Have you discovered the true purpose of your life? This talk examines how everything has a purpose. 

- What is the real purpose of Man? 
- The universal and individual aspects of our purpose 
- Purpose under ignorance and its effect on our lives 
- 8 practices to help us live lives of true purpose

Philosophy & The Purpose Of Your Life

Where were you when your life was happening? This talk examines where we live normally

- the dominance of past and future in our lives
- the joy of the present moment
- what causes us to leave the present moment
- the experience of life lived in the past and future
- what life is like when we live in the present
- how we can bring the mind to live in the present moment
- a sage's description of the present moment

Philosophy & The Present Moment

To be light is to become enlightened. This talk examines that if our true nature is light, what makes us go dark. 

- How the adult differs from the child and its brightness
- The darkening effect of false reason and conditional love
- The light of the present moment
- What life in the darkness or shadows is like
- Why we won't drop our burdens
- How we may live in the light and lighten up

Philosophy & The Need To Lighten Up

Those with reason are free from error. This talk examines what is Man in truth - the two great aids to his living a true and full life - what is reason - why should we be reasonable? - what is not reason - what causes us to be unreasonable - how reason works - the two levels of reason - the 3 states of mind, in only one of which does reason operate properly - the 4 factors which help reason to grow in us - the role of reason in the human life.

Philosophy & Reason

Do you know how great yours is? This talk examines the true potential of the human being - 6 reasons why we have not realised our potential - 5 ways to help us realise our potential - 5 goals that we may set ourselves - the life of one who has realised their potential.

Philosophy & Realising Your Potential

Without patience there can be no peace. This talk examines how to gauge our spiritual strength - the petty irritations that plague our daily life - what is true patience and what is not true patience - the effects of impatience on our being - the fruits of patience - the fundamental cause of impatience - 4 ways to help us grow in patience - how we may perfect patience.

Philosophy & Patience

True parenting in the formative years. This talk examines the need for parenting of a human being  - what is the nature of a child - fulfilling the needs of the child - the need for love and discipline  - the different stages of the child's development and how parenting changes from stage to stage - dealing intelligently with misbehaviour - providing the best of material and company for the child - examining the family legacy - carrying out a parental audit - the three types of child - the three styles of parenting - having a vision for your child and its glorious future.

Philosophy & Parenting (0 - 10)

How one can love everyone. This talk examines the creation as an enactment of love - how we see ourselves - the 3 characteristics of true love - 8 false ideas about love that mislead us - 5 impediments to true love - loving yourself - directing love to substance not form - how to love everyone.

Philosophy & Love

Are you making full use of yours? Man is pure intelligence - it is not that he has it; he is it - we think because we do not understand - living life stupidly according to the wise - how intelligently do we live our lives? - what are the barriers to our limitless intelligence - understanding the true use of the mind - three states of mind - accessing intelligence through (1) purification, (2) development of will-power, and (3) perfection of concentration - the highest use of intelligence.

Philosophy & Limitless Intelligence

To be happy, Man must simply give up being miserable. This talk examines the nature of true happiness - that happiness is our natural state and we can never be separated from it - when is happiness possible? - why all of mankind seeks happiness - how we become miserable - one false self-image and its resultant misery 	- the false search for happiness - not selling your happiness for anything - how to be happy at all times in all circumstances.

Philosophy & Happiness

There is no future in the past. This talk examines the commonly held views about grief - what is grief - understanding life and death - the two erroneous causes of grief  - how grief can be eased in ourselves and others - the four ways to be free of grief in our lives.

Philosophy & Grief

Are you living a life or are you living a lie? This talk examines what a human being is and what a human life is - do we have a life? - 5 areas of our lives that need examination - how to get our lives back - 4 ways to enlarge our lives - enlarging our hearts - enlarging our minds - the need for self-analysis - making our lives complete.

Philosophy & Get A Life

Truth does not challenge your freedom: it is your freedom. This talk examines what true freedom is - what truth is it that sets you free - why all seek freedom - why so few succeed in being really free - what is it that traps the mind - how does bondage come about - the role of desire in entrapping the human being - the ways to attain the real freedom.

Philosophy & Freedom

The man who knows himself knows no fear. This talk examines how fear arises - the role of the ego with regard to fear and what are its characteristics - the false knowledge that produces fear - the types of fear - the results of fear on the life - how to deal with fear when it arises - the means to living a life totally free of fear.

Philosophy & Fear

Are desires the eternal enemy of man? This talk examines why desire is the enemy of Man - the effect of desires on our bodies, minds and hearts - the mistaken belief that fulfillment of desires leads to happiness - the fundamental error that happiness is external to ourselves - the 3 beliefs behind all desires - how or why do desires arise? - what actually is a desire - are there any desires which are beneficial and what are they? 	- 7 ways to eliminate harmful desires - the desireless state and resultant happiness

Philosophy & Desire

Decisions determine your life. This talk examines how decisions arise - 10 important decisions that each one of us will make - the 5 bases for making a true decision - the functioning of the mind under different states - impediments to true decision making - 8 aids to decision making - how we can come to know whether a decision is right or not and the ultimate decision that the real philosopher has to make.

