Letters from a Stoic 101 - On the Futility of Planning Ahead

On the Futility of Planning Ahead

This is a somewhat timely letter to read.  I was just talking to my wife about this subject.  I venture to guess that most people are highly motivated to suck the marrow out of life by pursuit of health, fame, career, wife, husband, children, family, and fortune.  And to be clear - none of these are bad per se; rather they are indifferents.  But the majority of people don't view them as indifferents; rather they view them as goods to pursue.  And in their pursuit of them, they forget to contemplate their death.

what a nothing we are, and [time reminds] us with some fresh evidence that we have forgotten our weakness; then, as we plan for eternity, [time compels] us to look over our shoulders at Death.

Seneca then recounts a man who was good at making money and keeping it and who "lived most simply, careful of health and wealth."

But then, he 

was suddenly seized with an acute attack of quinsy, and, with the breath clogged tightly in his swollen throat, barely lived until daybreak. So within a very few hours after the time when he had been performing all the duties of a sound and healthy man, he passed away.

This is life.

Now, back to what my wife and I were talking about.  Having done a lot of contemplating of my own death, as well as practicing the view from above, I find myself able to very, very quickly pivot from being concerned or anxious or fearful of some aspect of life, and pivot towards acceptance of my fate and even my death.  For example, I might have a bit of motivation for progressing in my career, but after a spell of bad days and even a poor performance ranking, instead of becoming upset, I very quickly realize these outcomes were not up to me and that ultimately I am a miniscule speck in the vast expanse of the cosmos and that I soon will be dust in that chasm of space and void.

This thinking has the intended effect of not letting circumstances upset me.  But, at times, I don't quite stop there and I spin into this cycle of thinking that since nothing really matters in time and space, why should I try to have motivation at all?  But this way of thinking is folly too.  Therefore, I have to 'tap the breaks' a bit and recall the aim of life - demonstration of excellence of character.

And even when some of my motivation wanes in pursuit of arete, there is this notion of: "I have lived!"  This comes from Montaigne and I found it while reading Hadot.  Montaigne "imagines a person who had done nothing all day long, and he responds, 'What, you have done nothing, but have you not lived!  Is that not the most illustrious of your preoccupations!'" (see The Present Alone is our Happiness, p. 125).  "I have lived!"  Life is tough and simply having lived is sometimes enough - it is a valid way to survive.  Don't remain stuck there, but grant yourself the acceptance when you need it.

Between these two poles: existence and non-existence I must find the balance.  The practices of memento mori and 'view from above' keep me grounded in reality.  But I cannot live at that pole.  And the reminder to carpe diem and to 'suck-the-marrow-out-of-life' can lead to a life of overblown expectations.  Therefore, keeping these two in tension becomes my task.  Personally, I drift very easily toward memento mori and therefore, I have to exert a bit more effort to steer my motivations back toward carpe diem.  I call this memento vivere.

To me, it seems in this 101st letter from Seneca, he is addressing the majority of people who are constantly clawing their way towards what they think is the good, while ignoring the present moment.  We need to go about with our lives, but with our eyes wide open.

how foolish it is to set out one's life, when one is not even owner of the morrow! ... everything is doubtful, even for those who are prosperous.

We must live for the present moment; not in a hedonistic sense, but in a fulfilling, satisfied, wise sense.  As if our life were a work of art and each day we are putting the finishing touches on it.

Therefore, let us so order our minds as if we had come to the very end. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life's account every day.  The greatest flaw in life is that it is always imperfect, and that a certain part of it is postponed. One who daily puts the finishing touches to his life is never in want of time.

Have we paid the dues owed to our soul?  Have we reconciled our divine nature with the Whole?  If so, then we can say,

I have paid my soul its due, when a soundly-balanced mind knows that a day differs not a whit from eternity – whatever days or problems the future may bring – then the soul looks forth from lofty heights and laughs heartily to itself when it thinks upon the ceaseless succession of the ages.

