When I started The Way Between last spring, Sonoma State had closed our philosophy program, and I was trying to find ways to continue the work and rebuild some of the community I had lost. Writing here was one beginning. Recording conversations, publishing elsewhere, and reaching out to other teachers and writers followed.
Last September, I wrote about the possibility of offering courses and gatherings. A year later, some of those possibilities have become concrete, so this feels like a good time to gather the different parts of the work in one place.
Teaching
This winter, I’ll be teaching The Art of Living Well: Philosophy East and West through Stanford Continuing Studies. The course brings Socrates, Freud, Jung, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and Emerson into a sustained consideration of self-knowledge, cultivation, and daily life. How does understanding ourselves change the way we live? How does that understanding become meaningful work and responsible participation in the world?
The course will meet live online for six weeks, from January 28 through March 4. I’ll share the registration page here when it becomes available.
I’m also scheduled to teach through San Francisco State’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute in the spring. I’m looking forward to meeting regularly with students again and seeing what can develop over several weeks of study and conversation.
Writing
This year, Big Think published two pieces that bring Chinese philosophy into contemporary life:
Both consider how cultivation becomes visible in our conduct: how we listen, respond under pressure, and exercise authority.
My latest piece in Spirituality & Health, “Where Do You Feel Most Spiritual?”, returns to something especially relevant to this past year: the nourishment of friendship and ordinary conversation. An earlier piece, “Stillness in Motion,” reflects on what tai chi has taught me about confidence, balance, and presence.
I also published two essays with Buddhistdoor Global:
My essay “The Roar of Awakening” appeared in Beshara Magazine. A longer essay on Heinrich Zimmer, philosophy, and the recovery of an integral vision of life is forthcoming in the December issue of the Temenos Academy Review.
Behind these pieces is a larger manuscript, tentatively titled The Art of Living Well. It follows a path through philosophy East and West, asking what Socrates, Confucius, Laozi, the Buddha, Jung, Zimmer, Watts, and Emerson can still teach us about self-knowledge and the work of becoming human. Much of the teaching, writing, and broadcasting gathered here has grown from that project.
My earlier book, Original Confucianism: An Introduction to the Superior Person, developed from my doctoral work on self-cultivation in the Four Books and the I Ching.
Conversations
On The Living Conversation, Anthony Wright and I speak with guests about philosophy, spiritual practice, and the art of living well. The program airs on KWMR and is available as a podcast. Episodes and shorter selections can also be found on The Living Conversation YouTube channel.
On The Way Between, Nick Egan and I discuss Eastern and Western traditions and their bearing on contemporary life.
This week I also joined Brian Barnes and Patty Payette for a conversation on their radio program, Critical Thinking for Everyone. They had previously devoted an episode to my Big Think article on Confucian emotional intelligence. I discovered their discussion, wrote to introduce myself, and that exchange led to an interview. I’ll share the recording when it becomes available.
That small sequence captures something I have been learning. Publishing can send an idea into the world, but its deeper value sometimes appears when the idea becomes a conversation and the conversation becomes a relationship.
Continuing the Conversation
These projects have brought me into contact with people I might never have met through my former work. I’m grateful for that. I also still miss the continuity of a teaching community: familiar faces, colleagues nearby, and conversations that can be resumed the following week. Building that kind of continuity remains part of what I hope to do.
The Way Between will continue to be the place where I bring the writing, conversations, and teaching together. If something here connects with your own work, or with a community you belong to, I’d be glad to hear from you.
Thank you for reading and staying in touch.
Adam
Hi Adam. So, yes, I think my work connects with yours somewhat. I am not a professional in the field ( I’m a classical musician) but would love to share my small book with you as someone WHO IS in the field of philosophy, etc. What is the best way to go about this?? Let me know. Thanks, talk soon. Mary