Epictetus Discourses 3.18 - That we should not allow news to disturb us

That we ought not to allow any news to disturb us

"Whenever any disturbing news is brought to you, you should have this thought ready at hand: that news never relates to anything that lies within the sphere of choice" (v. 1, p. 175).

News falls under the category of "things outside our control" and therefore, since it is outside our control, the thing can't actually hurt us (mentally - from your hegemonikon's perspective).

Epictetus goes on to elaborate this point through the rest of this chapter.

We should "mind the gap" between stimulus (disturbing news) and our response to it.  The more we practice being mindful, the more quickly we are able to determine that news should really not disturb us.  Rather, we ought to view all news objectively.

Epictetus Discourses 3.15 - That we should approach everything with circumspection

That we ought to approach each separate thing with circumspection

"In each action that you undertake, consider what comes before and what follows after, and only then proceed to the action itself" (v. 1, p. 171).

In this chapter, Epictetus intends to convince people to give themselves wholeheartedly to what they intend to do.  He wants us to think about things fully, before acting.  It later becomes clear in the chapter, that he specifically speaks to those who want to pretend to be philosophers, and never really fully devote themselves to becoming a Stoic.

Athletes must consider all the pains, injuries, and hardships they must ensure if they are to reach the pinnacle of success.  And they can only focus on one thing.  You cannot become the best player in basketball and baseball.  Some have tried, but none have succeeded.  Those who wish to become Stoic sages must do likewise.

"For your own part likewise, you're sometimes an athlete, sometimes a gladiator, then a philosopher, then an orator, but nothing at all whole-heartedly; no, in the manner of an ape, you imitate everything that you see, and one thing after another is always catching your fancy, but it ceases to amuse you as soon as you grow accustomed to it.  For you've never embarked on anything after due consideration, nor after having subjected it to proper examination and tested it out, but always at random and in a half-hearted fashion" (v. 6-7, p. 172).

He lays out the type of training a Stoic philosopher must endure in order to win the prize.  This list is actually a really good list of Stoic disciplines that even us Moderns can attempt to become more Stoic.

"Do you suppose you can eat as you do, drink as you do, lose your temper as you do, and be as irritable as you are?  You must stay up at night, toil away, overcome certain desires, become separated from those who are close to you, suffer scorn from a little slave, be laughed at by those whom you meet, and come off worse in everything, in power, in honour, in the courts" (v. 10-11, p. 172).

The prizes of endurance in these practices?  Serenity.  Freedom.  Peace of mind.

Epictetus concludes, "you must be one man, either good or bad; you must devote your efforts either to your ruling centre or to external things" (v. 13, p. 173).

Epictetus Discourses 1.26 - What is the law of life?

What is the rule of life?

Theory is nice and gets us thinking about what is appropriate, but actual living is what counts.  Epictetus says, "far more important is the law of life that states that we must do what follows from nature" (v. 1, p. 56).  We live in a physical universe and world.  While some may sit around and theorize all day and live in a world of words, it ultimately doesn't matter until they actually do something physical.  One other way of stating this is: theorizing is easy, doing is harder.

Now, with that stated, we indeed have to start with education.  Nothing great was ever accomplished without some thought or retrospective.  This is why Epictetus says we go astray due to ignorance.  Along those same lines, it is education and theory that teaches us; not anger.  "To whom has anger ever taught the art of navigation or music?  When it comes to the art of life, do you suppose, then, that your anger will teach me what I need to know?" (v. 7, p. 56).

He also teaches us that the first step in philosophy is "to become aware of the condition of one's ruling center" (v. 15, p. 57).  In other words, we need to know the state of our hegemonikon.  If it is weak, then we ought not to use it in matters of importance.  If it is weak, we need to strengthen it and discipline and focus it.  This is where you ought to learn about and practice the Discipline of Assent.  This is how you begin to examine your life.  As Socrates said, "the unexamined life is not worth living."

Commentary on Meditations: B12:1

All that you pray to reach at some point in the circuit of your life can be yours now - if you are generous to yourself. That is, if you leave all the past behind, entrust the future to Providence, and direct the present solely to reverence and justice. To reverence, so that you come to love your given lot: it was Nature that brought it to you and you to it. To justice, so that you are open and direct in word and action, speaking the truth, observing law and proportion in all you do. You should let nothing stand in your way - not the iniquity of others, not what anyone else thinks or says, still less any sensation of this poor flesh that has accreted round you: the afflicted part must see to its own concern.

If, then, when you finally come close to your exit, you have left all else behind and value only your directing mind and the divinity within you, if your fear is not that you will cease to live, but that you never started a life in accordance with nature, then you will be a man worthy of the universe that gave you birth. You will no longer be a stranger in your own country, no longer meet the day's events as if bemused by the unexpected, no longer hang on this or that.

If you are reading this commentary, pause and really take the time to read chapter 1 of Book 12; read it again and again if you have to.  Marcus gets to the heart of the matter of philosophy and Stoicism in this chapter.  He talks of all three disciplines and he even gives you a measuring stick to see if you've been "worthy" of living or not.