Each day becomes a life unto itself,

whose daily life has been a rounded whole, is easy in his mind; but those who live for hope alone find that the immediate future always slips from their grasp and that greed steals along in its place, and the fear of death, a curse which lays a curse upon everything else.

...

The point is, not how long you live, but how nobly you live.

Notes and What I learned from "The Present Alone is Our Happiness" - Unacceptable? by Pierre Hadot

This is part 9 of a 12 post series reviewing the book "The Present Alone is Our Happiness"

Regarding how to communicate suggestions for a way of living, he says,

the method of indirect communication.  If one says directly, do this or do that, one dictates a conduct with a tone of false certainty.  But thanks to the description of the spiritual experience lived by another, one can give a glimpse of and suggest a spiritual attitude; one allows a call to be heard that the reader has the freedom to accept or refuse (p. 148).

Regarding memento mori

The exercise of death is in fact an exercise of life (p. 149).

...

to train for dying is in no way to torture one's body; it is 'to train for dying to one's individuality, to one's passions, to see things from the perspective of universality and objectivity ... this does not imply repulsion with regard to the flesh (p. 149).

Regarding the Christian connection to ancient philosophy

the Christians, wanting to seem like a philosophy, generally adopted Platonic philosophy, sometimes tinged with Stoicism (p. 152).

Regarding becoming invulnerable

philosophy is a mode of life ... does not mean that one must slavishly adopt all the attitudes (p. 153).

...

Socrates sincerely loved his children, but he also accepted the order of the world, the will of the gods (p. 153).

...

passions [are] a profound upheaval of intelligence, of insanity ... false judgement ... passions are false judgements ... make [people] lose their head, and [become] incapable of acting (p. 154).

...

the virtues imply respect for the other, whereas the passion of pity basically implies contempt for the other ... one must not allow oneself to be induced into the passion of pity, which disrupts the soul and obscures reason (p. 154).

Regarding desires

All the misfortune of our current civilization is indeed the exasperation of the desire for profit, in all the classes of society, for that matter, but especially in the ruling class.  Common mortals can have simpler desires: work, happiness at home, health (p. 156).

...

To be happy, therefore, one must diminish as much as possible the causes of suffering, that is, desires.  [Epicurus] wanted to heal the misfortunes of humans, and therefore recommended renouncing desires that are very difficult to satisfy, in order to try to be content with the desires that are easer to satisfy ... to eat, to drink, to clothe oneself (p. 157)

Regarding Providence

in the Stoics, one must represent providence not as a divine will interested in all the particular cases, but as on original impulse that instigates the movement of the universe, and the links between cause and effect that constitute destiny (p. 157).

Regarding "anthropological regularities" (e.g. criminal injustices, massacres, provoked famines, misery of the billions)

the Stoics considered there was no evil except in human will.  Thus, for them, what you can anthropological regularities do not belong to the order of the world, and thus, when they speak of collaborating in the work of the Whole, that meant for them recognizing themselves as a part of the universe; a part that, through its existence, contributes in its own way to the general movement of the universe.  It is not that one should consent to everything that is a moral evil, such as injustice and the exploitation of humans by humans, but one should combat it (p. 159)

...

But if action against evil fails, the Stoic is in this case obliged to recognize reality such as it is ... If he is absolutely reduced to powerlessness, he must not revolt uselessly against destiny, but believe that universal Nature and Reason, which here seem to suffer a defeat, since evil seems to be victorious, will be capable of turning what obstructs their path to their favor.  To believe this is to believe in the final triumph of Reason in the World (p. 159).

Letters from a Stoic 93 - On the Quality, as Contrasted with the Length, of Life

On the Quality, as Contrasted with the Length, of Life

The gist of this letter is found in this quote:

We should strive, not to live long, but to live rightly; for to achieve long life you have need of Fate only, but for right living you need the soul.

