The School of the Wisdom aims at bringing each student to survey life ‘from the centre’, which is intuitive awareness. An intense sense of Life must always accompany every true student. There can be no Wisdom without an ever increasing sense of Wonder.
Essential in the progress towards Wisdom is a growing intimacy with all aspects of Nature. The message which each tree, flower, animal, meadow, sea, sky, and cloud has, must be listened to and understood.
21 November to 2 December 2016
The Neuroscience of meditation
Directors: Dr Bhaskar Vyas and Dr Rajni Vyas
The directors
The transforming power of yoga and meditation and their application in life is going to be explored with the help of Vedic texts, exposure to different meditative practices, and the latest medical imaging. This study will provide objective evidence for the neural and biological basis for meditation. It will establish meditation as the ground of creativity, happiness, and health, while the understanding of hypnosis will remove any bias against it.
Increased exploration of meditation as a scientific physiological process will provide an insight into the biological basis for consciousness. Such an understanding will facilitate the application of meditation and hypnotherapy for treating various diseases, including psychiatric disorders.
Exposure will be provided to various meditative practices such as Mindfulness Meditation, Vipassana, Transcendental Meditation and other practices derived from Kashmir Shaivism. The practice of Yoga Nidra may be taught..
Dr Bhaskar Vyas and Dr Rajni Vyas, are medical specialists in the fields of plastic surgery and obstetrics and gynecology respectively. A versatile scientific training has enabled them to advanced understanding of Patanjali’s Raj Yoga as well as Vajrayana practice. They have published dozens of papers and made presentations in the subjects of their primary specialization as well as on hypnotherapy and meditation.
Their study extends from J. Krishnamurti’s writings, Zen practices, Kashmir Shaivism and transcultural varieties of religious experiences. As medical doctors they are involved in the spiritual aspects of healing arts and teach these as a scientific tool in forms of mediation.
5 to 16 December 2016
Theosophy and The Upanishads
Director: Dr. Chittaranjan Satapathy
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The Vice President and director of this session
The very essence of Theosophy (Divine Wisdom or Brahmavidya), in so far as it is possible to be expressed by words, can be found in the Upanishads. For example, identity of the nature of the universal Self and the particular Self, a central concept in Theosophy, is beautifully expressed in the Upanishadic Mahavakya (Great Saying) ‘Tat Twam Asi, That thou art’. In this session of the School of the Wisdom, the participants will look at the lofty philosophical thoughts contained in the wondrous teachings of Theosophy and the Upanishads, and examine how the same can be applied in daily life.
Recommended reading:
1. Theosophic Life and the Three Gems of Theosophy by Annie Besant, Jiddu Krishnamurti, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and Mabel Collins, TPH Adyar, 2016.
2. The Upanishads by Juan Mascaro, Penguin Books, 1994.
3. The Wisdom of the Upanishads by Annie Besant, TPH Adyar, 2012.
4. Wisdom of the Rishis by Sri M, Magneta Press, 2012.
Dr. Chittaranjan Satapathy, International Vice President of the Theosophical Society, has an abiding interest in Theosophy and in the Upanishadic teachings. He has spoken at various Theosophical centres in India and abroad and his articles have appeared in different Theosophical journals.
9 to 20 January 2017
Self-Transformation and the Spiritual Life
Director: Mr Vicente Hao Chin Jr.
Vicente Hao Chin Jr.
Every Theosophist is recommended to attend, giving tools for applying the principles in one's life and in introducing the means to lodges or section.
The course covers an approach to self-transformation that serves as a foundation for an integrated and effective life, as well as an essential preparation for living the spiritual life. It includes exercises in self-awareness and a detailed study of meditation. Other facets of the course are, approaches to daily awareness, the exploration of transcendence, nurturing essential life-skills, probing into the nature of intuition, and the integration of impersonal values into our lives.
Recommended reading:
The Process of Self-Transformation by Vincente Hao Chin Jr.
The First and Last Freedom, by J. Krishnamurti
The Key to Theosophy, by H.P.Blavatsky
Mysticism, by William James (The chapter on Varieties of Religious Experience)
Understanding Mysticis, by Richard Woods
The Science of Yoga,. by I. K. Taimni
Mr Vicente Hao Chin Jr. is a former president of the TS in the Philippines, and a former president of the Indo-Pacific Federation of the TS. He is the author of The Process of Self-Transformation, Why Meditate?, On Education, and other works. He compiled and edited the chronological edition of The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnet, and is the Associate Editor of the Theosophical Encyclopedia
23 January to 3 February 2017
Live Quantum, Be Happy
Director: Dr. Amit Goswami
Photo taken at Olcott in Wheaton: From the left to the right: your editor, Uma, Amits’s wife, Terezinha Franca Kind and Amit Goswami
In this series, quantum physicist Amit Goswami will explicated a new science of happiness based on the quantum worldview. The course will include experiential sessions.
Recommended reading:
Quantum Creativity by Amit Goswami
Dr. Amit Goswami, Theoretical Quantum Physicist, is a retired full professor from the University of Oregon’s Department of Physics where he served from 1968 to 1997. He is a pioneer of the new paradigm of science called “science within consciousness,” an idea he explicates in his seminal book, The Self-Aware Universe, where he also solves the quantum measurement problem elucidating the famous observer effect.
Goswami has written several popular books based on his research on quantum physics and consciousness. In his private life, Goswami is a practitioner of spirituality and transformation. He most recently appeared in the award winning documentary, The Quantum Activist.