Our Zoom meetings for the whole Network from Feb 2023 will offer a series of talks followed by discussion and suggestions for practice. These will be on the theme of the Five Principles of the Middle Way (illustrated in the diagram below) and the Threefold Practice. The Five Principles offer a breakdown of what the Middle Way involves in working with our practical judgement to avoid absolutization. The Threefold Practice is an analysis of regular practices we can engage with (e.g. meditation, the arts, critical thinking) that will work together to help create the longer-term conditions for better practical judgement.

The beginning of this series roughly coincides with the publication of Robert M Ellis’s book, The Five Principles of Middle Way Philosophy: Living Experientially in a World of Uncertainty (Equinox, due out Feb 2023), which can provide a detailed reference to the background of the talks. This book also constantly refers back to Absolutization: The Source of Dogma, Repression and Conflict (Equinox, 2022), the first volume in the series, which lays out the nature of the problem in our judgement which the Middle Way addresses. These two volumes together bring together evidence and approaches from a wide variety of disciplines and sources (including Buddhism, Psychology, Neuroscience, Systems, Embodied Meaning Theory and Western Philosophy) to try to develop a universal account of the Middle Way of judgement, not dependent on Buddhist tradition or any other tradition, but constantly tested by its path of practical application.

In a series of talks, Robert will introduce the key points in his book, linking them to their application and suggesting practical reflections to focus on between the meetings. There will also be the opportunity for questions and comments for all present, and both the ideas and the application can then be discussed further after reflection in later follow-up discussion groups.

This is the programme of main talk meetings with their topics. Note that the meeting day has now shifted to Tuesday, but is still at 7.30pm UK time. This will normally be the first Tuesday in the month, but please note the exceptions in bold below. One follow-up meeting will take place on the same day two weeks later, whilst others will be arranged according to the discussion group’s own schedule (this can be arranged using the Slack area that you gain access to when joining the Network). Network members will receive a reminder email with the Zoom link a few days before each meeting, and can also get the Zoom link from the Slack area.

Date (all Tues 7.30pm UK)	Topic	Related reading from The Five Principles
7th Feb 2023	What is meant by the ‘universal’ Middle Way?	(Refers to Absolutization in outline)
7th Mar 2023	Scepticism 1: Uncertainty, not Negativity	1.a-c
28th Mar 2023	Scepticism 2: Embodiment and Meaning	1.d-g
2nd May 2023	Provisionality 1: Adapting to Conditions	2.a-e
6th Jun 2023	Provisionality 2: Weighing up our Judgements	2.f-g
4th Jul 2023	Incrementality: Thinking in Continuous Terms	3.a-c
8th Aug 2023	Agnosticism 1: Being Wary as Serpents	4.a-c
5th Sep 2023	Agnosticism 2: Absolutist Dirty Tricks	4.d-f
3rd Oct 2023	Integration 1: Resolving Conflict	5.a-c
7th Nov 2023	Integration 2: individual and Group Integration	5.e
5th Dec 2023	Integration 3: Temporary and Long-Term Integration	5.f
9th Jan 2024	Integration of Desire Practices: From Meditation to Mediation	6.a-d
6th Feb 2024	integration of Meaning Practices: From Art to Truthfulness	6.e-f
5th Mar 2024	Integration of Belief Practices: From Critical Thinking to Dialogue	6.g-h

Please note that the Zoom meetings are recorded, and the recordings put on the Middle Way Society Youtube channel, to enable people to view the talks who cannot be present at the time. Only speaker view is used, so if you stay muted you will not appear on the video. We also normally record the Q&A, but if you don’t wish your question or comment to appear on the recording, please ask for it to be edited out, by sending a message within 24 hours of the meeting. After the meetings, the Youtube video will be linked to each of the titles above.