STUDY DAYS

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STUDY DAYS ARE PART OF THE PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY COURSES.

Every term the School provides the opportunity for students in Part 1 to 15 to meet for either a half day (parts 1 to 3)  or a full day (parts 4 to 15) on a weekend. These are held each term as an opportunity to engage in practical exercises, study sessions and small feedback groups.

To enrol in an upcoming Study Day, scroll to the bottom of this page.

SATTVA SESSIONS

Sattva Session is a half day workshop for students in any of the first three courses: Mindful Wisdom, Sustainable Happiness or Fullness of Love.

‘Sattva’ is one of the fundamental forces or energies running through everything. Sattva is the force which illuminates things and lights them up. It conducts consciousness.

This complimentary study morning is offered once per term. There are three Sattva Session programs in each year and each study morning explores sattva in different ways. The program remains the same on each of the three mornings: an introductory presentation, practical exercises and small-group feedback and study sessions. The exercises are always illuminating and the material presented for study is always inspiring.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

  • Learn how energy works, how it changes and how it’s balanced;
  • Practice conscious awareness in action;
  • Learn how to find the natural rhythm in activities;
  • Discover what it’s like to go with the flow.
WHO IT’S FOR

Sattva morning is for students who are enrolled in any of the first 3 courses – Mindful Wisdom, Sustainable Happiness or Fullness of Love.

This half-day workshop runs from 8:45am to 12:15pm and morning tea is provided.

LIVING WISDOM DAY

Mindful Living Day is for students in courses 4-15 and is a half-day workshop.

The morning provides an opportunity to mix with other members of the School to work together on mindful practices that lead to transformative new ways of speaking, thinking and working.

People who have attended these days speak highly of the power that’s available when a group of like-minded people come together to work for freedom. The main idea is to broaden our horizons, take some time to wonder about things that really matter, and leave with practical skills to live more fully.

 

WHO IT’S FOR

The morning is for students who have been attending the School for four or more terms.

This cost of the day is included in the course fees. Morning Tea and Lunch will be provided.

 

WHAT YOU WILL DO

  • Learn how energy works, how it changes and how it’s balanced;
  • Practice conscious awareness in action;
  • Find the natural rhythm in activities;
  • Exercises in extended awareness
  • Structured exercises in mindful dialogue
  • Work together in carefully prepared forums for conscious action
  • Gain access to the great philosophies of East and West canons

PAST TOPICS
Below is an outline of topics covered in the past 3 years. Information on the upcoming topic for the current term will be available from your tutor.

PHILOSOPHY AS A WAY OF LIFE

  • Dialogue and Dialectic – rules of engagement
  • Plato’s Seventh Letter
  • Single-pointed attention

FLOW

  • Neuroscience and state of flow
  • Attention and the attributes of state of flow
  • Leon MacLaren on the right use of mind in study
  • Gibran’s The Prophet

THE ART OF CARE

  • The Open Door of the Heart
  • Meet people where they are: here & now
  • Enterprising attitudes
  • Connect in ever-fresh ways with the need

SELF-MASTERY

  • Coming together to discover the truth – dialogue (Plato’s Republic)
  • Mindfulness in the West
  • Attention and attitude
  • Bringing the subtle body together with the physical body (Śrī Śāntānanda Sarasvatī)

BALANCE

  • Balance and Harmony / Balance and Bhāvanā
  • Throeau – ‘Where I Lived and What I Lived For’
  • Service

CREATIVITY

  • Creative force
  • Creative force in nature
  • Artistic creativity
  • Creative force of the individual

LOVE & DISCIPLINE

  • Dialectic Booklets
  • Analogy of the potter (Śrī Śāntānanda Sarasvatī)
  • Aim of the School – Two lines of work | Three Ways
  • The main feature of the discipline: the application of attention

EQUANIMITY

  • Meditation care and guidance
  • Geeta Chapter 2
  • Conscious Presence and the Rules of Action
  • Various passages on equanimity

RELATIONSHIPS

  • Yoga
  • Pātañjali’s Sutras
  • Fix the mind on one object to eliminate disturbances
  • Calibrating the mind & heart
  • Yoga of Relationships
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“THE FACULTY OF VOLUNTARILY BRINGING BACK A WANDERING ATTENTION OVER AND OVER AGAIN IS THE VERY ROOT OF JUDGMENT, CHARACTER, AND WILL.” WILLIAM JAMES, PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY, 1890