Philosophy & Decision Making

Are you strong enough to be compassionate? This talk examines the real nature of love - how compassion arises - the difference between true compassion and false compassion - the price we pay for not being compassionate - compassion is not pity - the need for a strong heart - how we may grow in compassion.

Philosophy & Compassion

The marriage of two minds. This talk examines what is communication and its importance - the two purposes of communication - the various means of communication - false communication - the factors for true communication - impediments to communication - the three ways to participate in conversation and their effects - 10 ways to improve communication.

Philosophy & Communication

If you don't, who will? This talk examines what is it that needs caring for - why energy is so important to us - the ways we waste energy physically, mentally and emotionally - getting to the source of energy - how to conserve energy - how to generate energy - the importance of measure and discrimination - discovering a balanced way of living - 3 practices that each of us can do - the benefit of a life endowed with full levels of energy.

Philosophy & Caring For Yourself

If you are not being true to yourself, who or what are you being true to? The need for a philosophy for our lives - life when untrue to ourselves - our mistaken identity - the domination of fear and subtle pain - how are we to become true to ourselves?

1.  Conscious endeavor
2. Service
3. Embracing the unknown
4. Cultivating stillness
5. Working with nature
6. Answering your calling
7. Adherence to idealism - the authentic man or woman

Philosophy & Being True To Yourself

How aware are we really? This talk examines the difference between awareness and attention.

- What is awareness
- The price we pay for not being aware
- 6 practices to assist with increasing awareness
- Living in awareness

Philosophy & Awareness

How to achieve what I really want. This talk examines the mistake of every generation in achieving what it wants - the aim of human life - the three factor necessary to fulfil our ambitions - how the decisions we make determine our life - the different levels of consciousness and thus different capacities we enjoy - examining our life - how to achieve what we really want.

Philosophy & Ambition

How often are you full of bliss? This talk examines the true nature of Man - is misery real at all? - the difference between pleasure, happiness and bliss - the various ways we create misery for ourselves - 8 key ways we may grow in bliss.

Philosophy & A Blissful Life

Surely you are perfectly happy as you are? This talk examines whether you are perfectly happy as you are - what is it that you really need to know - who am I in truth - do we know who we really are? - the creation of the false 'I' - the effects of the false 'I' on our lives - the role of philosophy in discovering the truth about your Self and the difference this makes - 12 questions we all need to ask ourselves.

Philosophy & Why You Need It

Everybody has it.  How to access it. This talk examines what is inspiration? - is all of mankind naturally creative and thus is everybody an artist? - the useful arts and the fine arts - what is the highest art? - how much of the art is due to the artist? - ultimately, who is the artist? - what gets in the way of creativity or inspiration - understanding the source of all inspiration - removing the impediments that prevent us from being inspired all the time - Ralph Waldo Emerson and the practical aids to inspiration - the inspired life.

Philosophy & Unleashing Your Creativity

Philosophy & Unity

Philosophy & Truth

Philosophy & Spiritual Endeavour

Is speech the essence of man? Using examples of some of the world's most famous speeches, this talk considers the amazing power of speech and the source of its power to influence how we think feel and act including the insidious silent speech in the head.  Whether appealing to our heads our hearts or our guts speech has the power to bind us and that can be for good or ill.  When it comes to how we think, feel, or act, we need to be awake to the power of speech and whether it is for good or ill.  A practical guide is whether it unites or divides, whether it is appealing to universal principle or selfish populist ends.  In a word whether it is coming from Knowledge or Ignorance.

Philosophy & The Power of Speech

Are they opposed to each other? This talk examines the relationship between Philosophy and Religion and their importance to one another.  Religion is favoured by those who like to worship while philosophy is favoured by those who like to know.  The proposition is that while religion is directed through faith in the search for God and philosophy through reason in the search for truth, in the final analysis God and Truth are two aspects of the same single underlying reality.  Further than that, religion and philosophy need each other.  Without philosophy, religion might be seen as mere superstition while philosophy without devotion become little more than a dry intellectualism.

Philosophy & Religion

In search of the real medicine. Fundamental questions are explored as we seek to discover a way to maintain a disease free state. Are there true principles at the heart of medicine?  can philosophy help? and how do they sit with modern science?  Is there a way to stay healthy?  Who should do the therapy?  How can we keep body, mind and spirit in shape so that we can contribute to life until the last day of departure?

Philosophy & The Real Medicine

Awareness Exercise with Valerie for Introductory Course students

Awareness - Senses Exercise (F) (1)

Awareness exercise with Brian for Introductory Course students

Awareness - Senses Exercise M (1)

A talk on Plato's Philosohpy by Dr Stephen J Costello

Plato's Philosophy - S Costello

Plato's Eurthyphro - S Costello

This audio is brought to you by the School of Philosophy and Economic Science in Ireland. We hold classes in practical philosophy throughout Ireland all year.

Practical philosophy helps us to discover a way of understanding the world more clearly and find a more certain route to confidence, fulfillment and happiness.

Drawing on the insights of the world’s greatest thinkers, like-minded people come together to discuss and explore life’s fundamental questions such as: How to act wisely, how to be true to one’s own self, how to overcome fear.

The content draws upon the philosophies of both East and West. It is particularly influenced by non-dualistic (Advaita) philosophy which proposes that there is an underlying unity to everything. We hope you enjoy this audio.

School Of Philosophy

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