A discussion of the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is a story about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago. It follows his mystical journey from being a shepherd with a dream, to traveling the world and encountering many people along the way, from bakers to thieves, gypsies to alchemists. It's a story about following your dreams and allowing your heart to guide you as you pursue an unknown treasure in a foreign land; only through that journey can you find the treasure that has been with you the entire time.

Hosted by Peter Banda & James de Klerk

A discussion of the book Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

Man's Search for Meaning is a book by Holocaust survivor and psychotherapist Viktor Frankl. The book looks at the suffering experienced in the concentration camps, and how finding meaning allows one to survive even the harshest of conditions. For Frankl, there are three sources of meaning: work (creating a work or doing a deed), love (experiencing something or encountering someone), and courage (the attitude we take toward unavoidable suffering).

He also looks at the three phases of camp life and the symptoms that accompany them: the period following admission (shock and denial), the period when one is well entrenched in camp routine (apathy and emotional death), and the period following ones release and liberation (reintegration and emotional disorientation). Frankl analyses each of these phases, discussing the stories he experienced in various camps, and how in those situations, some lose the will to meaning, while others hold on.

In the closing third of the book, he discusses the school of psychotherapy that he founded - logotherapy. From the rich Greek word "logos", translated "word", "reason", or "meaning". It describes a therapeutic technique whose main focus is to help the patient regain their unique life's meaning, their "logos".

Hosted by Peter Banda & James de Klerk

A discussion of the book Lessons in Stoicism by John Sellars.

In the book Lessons in Stoicism, John Sellars takes one through some of the core teachings of Stoicism. He focuses on the works of the well known Stoics: Seneca, Epictetus, and Marcus Aurelius. Covering topics such as:

* What is the philosopher’s role in life?

* What is within our control?

* How do we live in community?

Ultimately, as with the Stoics, Sellars provides practical insights to help us cultivate virtue and lead more meaningful lives.

Hosted by Peter Banda & James de Klerk