As a global community now a decade into the 21st century, we find ourselves confronting staggering new challenges. These complex problems seem to outreach and overrun the very technology that created them. Sometimes we react by trying to devise yet another technology to solve a problem. Other times we hide in our cherished belief systems. In both cases we forget the wisdom we have always carried within that transcends factual knowledge and religious beliefs. It is this innate knowing that will ultimately enable us to adeptly navigate our challenges...challenges incidentally, that are our exact match.
Those searching for a more genuinely satisfying human experience are beginning to revisit some of the wisest minds who walked the planet through the millennia…the classical philosophers, whose ideas and methods have been validated through centuries of test and application.
Gaining an understanding of some basic wisdom principles gives one the ability to handle any life situation with intelligence and heart. This is the purpose of not only studying philosophy but practicing it through the art of conversation and quite simply, living it each day. This is how fresh ideas emerge!
Globally, philosophy falls into two big schools, East and West. From the Western tradition, thinkers like Cicero told us that the purpose of civilization is to bring the human family to an enlightened and cooperative state, and that philosophy best prepares one for death. Plato said that philosophy is the greatest gift bestowed upon man by the gods. Aristotle told us that philosophy is the science which considers the Truth. Voltaire described philosophy as the discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good. Thoreau said that the philosopher should so love wisdom as to live according to its dictates. Seneca stated that philosophy is the health of the mind. And as summed up by Plutarch, philosophy is simply the art of living.
When we move to the East, we find an approach to philosophy quite different from the West. Eastern ideas and methods emphasize deep psychological development that includes a two-step process of fully pitching ourselves into a colorful outer life of experiential risk-taking, followed by an intense inward plunge to honestly observe our deep inner responses to these outer adventures, such as in deep meditation. This approach is prevalent in the traditions of Vedanta, Taoism, Buddhism, and Zen. The East, incidentally, was practicing self-knowledge long before the West formulated its first ideas.
Both Eastern and Western schools remind us that philosophy is not merely a book study of the thoughts and opinions of others. Rather, it is developing an understanding of the importance of living a rich life, led by the wise teachings put forth by others who have mastered the game.
The first step in approaching philosophy both East & West is to understand what areas it covers. Though there are variations, most contemporary scholars agree that there are six basic branches in philosophy:
1. Metaphysics - Theology, cosmology, mysticism, and being
2. Logic - The doctrine of reasonableness
3. Ethics - Morality, character, & the nature of the good
4. Psychology - Exploring the soul (psyche) and various mind states
5. Epistemology- The study of knowledge itself—how do we know?
6. Aesthetics - The nature and experience of art, beauty, elegance
Those who can master themselves, that is, who become philosophers, are considered reborn, because they have given birth to their own innate wisdom, which was lying dormant, somehow covered over. This is illustrated in the word educate whose Latin root educere means “to draw out”. Education is not the process of bestowing knowledge upon someone, but instead the process of releasing it from within the individual—it has always been right inside you.
True education results in the birth of wisdom, and with this comes a reduction in or even the elimination of fear. Ultimately, all fear is based on the uncertainty of what happens upon physical death, whether or not a religious code or other belief system is prevalent. Wisdom alone overcomes fear, and the love of wisdom is the literal definition of philosophy.
www.mindfulmedicine.com
Those searching for a more genuinely satisfying human experience are beginning to revisit some of the wisest minds who walked the planet through the millennia…the classical philosophers, whose ideas and methods have been validated through centuries of test and application.
Gaining an understanding of some basic wisdom principles gives one the ability to handle any life situation with intelligence and heart. This is the purpose of not only studying philosophy but practicing it through the art of conversation and quite simply, living it each day. This is how fresh ideas emerge!
Globally, philosophy falls into two big schools, East and West. From the Western tradition, thinkers like Cicero told us that the purpose of civilization is to bring the human family to an enlightened and cooperative state, and that philosophy best prepares one for death. Plato said that philosophy is the greatest gift bestowed upon man by the gods. Aristotle told us that philosophy is the science which considers the Truth. Voltaire described philosophy as the discovery of what is true and the practice of that which is good. Thoreau said that the philosopher should so love wisdom as to live according to its dictates. Seneca stated that philosophy is the health of the mind. And as summed up by Plutarch, philosophy is simply the art of living.
When we move to the East, we find an approach to philosophy quite different from the West. Eastern ideas and methods emphasize deep psychological development that includes a two-step process of fully pitching ourselves into a colorful outer life of experiential risk-taking, followed by an intense inward plunge to honestly observe our deep inner responses to these outer adventures, such as in deep meditation. This approach is prevalent in the traditions of Vedanta, Taoism, Buddhism, and Zen. The East, incidentally, was practicing self-knowledge long before the West formulated its first ideas.
Both Eastern and Western schools remind us that philosophy is not merely a book study of the thoughts and opinions of others. Rather, it is developing an understanding of the importance of living a rich life, led by the wise teachings put forth by others who have mastered the game.
The first step in approaching philosophy both East & West is to understand what areas it covers. Though there are variations, most contemporary scholars agree that there are six basic branches in philosophy:
1. Metaphysics - Theology, cosmology, mysticism, and being
2. Logic - The doctrine of reasonableness
3. Ethics - Morality, character, & the nature of the good
4. Psychology - Exploring the soul (psyche) and various mind states
5. Epistemology- The study of knowledge itself—how do we know?
6. Aesthetics - The nature and experience of art, beauty, elegance
Those who can master themselves, that is, who become philosophers, are considered reborn, because they have given birth to their own innate wisdom, which was lying dormant, somehow covered over. This is illustrated in the word educate whose Latin root educere means “to draw out”. Education is not the process of bestowing knowledge upon someone, but instead the process of releasing it from within the individual—it has always been right inside you.
True education results in the birth of wisdom, and with this comes a reduction in or even the elimination of fear. Ultimately, all fear is based on the uncertainty of what happens upon physical death, whether or not a religious code or other belief system is prevalent. Wisdom alone overcomes fear, and the love of wisdom is the literal definition of philosophy.
www.mindfulmedicine.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment