It's not an easy question to answer. The fact that
we are talking about a Modern Socratic Method is
because we have introduced Buddhist ideas when we
worked to further develop the Socratic Method (the
midwife method).
Buddhism speaks of three pillars:
1) Dharma (doctrine),
2) Buddha (insight or aha experience) and
3) Sangha (the true friendships of a true group).
Studying different philosophies and deciding what
is true for you is the first Buddhist step (to study
Dharma). We have special courses where we study
different forms of the laws of life (Communication
Course, Problem Course, Dharma Course, Ethics &
Moral Course etc.)
Dharma is about the laws of life. Getting to know
the laws of life well enough to greatly improve karma
is with a short life as a human being, without the
support of Dharma, a virtually hopeless task.
Buddhism's next corner pillar - Buddha – you arrive
at when you meet Buddha (= arriving at realizations
about the laws of life through aha-experiences)
using the Socratic Method.
Buddhism's third pillar – Sangha – you arrive at,
when you together with the true friends of your Sangha
group, create a true group of true friends who assist
one another in the pursuit of progress on the road to
enlightenment.
Socrates gave a simple piece of advice to his
disciples: If during your present life you are engaged
in studying and devoting yourself to the treadmill of
everyday life (= what in Buddhism is called Samara).
Then, even after death, you will continue to strive
towards such always changing and never lasting worlds
(belonging to the physical universe) and your true
self with get ever more ensnarled in Samsara.
If, on the other hand, you are devoting your life
to studying and striving to reach the eternal truths
and sources of wisdom, then even after death, you
will continue the journey towards the universes of
the eternal and divine.
So the choice is yours! While it may not be easy to
live and work in this spirit of this Socratic advice,
the recipe is simple.
The human nature's pursuit of material prosperity
is only good for the true self if the human nature
can be used to give service to the true self, to
change the karma of the true self (meaning of life
according to Buddhism).
The founder of Buddhism, Gautama Siddharta, carefully
pointed out that his human nature was not Buddha. The
task of his human nature was only to show the path
to enlightenment (= Buddha).
According to Buddhist tradition, Gautama finally met the Buddha (= became aware or enlightened about the principle of the Golden Middle Way
Therefore, when we apply our Modern Socratic Method,
we begin by asking Socratic questions that enhance
memory while helping the individual to learn to know
their true nature (the true self). Improving the
ability to remember is, of course, necessary if you
want to help an individual who is stuck in the
materialistic "you-only-live-once" thinking.
The Modern Socratic Method consists of Socratic
dialogues (dialectics), where those who receive the
questions themselves find their own answers. The
Modern Socratic Method does not use leading questions
(as Socrates often does in Plato's dialogues - except
in the Kriton dialogue). Instead, the questions
direct the individual's attention to areas of the
mind, which lead the individual to get to know his
true self better and thereby become wiser. The
answers and insights the individuals find within
themselves are their own ideas and thoughts, which
are drawn from hidden corners of the mind.
These are the questions that cause the individual
to enter areas where various answers and thoughts
have been hidden from the human nature.
Each such insight is a step on the road to truth.
Each step on the road causes the individual to
become more aware of his true nature.
The Modern Socratic Method uses the
logic of the logical mind in such a way that the defense mechanisms of the mind
are bypassed and the true self "tricked
into giving its genuine answers,
It is advanced philosophy of life.
Increasing material "wealth" of your
human nature at the expense of the true
self's ability to grow in knowledge and
responsibility should not be something
to strive for. Yet, the overwhelming
majority of humanity regards material
wealth as the most important “thing” in
life.
Walking the Golden Middle Way
thaf you first carefully ensure the survival
of your human self in order to be able
to use "your human beingness" to improve
the karma of your true self.
As Socrates said and as was written at the entrance
to the oracle in Delphi : Know Yourself! (= Learn to
know your true self!).
Socrates' most important message to philosophers
is the idea behind his "midwife method". The idea
that within you, you have all the insights and all
the wisdom you need to reach spiritual awareness
and wisdom. The method works by releasing these
insights and knowledge through asking Socratic
questions. The questioner then becomes a midwife to
the thoughts and wisdoms that are released from the
individual's interior (the true self). This opens
the way to further insights and wisdom.
A Nobel Laureate was once asked a question: How do
you researchers find the answers to your questions?
He then replied: Finding the answers is not that
difficult. The difficult thing is to ask the right
questions.
It is the art of asking the right questions that
determine whether the Modern Socratic Method produces
better or worse results.
One of the tricks used in the Modern Socratic Method
is to reverse the logical nature of the human mind
in order to "deceive" the mind into issuing answers
that the mind would not really want to give out.
In Plato's dialogue "Menon", Socrates uses his method
(dialectics) to lead an ignorant slave to insight,
simply by asking questions to the slave. It turns out,
then, that the slave's ability to think causes him
(the slave) to reach correct realizations about
geometry.
The dialogue continues:
Socrates: Yet he was oblivious to the outcome when
we began to question him.
Menon: I agree with that.
Socrates: Thus, he must somehow have had an
awareness of these ideas within him.
Menon: Yes.
Socrates: We can then conclude that those who are
not aware of a certain conclusion can still have real
ideas in the area.
Menon: Yes, we have to draw that conclusion.
Socrates: Thus we have now demonstrated that it is
possible to get an uneducated slave to draw the
correct conclusion about something he has never
studied.
If you then ask the same questions about something
else in the same way, he will eventually come to the
right conclusions about this.
Menon: Well, it sure looks like that.
Socrates: We note that without having received any
teaching and only by answering questions, the slave
was able to obtain knowledge from within himself.
This to get knowledge from within is what we
imply when we say “to remember”?
Menon: Sure.
Socrates: But the knowledge that he has now realized
that he now has, he must either have received at some
earlier point in time or he has always had this
knowledge?
Menon:
Yes.
Socrates: If he has
always had this knowledge, he (his true self) must have always been aware of it.
But if he has received this knowledge, surely he could not have received it in
this life?
Is there anyone who
has taught him such things in this life? You should know, since he was born and
raised in your house.
Menon: No, I know he
has not received any such instruction from anyone.
Socrates: But if he
has not received these ideas in this life, it is necessary to conclude that he must
have owned or received the knowledge during some other period of time? And it
must have been some time before he became human in this life?
Menon: Yes.
Socrates: If true ideas
have always existed in him, both during the time when he is and the time when
he is not human and these ideas can be brought to life by asking questions, so
that he becomes aware of them, then it is obvious that his true self has always
been knowing? Because it is obvious that he is always either human or something
else?
Menon: Yes it is.
Socrates: But if
there is in our minds a true concept of everything that exists, surely the true
self is immortal? Then you can rejoice that you are alive and that you with
courage and interest can devote yourself to finding out and investigate
everything that you do not know today, so that you can reremember this and
become wise.
Menon: It seems like
you're right in this, but I don't understand how you managed to get at it.
In our materialistic age with AI, it may be appropriate to point out that Socrates Method does not work on computers, even if they are equipped with AI.
Of course, it is not possible to say that it could never work in the future, but according to the philosophy of life, it would only work if a spiritual being took responsibility for the computer's AI.
In our materialistic age with AI, it may be appropriate to point out that Socrates Method does not work on computers, even if they are equipped with AI.
Of course, it is not possible to say that it could never work in the future, but according to the philosophy of life, it would only work if a spiritual being took responsibility for the computer's AI.
If you are interested
in trying the Modern Socratic Method you can contact: www.duga.se or send an e-mail to info@duga.se
Todde
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