The Middle Way Society was founded to promote the study and practice of The Middle Way. The Middle Way is the idea that we make better judgements by avoiding fixed beliefs and being open to practical experience. We challenge unhelpful distinctions between facts and values, reason and emotion, religion and secularism or arts and sciences. Though our name is inspired by some of the insights of the Buddha, we are independent of Buddhism or any other religion. We seek to promote and support integrative practice, overcoming conflict of all kinds.
On 17th May at 7pm UK time will be our first full Network meeting over Zoom, consisting of a short stimulus talk followed by questions and regionalised breakout groups. About 40 people have already signed up for the Network, and if you want to know more, or to sign up, please see our Network events page.
Here are some brief details, stimulus questions and suggested reading for this session. The video of the talk and initial questions will also be posted here after the meeting.
Practicality
The Middle Way approach is defined by its practicality as a central value, but what does practicality mean? Robert M Ellis will suggest that our division between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ is leaky. Some ‘theory’ is actually very practical, and some is not. The goals we have in our practical efforts, and how far ahead they are is also crucial. It will be suggested that Middle Way practicality is a matter of intermediate goals: neither so far ahead that they are merely abstract, nor so close that they don’t take enough into account.
Stimulus questions: these can be used in the group discussions if you wish
Do you have any resistance to theory? What issues does it raise for you?
What sorts of theories do you tend to refer to to justify your judgements (for instance, think about your professional life, your politics, or your personal relationships)? Are they practical theories?
Do you tend to focus on near, intermediate, or final goals?
How well do your ways of thinking about your goals tend to help you or hinder you, when seen from a wider perspective?
A session of yogic meditation led by Tony Wilmot, yoga teacher, at the Virtual Festival of the Middle Way.
Tony Wilmot has been practising Yoga for 30 years and qualified as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher in 2000. Styles taught are Ashtanga Vinyasa & Hatha Yoga. His teaching is influenced by traditions of many to including Dru, Iyengar & Satyanada Yoga. His meditation is grounded in Zazen (silent sitting) and vipassana in the tradition of Goenka.
Because there was a technical problem with the first few minutes of the original recording, Tony has kindly recorded a separate introduction that forms the first three minutes of the video. The chair is Julian Adkins.
At this time of international backlash against gender equality, Nina Davies uses Feminist/ Middle Way Philosophy to interrogate the evidence and suggest how to respond. Nina Davies is an experienced meditation and guided enquiry leader with an interest in feminist and continental thought. After leaving a long career in social care, she trained as a CBT Hypnotherapist. This video was recorded from Zoom at the Virtual Festival of the Middle Way, 19th April 2020.
Peter Afford is an experienced Focusing teacher and a psychotherapist with an interest in neuroscience. He is the author of ‘Therapy in the Age of Neuroscience’. www.peterafford.uk