He first focuses on the past, the present and the future.  Leave the past behind.  There is nothing that can be done to change it.  The past is out of your control.  Therefore, leave it where is remains forever.  No anxiety or worry or anger or happiness or love.  It is gone.  Similarly, the future is out of our control.  We are blind to it.  We cannot know whether we will be rich or poor, alive or dead, healthy or ill.  The future is a bridge we have not yet encountered and we only waste time by thinking about it.  Indeed do all you can to plan, but ultimately, don't hinge your contentment on the future.

This leaves the present: the one point in time, out of the infinite number of points in time, over which we have control.  How do we best use this gift?  We live it justly (discipline of action) by doing right; living right; living with integrity; helping others; by being open and direct with all people.  We live the present moment reverently (discipline of desire) - which means we love our lot in life.  This is as close as Marcus comes to saying amor fati.  Love this unique-crafted-especially-for-you moment.  It is yours and no one else's.  And if you focus on the one thing you can control (your attitude) in this moment that belongs to you, you will find contentment.

Don't let all those other things stand in your way of having a positive, learning, fulfilling experience now.  Don't let others' iniquity, or thoughts or opinions or words stand in your way.  Don't let your body, which is little more than gelatinous mass, stand in your way of having a good attitude.

If you are able to accomplish all this, and, when you near your death, the only thing you value is your hegemonikon's ability to stay true to the divine, then you will have lived a good life.  Also, if you get to the point of not fearing death, but rather, your greatest fear is that you never were able to start living a life according to nature, then you will be worthy of your existence - you will have found your home - your country.  You will no longer be surprised by anything, you will no longer care about this indifferent thing or that indifferent thing.  You will have transcended all of it.

Commentary on Meditations: B11:19

There are four particular corruptions of the directing mind for which you must keep constant watch, and eliminate them whenever you detect them, in each case applying one of these formulas: 'This mental image is superfluous'; 'This could weaken the bond of community'; 'This would not be yourself speaking' (to say what you do not feel should be regarded as the height of contradiction). And the fourth case for self-reproach is that in which the more divine part of you loses the contest and bows to the lower, mortal part, the body and its gross pleasures.

More excellent advice from Marcus Aurelius with regard to checking our mental assumptions.  The first part is trimming out all that is not needed in thought.  Thinking about trying to influence things that are not in your control would be superfluous (unnecessary).

The second part deals with the discipline of action and any thought that would harm the community or weaken the brotherly love we have towards others.

Thirdly, our thoughts and actions and feelings ought to be aligned and in harmony.  When we say something that we do not feel, this creates discord and begins to break your integrity.

Lastly, we ought to keep our directing mind (hegemonikon) focused on virtue, rather than the pleasures.  We "lost the contest" when we give in to the "lower."  In sum, take the high road in thought and deed.

Commentary on Meditations: B9:14-20

All things are the same: familiar in experience, transient in time, sordid in substance. Everything now is as it was in the days of those we have buried.

Mere things stand isolated outside our doors, with no knowledge or report of themselves. What then reports on them? Our directing mind.

Good or ill for the rational social being lies not in feeling but in action: just as also his own virtue or vice shows not in what he feels, but in what he does.

A stone thrown in the air: nothing bad for it on the way down or good for it on the way up.

Penetrate into their directing minds, and you will see what sort of critics you fear - and what poor critics they are of themselves.

All things are in a process of change. You yourself are subject to constant alteration and gradual decay. So too is the whole universe.

You should leave another's wrong where it lies.

In Book 9, chapters 14 to 20, Marcus fires of short and succinct ideas, dealing with the discipline of desire, assent and action.

Change is constant.  All that you see today, has similarly happened before.  All of it will happen again.

Our mind - our hegemonikon - decides what we agree or disagree with.  There is a border - a door, if you will - between external events and our directing mind.  We get to look through that door and decide our opinion of what stands outside it.  We can let it in or tell it to leave.

We live in a physical world and our actions are confined purely to what we can or cannot do.  Our thoughts, directed by our hegemonikon determine our actions and our actions in the physical world are what count.

A stone as been thrown in the air; that is all you can say.  You cannot say it is either good our bad.  Apply this concept to everything.  Don't automatically assume something is good or bad.  Simply define at first.

When working with other people (whose minds and actions are out of your control), you may attempt to glance into their mind to see what they see.  Close observation will indicate there is nothing for you to fear of them.  A similar tactic in modern vernacular is to tell yourself that everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time; everyone defecates; everyone is human.  Your fear an anxiety of them truly comes from your directing mind and not from the other person.

Marcus repeats the idea again - change is constant.  You, as a physical and mental entity, are subject to constant change and decay.

Lastly, if others commit a wrong act, leave it be.  Do not heap on it or add to it.

(see also Citadel p. 43, 258, 271)