Spiritual Philosophy

9th Dinner – 5 Yogas: Bhagavad Gita and Beyond

Rob & Lucmar

The Bhagavad Gita introduces through a battlefield theme, the concept of the “Self”, a reality that lives in all of us, that is infinite, changeless, and exists beneath the world of change, the world we see. The purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially through the different paths of Yoga

The Invited Philosophers Rob & Lucmar Menu Indian Dinner to fit the theme of the evening, with a diary-free and gluten free twist: Chicken Vindaloo, Malabari Shrimp Curry, Aloo Gobi, Baingan Bharta Dessert: Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Drinks: Joel Gott 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon The Philosophy Yoga is both a path and a destination, the destination being Samadhi, the union of the ‘limited’ consciousness, our ego, or little self, with the ‘limitless’ universal consciousness, the big Self. The Bhagavad Gita (I recommend this translation by Eknath Easwaran), a classic Hindu spiritual text composed about

200 BCE, explores four paths of yoga:  Raja yoga (yoga of meditation),  Jnana yoga (knowledge or self-study), Bhakti yoga (devotion, recognition of the Divine in everything) and Karma yoga (action, selfless service towards others), towards spiritual liberation and self-realization or “enlightenment”. Hatha Yoga is the yoga we know best, yoga as an exercise, and it can include some of the other yogas, especially Raja Yoga, but it is not mentioned in the Bhagavad Gita. The Summary Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse Hindu scripture with philosophies about the meaning and purpose of life. Although it takes place…

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Western Philosophy & Psychology

8th Dinner – Psychedelics – From Plato to Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes

Marina

Psychedelics used to have a bad rap, but more recently, they are proving to be very valuable in psychotherapy. They are, however, not new to Philosophers: Plato, Nietzsche, Sartre, and now modern philosophers have experimented with them to expand their consciousness. We had many questions during the dinner, prominent among them was: Can psychedelics reveal our life's purpose?

The Invited Philosopher Marina Petralunga Restaurant Menu Marina’s dish: Cacio e Pepe Paty’s dish: Lady Devil Pizza Drinks: House Rosé Wine The Philosophy Dr. Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes from the University of Exeter, as described in his website, is an Anglo-Scandinavian philosopher of mind who specializes in the thought of Whitehead, Nietzsche, and Spinoza, and in fields pertaining to panpsychism and altered states of mind. He likes to be called the psychedelic Nietzsche. In his TED Talk he discusses understanding consciousness through psychedelics. The Summary Peter Sjöstedt-Hughes argues that although psychedelics are studied as

therapeutics in psychoanalysis, they can be of help also to the healthy, and to the philosopher. Psychedelics can provide state of minds that are awe-inspiring, sublime, ethereal but also infernal. One can lose one’s sense of oneself as “one self”. Space is distorted and time fluctuates or disappears and senses get entangled so that “one may smell the color of time”. He argues that in order to understand the mind it requires the investigation of such psychedelically-induced states of mind. Many philosophers through time have used psychedelics, Plato for example,…

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Western Philosophy & Psychology

7th Dinner, 1st Virtual – Carl Jung on Synchronicity

Sofia

Swiss Psychologist Carl Jung defined "Synchronicity" as an event in the outside world that coincides meaningfully with a psychological state of mind. We have all experienced "surprising coincidences" but if we consider their deeper meaning as Jung did, what are they telling us?

The Invited Philosopher Sofia This is the first virtual dinner/lunch I’ve had. Sofia had dinner in Oldenburg, Germany, while I had lunch in Miami, Florida, USA. 2 Menus Sofia’s dinner: German Abendbrot ohne Brot (A colorful plate of cheese, prosciutto, olives, pickles, almonds, walnuts, blueberries, raspberries) Paty’s lunch: Korma fish curry with Basmati rice and a side of lentils Sofia’s Wine: Sangre De Toro, 2018 Paty’s Wine: 2018 Monterustico Bianco, G.D. Vajra* *Courtesy of a friend who brought it to my last party The Philosophy Our topic was Synchronicity, a

concept introduced by Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst.  Synchronicity is defined as a non-casual event in the external world which coincides with things going on in the internal world, such as our thoughts, feelings and dreams. Two good articles on the topic are this Medium article and this philosophical analysis linking Taoism and Jung. Jung's earliest thinking on synchronicity was prompted by a conversation over dinner with Albert Einstein sometime between 1909 and 1913. Einstein was developing his first theory of relativity and this started Jung thinking…

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