Yes, that is correct. The School of Practical Philosophy. And no it's not a cult. Or atleast I don't think so. Yet.
You never know what you're getting yourself into in New York.
As mentioned in my "25 & Feelin' Fine: My 3 Personal 'Guidelines'" I hope to continuously expand my mindset & promote fluid thinking over my next birth year. I've considered investing in the basic Philosophy 101 material or even Philosophy for Dummies but I prefer an experience over a book. The world is my classroom. So back to "school" I go.
On Sunday, January 8th Beri & I walked into a subway, looked up & saw a poster in front of us that advertised SPP's term starting January 9th. It didn't even take a second for us to agree to enroll & we were in the classroom 24 hours later. Going to random classes & events that I see posted all around NYC is a very typical "Britt move" but it's nice to have an adventure buddy that joins when possibly entering a cult.
Founded in 1964, The School of Practical Philosophy is located in the Upper East and is completely volunteer based. The school offers multiple levels of 10-week courses, the introductory course only requiring an administration fee of $10. The volunteers we met have been involved with the school for decades as it brings them pure joy to support enlightenment.
Looking around the mahogany lined lecture room, it was obvious that everyone was from all walks of life. From homeless to millionaires, twenty to eighty year olds. The majority of students agreed that they were brought there by the advertisement in the subway. Isn't that interesting? There were multiple lecture rooms full of people that may have never ever crossed paths but there we were, eager to seek happiness & discover our authentic self. All because of an ad in a crowded subway car that spoke to us.
Each week we are provided with class notes, principles, passages for study & daily practices to use throughout the week. Session 1: The Wisdom Within provided a light intro to Socrates, Plato & Aristotle as we discussed what exactly is philosophy & why bother to study it. The lecturer repeated multiple times,
"Do not accept what you hear in this class & do not reject what you hear.
Try it out. Test the truth of it. If it works,
trust what you have found & let it enrich your life".
I completely agree with this statement as the course is practical philosophy, not academic - it's all about stimulating your mind & forcing you to really question yours as well as others' beliefs. Similar to college, the first few classes tend to be a bit slow, which I realized was important as there were many skeptics before the instructor had actually dissected the topic. Just dipping our toes in the water for now.
Each session consists of a 2 hour class with a 30 min intermission that allows times for students to mingle while enjoying soups & a lite buffet. We introduced ourselves to a Swedish couple, the wife an artist & the husband a brain research analyst. Similar to us, they had absolutely no idea what to expect upon enrolling & are eager to pick up the pace. Such a New York mindset, let's cram as much as we can into as little time as possible. The more efficient the better.
I'm excited for the next few weeks as we see what develops in this new community. I have much to gain from it & only 10 bucks to lose. There are multiple schools internationally as well as online courses, if you are at all interested in the school, feel free to reach out to me & let's meet for coffee.