Six Ideas From Eastern Philosophy

Eastern philosophy has all the same goals as Western philosophy: it too seeks to make us wiser and more serene. However, the way it goes about its task shows a great deal more variety and imagination: in the East, there are lessons to be learnt in tea ceremonies, in flower arranging, in the repair of vases and in the ritual contemplation of rivers. An introduction to six of the most fascinating concepts of Eastern philosophy.

FURTHER READING

“Eastern Philosophy has always had a very similar goal to Western philosophy: that of making us wiser, less agitated, more thoughtful and readier to appreciate our lives. However, the way it has gone about this has been intriguingly different. In the East, Philosophy has taught its lessons via tea drinking ceremonies, walks in bamboo forests, contemplations of rivers and ritualised flower arranging sessions. Here are a few ideas to offer us the distinctive wisdom of a continent and enrich our notions of what philosophy might really be…”

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CREDITS

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Mad Adam

[captainhowdy]

I live off a fixed income of $750/month but I'm grateful for what I have; an apartment through Section 8, another chance at sobriety, my cat, that I still have enough teeth left to be able to chew, I have $ for food and my basic needs are met to name a few. The simple things..

[VladBatrinu]

1. Life is missery (expect to be dissapointed, manage your expectations and be greatful for the nice, sweet and amusing things)
2. Metta Bavana (kind thoughts, kind impulses regarding others. Start with someone you hate and than extrapolate to all people). Compassion is a learnable skill
3. Guanyin (mercy, compassion, kindness)
4. Wu Wei (not making an effort, going with the flow, but not laziness). To be wise is to have learnt how one must sometimes surrender to the whole universe. Realize when our wishes are in conflict with reality. The perspective about the events matters a lot
5. Bamboo as wisdom (be adaptable, like the bamboo)
6. Kintsugi (we're all flawed and that's ok)

[cujo]

" The secret to happiness is low expectations "

[annycui]

Wow, I particularly love the "Kintsugi" idea. Something about "repair" is so touching and beautiful.

[bruce]

One of my favorite Ancient Chinese sayings, very roughly and personally translated: "When heaven is about to assign important responsibility to anyone, it will start by making him suffer from frustration, depression, physical exhaustion, hunger, bad fortunes, overall making him grid through crippling mental and physical agony in every aspect of his life. Doing so as a way to prepare him with the iron resilience to take on the impossible task." The way I see it: life will inevitably go south and sh!t will hit the fan, instead of crying about it, put a more positive and productive spin on it. See the events as an opportunities to train yourself to be more resilience. This kinda mentality has helped me so much coping life. Ex: I was job searching 2 years ago and went through anger, frustration, depression for about 5 months with companies giving me false promises, embarrassments, and confusions. What I learned was that: reality will throw stones at you, don't get emotional about it, get proactive to handle it. Then after a while, things might get even worse, but if you keep pushing yourself forward, you might actually reach wherever you want to go.

[fredricknietzsche]

A more accurate and less extreme translation is #1 "All life contains the causes of dissatisfaction ". #2 "The causes of dissatisfaction can be known" . #3 "A path leading to the elimination of the causes of dissatisfaction exists". #4 "The 8 fold path is the path leading to the ceasation of the causes of dissatisfaction ".

[Amy-zbph]

I've always loved Eastern philosophy. I love Western philosophy too but there is something that seems a bit more elegant about Eastern philosophy.

[FightingTorque]

Thank you, auto-subtitles - now I will forever hear Lao Tzu as "Loud Sue"...

[tomboerstra]

I've read the Tao Te Ching, and I was enamoured by it-- very enlightening!

[ArundoTrad]

Give the guy a break. Nothing but negativity. He's taken on the gargantuan task of trying to elucidate some, not all Eastern philosophy concepts. Of course he's left pieces out. He's done a fine job considering and the aim is to give viewers something positive to take away, not cover everything in great detail.

[TheFamous]

Life cannot be fully actualized without philosophy

[TheAgavi]

Kintsugi and Zen are largely about how things are only the way they are from a certain perspective. The vase is only broken if you're looking at it as an ex-vase instead of a potential vase. Even if you never fix it, each piece of broken vase is a perfectly intact jagged piece of plaster. It's only a broken vase if you cling to the idea that a vase ever existed outside of your idea of it.

[KR-nvru]

I've learned much from this channel that I wouldn't have otherwise. Many thanks. 🙏

[ItsJustLib]

One of my favorite parts of the day is your uploads. :)

[OmarDaCosta-Shahid]

Looking forward to videos on Persian/Arab philosophers: Rumi, Averroes, Avicena, Ghazali etc

[stevel]

This is the best channel to listen to before bed

[voltz]

Eastern Philosophies tend to focus on humbleness.. while western philosophies concern what we are.

[uskidsknow]

These are great ideas. Now how do I not forget them a couple hours after I watch this

[spimentel]

Good morning everyone. Thank you for this vid. Awesome caricature and Alain de Button voice is heartwarming.

[jaihananisperceptions]

Does eastern philosophy include Indian subcontinent or not?