‘The Over Soul’

     
The School of Practical Philosophy has another Emerson Study Day in store next month. The School delivers a curriculum and these extra-curricular occasions that comprise an ideal complement to Masonic studies, and I commend them to you. (I may miss Grand Masters Day at Tappan for this.) From the publicity:

The Over Soul

School of Practical Philosophy

Sunday, October 15 at 8:30 a.m.

12 East 79th Street

Manhattan

$30 per person, click here

Come explore the spiritual and intellectual legacy of America’s great philosopher and teacher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Drawing on the wisdom of Plato and the Eastern traditions, Emerson knew from direct experience and observation that Unity is the true reality. He spoke of “one mind common to all” and “one soul which animates all things.” His affirmation of Unity was total, and he encouraged people to discover this for themselves.

We shall study selected passages from his most transcendental pronouncement. The Over Soul is his description of the Supreme Self, the Param Atman, the Divinity within. This essay offers wise and practical advice on how to remain open to the Unity by living in “an attitude of reception,” receiving and reveling in “the disclosures of the Soul.”

From the essay:

“Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the eternal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal One. And this deep power, in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object, are one.”

All are welcome. No prior study of Emerson is required. Sign in at 8:30. The program will begin at 9 a.m. Registration fee covers a light brunch and the printed reading materials. Tutor: Barbara Solowey.


Click here to read the essay at hand.
     

‘Emerson’s point with circles’

     
The School of Practical Philosophy will host another study day to examine more writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson next month. This will be a different class from what you might have read about previously on The Magpie. From the publicity:

Emerson Study Day

Sunday, October 16

8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

$30 per person,

includes light brunch and printed materials

School of Practical Philosophy

12 East 79th Street

Manhattan

Click here for tickets.

Come explore the spiritual and intellectual legacy of America’s great philosopher and teacher Ralph Waldo Emerson. At this study day, we will consider selected passages from “Circles,” an essay in which Emerson expresses man’s unlimited, ever-changing and expanding nature. His words are both inspirational and fortifying, and always address a love of freedom.


From the essay:

“Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth, that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning; that there is always another dawn rising on mid-noon, and under every deep, a lower deep opens.”
(First Series 1841)

All are welcome. No prior study of Emerson is required.

8:30 a.m. – Sign in. Coffee.
9 a.m. – Introduction and brief history, followed by two study sessions in small groups.

Class led by Barbara Solowey.
     

‘Emerson and Spiritual Knowledge’

     
Ralph Waldo Emerson, as a topic at least, will return to the School of Practical Philosophy next month in another lecture to be presented by Barbara Solowey. From the publicity:

Emerson and Spiritual Knowledge

with Barbara Solowey

12 East 79th Street

New York City

Thursday, July 21 at 7 p.m.

$25 per person

The teaching of Ralph Waldo Emerson is an expression of the highest spiritual knowledge, the philosophy of Unity known as Advaita. Drawing on the wisdom of Plato and the Eastern spiritual traditions, he proclaims the Supreme Reality: the Oneness of God, the Soul, and the Universe.

Emerson knew from direct experience and observation that realization of this Unity is possible. His call to humanity was for a new consciousness “to restore that bond by which their own self was linked to the Eternal Self; to recover that unity which had been clouded and obscured by the magical illusion of reality, by the so-called Maya of Creation.” (The Orientalist notebook)

Join us to discover how Emerson’s transcendental teaching to discover “the infinitude of the private man” can inspire us in our own journey to be Self-reliant, to awaken Reason, and to follow Divine Law.

Tickets at $25 which includes refreshments may be purchased here.
     

‘Plato and Emerson just off Central Park’

     
The School of Practical Philosophy on 79th Street offers two great programs next month characteristic of its mission to show how philosophical concepts can be applied to our daily lives. Tickets are selling out, so don’t delay. From the publicity:


All are welcome to attend the School’s special events program, which draws from a broad spectrum of disciplines in the arts and sciences. The programs are organized and presented by senior students in the School who speak from direct experience in seeking to make philosophy practical within their chosen field. Each event offers good food for the mind, body and spirit and is open to school members, their family, friends, colleagues as well as the general public.

Plato Study Day

Alcibiades I

Sunday, November 8

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

$45 (includes materials, refreshments,

lunch, and wine reception)

The Study Day program comes from Plato’s Alcibiades I, an imagined conversation between the great philosopher Socrates and the 18-year-old Alcibiades, an ambitious and talented youth who would later play a major role in Athens and on the world stage. In this dialogue, Socrates takes the lead in trying to awaken Alcibiades to the ignorance that prevents him from understanding the true qualifications for achieving his enormous ambition, and, more importantly, from realizing his own true nature.

As we watch Socrates’ intelligence at work, it becomes apparent that, not only Alcibiades, but we ourselves will benefit from examining our beliefs, priorities and actions in light of the questions raised in this dialogue:

• What are the most damaging ideas to hold?
• How can ignorance be removed?
• What are the success factors for a happy life?
• What is self-knowledge?

Our active participation and self-examination during the day will make it abundantly clear that philosophy works!

Emerson and Spiritual Knowledge

with Barbara Solowey

Saturday, November 14

7 p.m.

$25 (includes refreshments)

The teaching of Ralph Waldo Emerson is an expression of the highest spiritual knowledge, the philosophy of Unity known as Advaita. Drawing on the wisdom of Plato and the Eastern spiritual traditions, he proclaims the Supreme Reality: the Oneness of God, the Soul, and the Universe.

Emerson knew from direct experience and observation that realization of this Unity is possible. His call to humanity was for a new consciousness “to restore that bond by which their own self was linked to the Eternal Self; to recover that unity which had been clouded and obscured by the magical illusion of reality, by the so-called Maya of Creation.” (The Orientalist note-book)

Join us to discover how Emerson’s transcendental teaching to discover “the infinitude of the private man” can inspire us in our own journey to be Self-reliant, to awaken Reason, and to follow Divine Law.
     

‘Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman’

     
More great programming at the School of Practical Philosophy. No need for me to even say anything. From the publicity:

The American Transcendentalists:

Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman

Saturdays, May 10 through June 28

(except May 24)

10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

with Barbara Solowey

School of Practical Philosophy

12 East 79th Street

Manhattan

In the Spring term, join in an exploration of the spiritual and intellectual legacy of Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman, America’s greatest visionaries who can inspire our own work toward self-realization. The Transcendentalists are revolutionary and reflective, and their call is to spiritual insight and universal consciousness. Their writings proclaim and celebrate the need for self-reliance, and a love of freedom and brotherhood—each essential for humanity.

“It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he, who in the midst of the crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”

          Emerson

Self-Reliance

Click here to register.