Living Philosophy: A 4-Week Course on Meaning-Making
How does one lead a meaningful life? Throughout time, contemplative traditions — from Buddhists to Enlightenment thinkers and beyond — have grappled with this question, leading to the cultivation of morality, ritual, education, and culture at large.
In the contemporary secular era, the practices that used to help us understand the world waned with the decline of religion. The study of critical thought has been replaced by aspirations of technological and economic progress, leaving in its wake a crisis of connection. How might we forge a new way?
LIVING PHILOSOPHY treats wisdom not as an intellectual exercise, but as a practice — something to be explored, embodied, and thoroughly integrated into how we lead our daily lives.
This four week course encompasses guided meditations, short lectures, and writing exercises. The curriculum leads with personal reflection and opens up to seminar-like discussion, guiding students towards their own answers.
Week 1 – Sep 15 – Selfhood
Week 2 – Sep 22 – Presence
Week 3 – Sep 29 – Morality
Week 4 – Oct 06 – Devotion
Join our autumn semester at Refuge Worldwide, Berlin's community hub for music, activism and culture (accessibility info).
*If cost is a concern for any reason, please reach out—no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
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About the facilitators
Whitney Wei is a writer, editor, and curator who has shaped global discourse on dance music and club culture for over a decade. She is the former Editor-in-Chief of Resident Advisor and the current editor-at-large of Electronic Beats. Her current project, MODERN RITUALS, reinterprets contemporary culture through ancient philosophy—informed by immersive study at temples and monasteries across Germany and Taiwan.
(Substack, Instagram)
Yun Shu is a writer and somatic coach based in Berlin, born in Shanghai. She is the author of 'The Future is Fungi', translated into four languages. She worked at atai Life Sciences to medicalise psychedelics, before focusing on more embodied and communal practices. Now, her work weaves together philosophy, critical theory, the body, and plant medicine—shared in person through Living Philosophy classes at SVERA and a residency at Soho House, teaching The Artist's Way.
(Substack, Instagram)