The Middle Way Philosophy Introductory Course is a way that you can learn about Middle Way Philosophy and reflect on its practice and applicability to your own life. It’s entirely free, based on the series of introductory videos by Robert M Ellis that are also available individually on this site and on YouTube. You can follow the course at your own pace, but it provides a structured way of progressing through an understanding of the key ideas.
Middle Way Philosophy combines theory and practice in ways that are inseparable. Getting a grasp of the theory is in some ways continuous with practice, because it obliges you to reflect on issues that are unavoidably practical. Middle Way Philosophy does make intellectual demands of you, but not for their own sake. You may already be practising the Middle Way to some extent, and may well have some ideas about it, perhaps only implicitly. However, studying Middle Way Philosophy should help you make those ideas more consistent, so that you can apply them more widely and effectively.
The course is based on 27 videos, arranged in an order that should help you gradually engage with the ideas more deeply. However, there’s nothing to stop you following a different order. This page gives an index of all the pages used.
Each video is followed by suggested reflection questions. It is suggested that you take time and space to consider these, and note down your responses for maximum impact and benefit. There is also recommended further reading that will allow you to follow up the ideas in more depth if you wish. Anything you find controversial in the videos may gradually begin to make sense as you work through the whole course and see different aspects of the Middle Way approach in relation to each other. However, they are explored in more depth in the Middle Way Philosophy series of books, where you will also find academic references.
You are free to use the course without any interaction with anyone if that’s what you prefer, but we hope you will also want to interact with people in the society, and particularly the committee members who run it and this site (people listed on the ‘About’ page). You can ask any question (including polite critical questions) or leave reflections or responses that you’d like to share using the comment sections on any of the video pages, or anywhere else on the site. You can also start your own threads of discussion on the forum. Please note that all discussion on the site is subject to our communication rules.
[maxbutton id=”29″]