About Us

Philosophical Background

Philosophies of East and West

The School's practical philosophy courses are inspired by a universal philosophy which sees everyone and everything as the expression of the one consciousness.

There are many ideas and forces which tend to divide the world. In our study we consider how philosophy may strengthen the sense of unity between people, the sense of connectedness.

This idea of unity appears in many of the texts and quotations we read and discuss in class together; these are teachings from a wide range of philosophers, thinkers, poets and writers such as Plato and Shakespeare, Marsilio Ficino, Yeats, Lao Tzu. In Indian philosophy, it is called ‘Advaita’ which means ‘not-two’, or 'one without a second'. It is also called 'non - dual' philosophy.

This is a common thread running through the great philosophies of the world, eastern and western.

In our exploration of these ideas, we seek to discover what unites people.

'Only reason can help bring about change for freedom of humanity'

- HH Sri Vasudevananda Saraasvati

Principles and Practices