School of Practical Philosophy Brisbane

... To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that.
Just be.
Let your true nature emerge.
Don't disturb your mind with seeking."

- Nisargadatta Maharaj

Beauty has a remarkable way of stopping the mind and opening the heart.

This week in The Wisdom Within course, we're asking where beauty comes from, and whether learning to recognise it might change the way we see the world..

Who in your life could you gift five minutes of undivided attention today?

Today marks the Winter Solstice.

The word solstice comes from the Latin meaning "the sun stands still". For a brief moment in the yearly cycle, it appears that the sun pauses before beginning its return journey.

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, it is the longest day of the year. For those of us in Australia, it is the shortest.

Yet beneath these changing seasons, there is something that remains constant.

Philosophy invites us to notice that while our thoughts, moods, circumstances and even the seasons are always changing, there is also an awareness in which all of these changes can be observed.

Perhaps the solstice offers a simple reminder to pause and take..

This week in our Introductory course, we're exploring what it means to really be awake.

Have you ever driven somewhere and realised you barely remember the journey? Or found yourself having the same reaction, worry, or frustration for the hundredth time?

We can spend a surprising amount of life on autopilot.
Consider the possibility that living more fully may not be about doing more or going somewhere else, but simply becoming more aware of what's already here.

Try noticing something today that you might otherwise have missed - a sound, a colour, a conversation, a patch of sunlight.

See what happens...

This week in our Introductory Course, we explored one of the oldest and most enduring invitations in philosophy: "Know Thyself."
The philosophers and sages of many traditions suggest that wisdom begins not with acquiring more knowledge, but with understanding ourselves more deeply.