Audiobooks Narrated by Hayward B. Morse

The Socratic Dialogues: Late Period: Volume 2: The Laws

"The Laws is the longest of Plato’s Dialogues and actually doesn’t feature Socrates at all - the principal figure taking the lead is the ‘Athenian Stranger’ who engages two older men in the discussion, Cleinias (from Crete) and Megillus (from Sparta). The Dialogue is set in Crete, and the three men embark on a pilgrimage from Knossus to the cave of Dicte, where, legend reports, Zeus was born. The topic under examination is the making of laws appropriate for a well-ordered city: having considered this in The Republic many years earlier, Plato is now taking a less idealistic view and presenting more practical and earthbound proposals, based on law rather than the philosopher-king. It is significant that each of the participants comes from a city with a different system of government: a democracy (Athenian Stranger), a monarchy (Crete) and an oligarchy (Sparta). The Laws is divided into 12 books. Though Socrates is not involved, it can be counted a Socratic Dialogue in terms of form and structure. The Athenian Stranger is played by Laurence Kennedy, with Hayward Morse as Cleinias and Sam Dale as Megillus. The translation is by Benjamin Jowett."

Benjamin Jowett, Plato (Author), Hayward B. Morse, Laurence Kennedy (Narrator)

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The Life of the Buddha

"This unique biography, told in a lively manner through six 'voices', presents the Buddha's revolutionary solution for humanity that lends to the end of ill will, craving and delusion. It goes back to the earliest sources of the Buddha's life and teachings, drawing as it does from the Pali Canon which was said to record the words that the Buddha spoke, the events that happened, and his specific teachings on which the world-wide religion was based. It is an absorbing, edifying and even entertaining collection of reportage, myths, wisdom, kindness, human insight - and decisiveness. For 45 years after his enlightenment he walked around North-Eastern India, encountering and teaching kings, courtesans, matted-hair ascetics, murderers, men and women on spiritual quests - and many ordinary people living ordinary lives in 5th century BCE, but who were grateful for his compassion and advice. Sometimes he teaches through rich metaphors. Sometimes he teaches through scientific analyses of mental states. In one tender moment, he helps his own son, Rahula, to gain enlightenment. The Buddha was not only clear about life, and how, and why, it should be lived, but endeavoured to create a practical framework that monks, nuns and laymen and laywomen could follow to 'disentangle the tangle' and reach enlightenment. Not a god or a divine, but a truly remarkable and fulfilled human being. Bhikkhu Ñanamoli's remarkable work - an innovative biography that has become a classic treasured by Buddhists of all traditions - speaks directly, giving us a flavour of what it was like to be around Siddhattha Gotama, the Buddha. Bhikkhu Ñanamoli (Osbert Moore) was born in England in 1905 and graduated from Exeter College, Oxford. In 1948 he came to Sri Lanka to be ordained as a monk. During his 11 years as a monk, he translated some of the most difficult texts of Theravada Buddhism. In The Life of the Buddha, however, he made the teachings accessible to all."

Bhikkhu ñanamoli (Author), Hayward B. Morse, Jinananda Jinananda, John Foliy, Leighton Pughl, Nicolette Mckenzie (Narrator)

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The Enchiridion & Discourses

"The Enchiridion is the famous manual of ethical advice given in the second century by the Stoic philosopher Epictetus. Born to a Greek slave, Epictetus grew up in the environment of the Roman Empire and, having been released from bonds of slavery, became a Stoic in the tradition of its originators, Zeno (third Century BCE) and Seneca (first century CE). Epictetus didn't leave a formal written legacy, but his pupil, Arrian, collected his teachings, and posterity now has The Enchiridion and The Discourses. The first is a short compilation of Stoical precepts - how to live an ethical life. It is essentially about everyday life, and it maintained its popularity throughout the succeeding centuries, on par with the other principal concise Stoic document from the Roman period, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius - who had clearly read it. The Enchiridion is presented here as the translation by Thomas W. Higginson. The Discourses, a much longer text again compiled by Arrian, contains a more comprehensive view of the teachings of Epictetus. The Discourses is translated by George Long."

Epictetus (Author), Hayward B. Morse (Narrator)

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