This is the response to anyone who suggests that someone who has died before their time; and it serves as a reminder to live each day as if it were your last.

Seneca notes,

I have noticed many who deal fairly with their fellow-men, but none who deals fairly with the gods. We rail every day at Fate.

A great many things in life may seem unfair, but we should stop this line of thinking before we jump to that conclusion.  It is we who assume things are unfair, when in fact, this is how the Universe operates.  Is it fair that my home flooded or burned down?  Is it fair that the world is warming up or cooling down too much to my liking?  Is it fair that weeds exist and are in my yard?  Is it fair that my knee locked up, while playing basketball, and I hyper-extended it?  Is it fair that my parent dies at the age of 45 or my Marine son dies in his 20s?

Be mindful of jumping to the conclusion of 'what is fair and what is not.'  The Cosmos is too complex for one person to conclude what is just and what is not.  This topic comes up quite a bit in life.  For my part, I like to recall the story of "The Farmer's Son: Fortune or Misfortune?" as found on my hypomnemata on wisdom.

Seneca continues,

do you consider it fairer that you should obey Nature, or that Nature should obey you? And what difference does it make how soon you depart from a place which you must depart from sooner or later?

He then explains what a good life represents, as opposed to the length of life.

rendered to itself its proper Good ... assumed control over itself ... had fulfilled all the duties of a good citizen, a good friend, a good son.

Life must be measured by the performance of good, rather than the length.  A perfect circle is still perfect regardless of it's diameter.

a life of small compass can be a perfect life. Age ranks among the external things.  How long I am to exist is not mine to decide, but how long I shall go on existing in my present way is in my own control.

A full life is one that has attained wisdom.

It is living until you possess wisdom. He who has attained wisdom has reached, not the furthermost, but the most important, goal.

One who lives wisely has fulfilled the measure of his creation.

for he has paid [Nature] back a better life than he has received. He has set up the pattern of a good man, showing the quality and the greatness of a good man. Had another year been added, it would merely have been like the past.

If a person lives 80 years, and does nothing but eat, sleep, drink, defecate and does hardly anything rational to improve himself or others, he is no better than an animal.  But one who lives a mere two decades, and who exercises rationality and lives morally, ethically to the betterment of himself and in the service of others, we will applaud the latter and forget the former.

Ask yourself why that is.

Death visits each and all; the slayer soon follows the slain.

We all die regardless.  It is how we spend the time allotted to us is what matters.

Letters from a Stoic 70 - On the Proper Time to Slip the Cable

On the Proper Time to Slip the Cable

This post deals with and discusses suicide.

If you are in a good spot mentally speaking, then feel free read this post with all the candidness that philosophy has to offer.

But if you have suicidal thoughts or are considering suicide, please ask for professional help.  Below are phone numbers for immediate help, if you are based in the United States of America.

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860 (for the transgender community)

TrevorLifeline: 1-866-488-7386 (for LGBTQ youth)

Veterans Crisis Line: 1-800-273-8255, Press 1

If you are not based in the USA, please search on the internet for sources of help in your country, before reading this post.

****

I've contemplated taking my life.  In 2014, I was perhaps at the closest point to seriously taking it.  But as I considered the impact on my children and wife, I decided I needed help and therefore, I sought a therapist who helped me see a clearer path.  Things and life were not as dark as I was making them out to be in my mind.  I didn't have any problems that were worth dying to avoid.

Around that same time, perhaps in 2013 or 2014, I began to drink coffee and found it to be a wonderful antidote to contemplating suicide so often.  Later, I learned of a quote that has been attributed to Albert Camus which goes: "Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?"  My new found love of coffee coupled with that quote resonated with me.  It's an absurd way to reframe life's challenges and problems to the point that if I ever went to that dark place, I could ask myself that question and almost all the time, I would prefer to simply go have a cup of coffee.  It became my internal rallying cry in the years 2015-2017.

