Saturday, November 25, 2017

Commentary on Meditations: B7:67

The way nature has blended you into the compound whole does not prevent you drawing a boundary around yourself and keeping what is your own in your own control. Always remember this: remember too that the happy life depends on very little. And do not think, just because you have given up hope of becoming a philosopher or a scientist, you should therefore despair of a free spirit, integrity, social conscience, obedience to god. It is wholly possible to become a 'divine man' without anybody's recognition.

Nature, God, the Gods, the Universe - the rational mind behind the Whole, created not only the world and the order within, but it created everything in it - including us rational creatures.  We are part of the Whole.  And what makes us a unique creation is our ability to reason and think and interact with other social creatures.  Our uniqueness creates a delineation between the Whole and our own little Universe where the one-of-a-kind part of our soul determines our attitude in that little Universe.  Hadot calls this space the Inner Citadel (see Citadel p. 105 and onward).

And in that little Universe or Inner Citadel, very little is required to be content.  And despite what happens to our life in the greater Universe, we can succeed in that little Universe or Inner Citadel if we can focus on and act out of virtue (wisdom, justice, courage, temperance).  No one in the larger Universe, needs to be aware or recognize that you've obtained divinity (assuming you do attain a life of virtue).

(see also Citadel p. 72)

No comments:

Post a Comment