something to discuss at the next
meeting.
Martin introduced us to an exercise; a series of steps to explore our
senses and to help us get centred in the place that we are. He
suggested that we do this exercise 3 times a day if we can
remember. The exercise went like this:
First, let the mind be free of any concern or preoccupation
Let the mind fall still and come to rest within
Be aware of where you are now.
Feel the touch of your feet on the ground,
The weight of the body on the chair.
Feel the touch of the clothes on the skin
And the play of air on the face and hands.
If they are open, let the eyes receive colour and form without any comment,
Taste,
Smell.
Be fully here.
Now, be aware of hearing.
Let sounds be received and let them rise and fall without comment or judgement of any kind.
With the body completely relaxed, let the hearing run right out to the furthest and gentlest sounds, embracing all.