I continued to see a therapist trained in cognitive behavioral therapy for about 4 months in 2014, after which I learned of the connection between CBT and Stoicism and the rest is history.  I hardly ever contemplate suicide these days, but I do contemplate my own death.  For the Stoics, death (suicide) was always open.  Seneca gets into it a bit here in the 70th letter from a Stoic.

Just a bit more commentary about suicide before delving into the letter.  I was listening to a Victor Davis Hanson podcast last week and he discussed this ancient concept of luxury and decadence (link to podcast, go to minute 45:01) and it got me thinking about how we, in this modern era and particularly in the west, have become decadent.  And, I think several years back, I was prone to consider that life was bad, when in actuality, it really wasn't that bad!  In a sense, I had become decadent.  Temporally speaking, our society has had it quite easy - air conditioning, cars, indoor plumbing, heated water at the turn of the tap, massive amounts of data and information in our pocket at all times and ample time to sit in leisure and comfort.  Just today, the jobs report for the United States came out, and one news story noted:

However, that drop in the jobless rate also came alongside an unexpected drop in the labor force participation rate to 61.6% from the 61.7% in May, suggesting a smaller share of Americans out of work returned to the labor force to look for or take new jobs.

This indicates that anxiety to work and provide for families and people is less urgent.  Stated differently, people don't feel the need to work, perhaps because of unemployment benefits and the greater application of Universal Basic Income (UBI).

Again - what is my point?  To show that to live and survive is not that difficult compared to many people living in 3rd world countries today as well as compared to people who lived decades and centuries ago.  For me personally, it shows my excuses and complaints were and are small and I really didn't and don't have such a great grievance to justify contemplating taking my life.  This theme will emerge a bit in Seneca's letter.

He begins the letter by comparing life with a voyage.  Some reach the destination slowly; others quickly.

if a man has reached this harbour in his early years, he has no more right to complain than a sailor who has made a quick voyage. For some sailors, as you know, are tricked and held back by sluggish winds, and grow weary and sick of the slow-moving calm; while others are carried quickly home by steady gales.  You may consider that the same thing happens to us: life has carried some men with the greatest rapidity to the harbour, the harbour they were bound to reach even if they tarried on the way, while others it has fretted and harassed.

He then gets into the quality of life, which is what wisdom seeks.  It's not so much about quantity or length.

mere living is not a good, but living well. Accordingly, the wise man will live as long as he ought, not as long as he can.  He will mark in what place, with whom, and how he is to conduct his existence, and what he is about to do. He always reflects concerning the quality, and not the quantity, of his life. As soon as there are many events in his life that give him trouble and disturb his peace of mind, he sets himself free.

If you lead a rational life, you will contemplate this idea: that a life worth living, is also worth living well.  And once you've determined it's worth living, then your task is to live it well and even to end it well.  I've heard a similar sentiment about one's career.  Several people and managers at work say that as long as their job is interesting, they show up to work.  They realize that some days are just horrible, long and disastrous.  But they know that not all days are like that.  They also think about where they ought to draw the line of continuing to show up at work or to resign or retire.  One manager said that as long as he has 3 good days, he can accept a couple of bad days a week.  But as soon as it becomes 3 and then 4 bad days, he'll know when to call it quits.  It seems that Seneca is saying something similar with regard to living.

Seneca even offers an example of living ill (the opposite of living well).

This person was thrown into a cage by his tyrant, and fed there like some wild animal. And when a certain man advised him to end his life by fasting, he replied: "A man may hope for anything while he has life."  This may be true; but life is not to be purchased at any price. No matter how great or how well-assured certain rewards may be I shall not strive to attain them at the price of a shameful confession of weakness.

In other words, just because you can live doesn't not mean you ought to.  Living well is the goal of a philosopher and a good human.

Socrates continued to live well (rather than take his own life) and to prove a point (teach) his friends and the Athenians.

