Eastern Philosophy

How did the Buddha become "The Awakened One"? In this lesson, we will do a brief overview of the Buddha's (Prince Siddhartha) life story and trace his path from one of wealth and privilege, to renunciation and ultimately, spiritual master and teacher.

Just like with any "religion" or thought system, certain teachings of the Buddha have become sort of like canon in that they make up the core of his philosophy. In this lesson, we will cover this core philosophy and look at how it's tenets can be applied usefully to our modern lives.

Buddhism has changed and morphed over the years as it has been applied within different cultures and periods of history. Today's Buddhist practitioners come from all walks of life and have much to ad to the traditional teachings as they are applied in a society that is very different from the one in which Buddha lived.

While the Stoics were not Eastern Philosophers (they lived in ancient Greece and Rome), their teachings and ideas dovetail very nicely with a lot of the eastern philosophical tradition. It is interesting and insightful that these great thinkers from different parts of the world came to many of the same conclusions. If we were doing scientific research, we would want to see our experiments be successfully carried out by others in the field. It is from this point of view that we turn our attention to the great Greeks and Romans of the past.

The so-called "Death-bed Exercise" has been proven to be a powerful tool in helping to motivate people facing many of life's challenges. In this lesson, we will look at how the Stoics and Buddhists used this exercise to improve their lives, while living in much more challenging circumstances in many ways than today.

The so-called "Premeditation of Evils Exercise" has also been proven to be a powerful tool in helping improve their lives. In this lesson, we will look at how the Stoics and Buddhists used this exercise to deal with life in a more serene way, while facing seemingly insurmountable difficulties.

Hinduism's core text, The Bhagavad Gita, repeatedly implores us to do work for it's own sake, rather than for the "fruit" that it produces. This non-attachment to results is one of the core teachings of Hinduism, as well as many other ancient thought systems. In this lesson, we will look at the merits of this point of view and how it may be useful in our everyday modern lives.

One of Gandhi's main teachings was to apply the principle of "Ahimsa" everything we do in life. It was this principle that contributed the most to overthrowing the British Empire at the peak of its power and was also used by Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela in their respective civil rights struggles. In this lesson, we look at the power of Ahimsa and how it can be applied in our everyday lives.

Renunciation, or the voluntary giving up of something that is perceived to be valuable, is at the core of many philosophical teachings throughout the world. Eastern Philosophy seems to focus on this idea more than others so in this lesson we will explore the merits of this seemingly counter-intuitive idea.

If we look at history, we find many examples of a peaceful society that began with a peaceful revolution, as opposed to a violent revolution. These peaceful revolutions and societies all have one thing in common: Peaceful Civil Disobedience. Therefore, it is worth looking at this paradoxical idea. How can passivity and non-action lead to the overthrow of governments and other forms of power?

Zen Buddhism is a form of Buddhism that grew out the more traditional older teachings that came out of India. It developed to more or less what we have today in China and Japan and continues to morph in new and interesting ways as it is practiced by people throughout the modern world. IN this lesson we look at what Zen is and how it is different than other Buddhist ideas.

Perhaps the oldest of all Eastern Philosophy traditions, Taoism came out of ancient China and forms the basis of the world's oldest forms of martial arts, such as Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Judo, and Ju Jitsu. Most of the writings on Taoism come from one individual, Lao Tsu (Aka Laozi and Lao Tzu). Since it was so long ago, not much is known about this mysterious spiritual master other than that he was in charge of an ancient library and held other positions within the local government in China. He also wrote the most famous Taoist text, The Tao Te Ching, loosely translated as "The Book of the Way". In this lesson you will be introduced to this very interesting and though provoking spiritual tradition.

One of the aspects of Zen that distinguishes itself from traditional Buddhism is its focus on practicing "zazen" or meditation in order to improve your life. This focus on consistent everyday practice and applying the peace and serenity that results over time, makes Zen a unique form of Buddhism. This lesson will also introduce the different way that Zen masters use perplexing thought puzzles, called "Koans" to teach their students.

Like Zen, Taoism can be applied to our life in order to help us overcome many of its challenges. Through this ancient perspective, many seemingly insurmountable issues may resolve themselves automatically from the sheer power of a shift in perspective. In this lesson, we will look at this shift.

As with any teaching, you must practice what you have learned in order to get the full benefit from it. Nothing is more true than with the thought systems of Easter Philosophy. But with daily practice and implementation of these strategies over time, you can transform your life and you will see why these teachings have proven to be so resilient for thousands of years.