Stoic Philosophy Practice Group

Join us for an evening of Stoic philosophy and discussion. We'll kick off the event with a short presentation exploring one of the core ideas of Stoicism, focusing on its real-world application with some practices drawn from the texts. Following the presentation, we'll break into smaller groups for a lightly-facilitated discussion about the topic.

This week, we’ll be discussing how thinking about death in the right way can help us stop wasting our lives. We'll talk about how we waste our time, what we should be spending it on instead, and how to finish our lives each day. We'll also discuss a mindfulness practice designed to help us remember that not even the next hour is guaranteed.

Here's the video we'll be watching: https://youtu.be/G1nM9UCJCIs?si=ES0EKX-x82KWYV&t=11614

And here's the text, along with the rest of the resources for the course: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-6r2KFyv7f-vChnX-9eKovdFsQ6DYoc_CV5RZtJb9XA/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks so much for your interest, and please remember:

"There is no such thing as good or bad fortune for the individual; we live in common. And no one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility; you must live for your neighbor, if you would live for yourself." - Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter 48

Join us for an evening of Stoic philosophy and discussion. We'll kick off the event with a short presentation exploring one of the core ideas of Stoicism, focusing on its real-world application with some practices drawn from the texts. Following the presentation, we'll break into smaller groups for a lightly-facilitated discussion about the topic.

This week, we’ll be finishing the course by discussing how to put everything together into a personal Stoic practice, the levels of Stoicism, and how much we can expect to achieve. We'll also discuss an example of a Stoic daily plan.

Here's the video we'll be watching: https://youtu.be/G1nM9UCJCIs?si=79sCVKbB6IcabEiz&t=13962

And here's the text, along with the rest of the resources for the course: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-6r2KFyv7f-vChnX-9eKovdFsQ6DYoc_CV5RZtJb9XA/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks so much for your interest, and please remember:

"There is no such thing as good or bad fortune for the individual; we live in common. And no one can live happily who has regard to himself alone and transforms everything into a question of his own utility; you must live for your neighbor, if you would live for yourself." - Seneca, Letters from a Stoic, Letter 48

This event is being hosted on my new group The Cambridge Platonists, so please join that group to attend. Thanks!
www.meetup.com/cambridgeplatonists

In this session, we’ll listen to Plato’s famous Allegory of the Cave from Book VII, Part 2 of the Republic (about 20 minutes), where Socrates describes the soul’s ascent from ignorance and illusion to the vision of truth and the Good.

This short passage contains some of the most influential imagery in Western philosophy — shadows and fire, imprisonment and liberation, turning of the soul, and the dazzling encounter with reality.

After listening, we’ll open a discussion around questions such as:

• What keeps the soul “chained” in the cave?
• What does it take to turn toward the light?
• How does this allegory relate to education, politics, or spiritual practice today?

No prior knowledge of Plato is required — just curiosity, goodwill, and a willingness to dialogue together.

If you're interested in going deeper than just the intro classes and exploring the community side of Stoicism, please join us for Sunday Stoa.

We begin at 4:00 PM (ET) with 10 minutes of Stoic breath meditation followed by 15 minutes of writing practice.
At 4:30 PM, we move into introductions and social time.
Around 5:00 PM, we’ll listen to selections from the original Stoic texts and then discuss the ideas they present.

This week, we’ll be listening to Letter 91 from Seneca’s Letters from a Stoic: On the lesson to be drawn from the burning of Lyons.

Here's the text and video if you’d like to check them out beforehand:

Letter 91
Text: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_91
Video: https://youtu.be/Pkl6VBCSl1I?si=l59MnTETVhoTzqKz

Come for the whole thing, or join us whenever it works best for you. See you Sunday!