Socrates might have ended his life by fasting; he might have died by starvation rather than by poison. But instead of this he spent thirty days in prison awaiting death, not with the idea "everything may happen," or "so long an interval has room for many a hope" but in order that he might show himself submissive to the laws and make the last moments of Socrates an edification to his friends.

In living and in choosing death, we should do both rationally.

Do not be mindless about living or dying.  But have a purpose.  Seneca writes:

Every man ought to make his life acceptable to others besides himself, but his death to himself alone. The best form of death is the one we like.  Men are foolish who reflect thus: "One person will say that my conduct was not brave enough; another, that I was too headstrong; a third, that a particular kind of death would have betokened more spirit." What you should really reflect is: "I have under consideration a purpose with which the talk of men has no concern!"

A rational being will seek and know his purpose, though it is not an easy task.  A wise person, therefore, will not simply default into the thinking of: "I'll let Nature decide when I die."  Rather, the wise person will know why he lives and when he should die.  If he complains about living, then perhaps he does not know his reason for living.  But Nature has given every one of us the choice to die or keep on living.  Seneca echoes the idea often written by Marcus Aurelius.

This is the one reason why we cannot complain of life: it keeps no one against his will. Humanity is well situated, because no man is unhappy except by his own fault. Live, if you so desire; if not, you may return to the place whence you came.

If you desire to hold on to life as long as possible, then pivot your thinking that your body is similar to a home: you can't live there forever.

Live in it as if you were about to leave it. Keep thinking of the fact that some day you will be deprived of this tenure; then you will be more brave against the necessity of departing.

While fortune may not test us on other matters and therefore we must practice them on our own (poverty, hardships, etc), there is one thing we must prepare for yet can't practice: our death.  Therefore, we ought to contemplate death often.

Seneca next goes into various examples of people who were put in horrible circumstances, and were prevented from killing themselves at every turn.  Yet, they sill managed!  Seneca cites these examples to prove that the door to leave life is, indeed, open to all.  He cites gladiators who shoved a wood stick tipped with a sponge down their throats, and who broke their necks with the spokes of a cart wheel while it was moving and one who used a spear to kill himself, by shoving it down his throat.  Again, the point of which is to prove that death is open to us all and that "the foulest death is preferable to the fairest slavery."

And, if death is open to the lowest of people (gladiators), then why should it not be available to rational people as well.

If such a spirit is possessed by abandoned and dangerous men, shall it not be possessed also by those who have trained themselves to meet such contingencies by long meditation, and by reason, the mistress of all things? It is reason which teaches us that fate has various ways of approach, but the same end, and that it makes no difference at what point the inevitable event begins.  Reason, too, advises us to die, if we may, according to our taste; if this cannot be, she advises us to die according to our ability, and to seize upon whatever means shall offer itself for doing violence to ourselves.

 In sum, the takeaways are:

- seek help if you are suicidal

- stay alive to find your purpose

- live with a purpose

- live rationally

- contemplate death - it is all our fates

- as far as you can, rationally choose your death

Letters from a Stoic 24 - On Despising Death

On Despising Death

In Letter 13, Seneca says "we suffer more often in imagination than in reality."  In Letter 24, he digs a bit deeper on this concept.  Pain and death are two anxieties we may heap on ourselves needlessly.  How can you minimize these imagined sufferings?

Seneca writes,

if you would put off all worry, assume that what you fear may happen will certainly happen in any event; whatever the trouble may be, measure it in your own mind, and estimate the amount of your fear. You will thus understand that what you fear is either insignificant or short-lived.

Confront the imagined sufferings!  Make them your friends and become acquainted with them.  The more time you spend in their company, the less you have to fear from them.

History is replete with humans who have endured pain, exile, imprisonment and death.  Therefore, if you cannot imagine yourself suffering well, then look the the examples provided by history: Rutilius, Metellus, Socrates, Mucius, Cato, Scipio (I hope I got the correct figures linked).

