Philosophy and Meditation

Students in the UK are benefitting from the restoration of meditation retreats following their suspension during Covid. But for the Development Group, being aware of what other Schools around the world are trying and learning from their experiences are also important.

The School in Ireland, for example, offers a five-week course on meditation in parallel with the philosophy course. Students who are interested in taking meditation are encouraged to attend both.

The Sydney School delivers two presentations on meditation: the first is an introduction to the practice of meditation, the second provides detailed information on the day of introduction, the ceremony and what students are expected to bring by way of gifts.

Here in the UK, the North West branch has successfully introduced a version of the Sydney model to students from Part 1. In this case the students joined the course knowing that meditation would be offered during the term. Five students were initiated in the autumn term and nine more in the spring.

Because not everyone did go forward, some groups have a mix of meditators and non-meditators. Tutors have reported that this has had a beneficial effect on the whole group. A three-month programme of meditation support has also been introduced.  Meanwhile, the School in London will be making meditation available to all new students from September. The Group will be monitoring all these developments closely and will report on them in future updates. 

The alternative: General Philosophy Studies

A General Philosophy Studies (GPS) option is now up and running, for those not ready to take up meditation after two years of philosophy classes. 

The option is meant as a temporary group which allows students to take up meditation at a point they are happy with. It is not intended to create a ‘fork in the road’, permanently diverging from the main path.

The uptake has been limited so far, says Michael Chambers, who leads the GPS initiative and tutors the group. 

“We had three students last term, meeting online”, says Michael. “Two of these decided to take up meditation this term and so returned to their mainstream class.

“Quite a few others have also expressed interest, but finding a time to meet that is agreeable to all has made producing a viable group challenging.”

Although not running this term, General Philosophy Studies, is viewed as a “useful additional provision” that can be provided when needed. 

The availability of an alternative pathway to ‘philosophy with meditation’ was an early recommendation of the strategy working group (SWG). This preferred solution was to put in place a group for those students who decided not to take up meditation by the end of the first two years (Part 6).

  

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