And if they aren't enough, Seneca advises to simply look at all those - in his time and even in the present day - who despise death, exile, imprisonment and pain.

I shall not refer you to history, or collect examples of those men who throughout the ages have despised death; for they are very many. Consider these times of ours, whose enervation and over-refinement call forth our complaints; they nevertheless will include men of every rank, of every lot in life, and of every age, who have cut short their misfortunes by death.

When you do the 'heavy lifting' of contemplating death, you will realize there is nothing to fear.

death is so little to be feared that through its good offices nothing is to be feared. Therefore, when your enemy threatens, listen unconcernedly. Although your conscience makes you confident, yet, since many things have weight which are outside your case, both hope for that which is utterly just, and prepare yourself against that which is utterly unjust. Remember, however, before all else, to strip things of all that disturbs and confuses, and to see what each is at bottom; you will then comprehend that they contain nothing fearful except the actual fear.

This is the life to which we were born.  Never were humans promised to not suffer or to not die.  This is our lot!  If someone promises you a life of leisure, safety and protection, know this: you are being lied to!  None of that is guaranteed.  I fear, in our modernization, we have come to expect far too more than what life actually offers.  We imagine we should not have to die of disease or accidents.  We imagine we can expunge the world of accidents and viruses.  In our pursuit of a scientifically perfect world, we have lost wisdom.  Seneca was wise to note:

You were born to these perils. Let us think of everything that can happen as something which will happen.

Be prepared for poverty, exile, imprisonment, sickness and death.  This is our lot in life.

I may become a poor man; I shall then be one among many. I may be exiled; I shall then regard myself as born in the place to which I shall be sent. They may put me in chains. What then? Am I free from bonds now? Behold this clogging burden of a body, to which nature has fettered me! "I shall die," you say; you mean to say "I shall cease to run the risk of sickness; I shall cease to run the risk of imprisonment; I shall cease to run the risk of death."

We are dying every day.  Every day we march closer to our final death.  While we live, we must learn wisdom and be wise.  And if you ever grow tired of life, this too is folly.  It is not virtuous to escape a life that has become stale.  If you've reached that point, then you have not learned wisdom.  The three quotes from Epicurus:

It is absurd to run towards death because you are tired of life, when it is your manner of life that has made you run towards death.

What is so absurd as to seek death, when it is through fear of death that you have robbed your life of peace?

Men are so thoughtless, nay, so mad, that some, through fear of death, force themselves to die.

Seneca comments on these three quotes.  In sum, live wisely, die purposefully.

Whichever of these ideas you ponder, you will strengthen your mind for the endurance alike of death and of life. For we need to be warned and strengthened in both directions, – not to love or to hate life overmuch; even when reason advises us to make an end of it, the impulse is not to be adopted without reflection or at headlong speed.  The brave and wise man should not beat a hasty retreat from life; he should make a becoming exit. And above all, he should avoid the weakness which has taken possession of so many, – the lust for death. For just as there is an unreflecting tendency of the mind towards other things, so, my dear Lucilius, there is an unreflecting tendency towards death; this often seizes upon the noblest and most spirited men, as well as upon the craven and the abject. The former despise life; the latter find it irksome.

Notes and What I Learned From: Philosophy as a Way of Life - the essay "'Only the Present is our Happiness': The Value of the Present Instant in Goethe and in Ancient Philosophy"

As I do often at work and at home and in many aspects of my life, let me start by stating the problem that needs to be solved.  The problem is stated in the last paragraph of the essay.

• There is a "tragic lack of balance which has come about in the modern world between 'power' and 'wisdom.'"
• "Modern man ... [is] hypnotized ... by language, images, information, and the myth of the future [which] seemed to us to provide one of the best means of access to this wisdom."
• We, in post-modern society have not taken care for the self, in terms of wisdom and sound thinking.  And as such, we have allowed "all human institutions" the power of preventing us "from feeling [our] life, by means of the constant dispersion of [our] thoughts." (p. 235)

While the sentiment expressed above was written several decades ago, it rings true more than ever before, in the year 2019.  The thoughts of the majority - despite being ever so connected with the world - are constantly being dispersed (distributed and spread over a wide area).  Few focus on the weightier matters of wisdom and the love of it (philosophia).

The proposal of the essay, and one which, if carried out, might begin to tip the balance toward 'wisdom' and away from 'power,' is for the individual to "enjoy the present moment" and to "will it intensely" as a duty (p. 230).

While Hadot focuses a lot on Goethe and Epicureanism, I will limit my commentary to the Stoic aspects of the essay.

The practicing Stoic, in an attempt to keep his equanimity, will limit his focus to things in his control.  Out of his control are the past and the future.  Only the present remains in his control.  If he chooses to rehash the past, causing anxiety and consternation, he will not keep his equanimity.  If he fears the future or stews over it, he will not keep his equanimity.  But if he is mindful of the present, and keeps his judgements, actions and inner attitude in balance with nature, then he will retain his equanimity.

Marcus wrote to himself, and so too we should heed the advice:

These will suffice: the present certainty of judgement, the present social action, the present disposition well content with any effect of an external cause (Meditations 9.6)

In another passage, he repeated and expanded on the same idea of focusing on the present:

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. (Meditations 12.1)

What a beautiful passage which describes a life full of equanimity and how to achieve it.

Hadot said, "there are two reason why the present is sufficient for our happiness: in the first place, Stoic happiness is complete at every instant and does not increase over time.  The second reason is that we already possess the whole of reality within the present instant, and even infinite duration could not give us more than what we have right now" (p. 228).

Only the Present is our Happiness

If you strive, right now, to always have objective assents and judgements, and if your actions are moral actions, right now, and if you understand that the whole history of events and circumstances have brought you to this point and that they belong to you and you love your fate, now, then you will always retain your equanimity.  It could then be said, that you lack nothing - that you are content.  And like a circle, your equanimity is whole and complete, regardless of the size - it is a perfect circle.

Therefore if you can spend a few brief moments, now, in perfect harmony (i.e. a perfect circle), then the duration does not matter; only the quality of it matters.  "Happiness is nothing more nor less than that instant in which man is wholly in accord with nature" (p. 228)

Hadot quotes Chrysippus: "If a person has wisdom for one instant, he is no less happy than he who possesses it for an eternity" (p. 228).

And since all the ingredients that are needed to go into this instant of happiness are within our control, the only variable that needs to be determined is your desire for it (or not).  Happiness, therefore, is a choice that you can make in the present moment.

"What is needed is the immediate transformation of our way of thinking, acting, and accepting events.  We must think in accordance with truth, act in accordance with justice, and lovingly accept what comes to pass.  In the words of Marcus Aurelius: 'How easy it is to find oneself, right away, in a state of perfect peace of mind.'  In other words, it is enough to just want it" (p. 229).

To give a sense of urgency of the importance of our "transformation" we must always realize that death may come to us at any moment (memento mori).  "We must live each day with a consciousness so acute, and an attention so intense, that we can say to ourselves each evening: 'I have lived; I have actualized my life.' ... In the words of Seneca: 'He has peace of mind who has lived his entire life every day.'" (p. 229)

Existence is a Duty and should be Intensely Willed

I think many people lack context and awareness of their position in the universe.  Personally, I believe we are parts of a cosmos, which is one whole.  As Marcus has said before, there is divinity within each of us; and collectively, we represent the consciousness of the cosmos.  Accepting this, we must grant that other people have divinity within them and we must cooperate with them, not unlike a hand which would cooperate with a foot in playing a basketball game.

Furthermore, our interface with the cosmos is the present time and space.  All the events that have preceded me and have brought me to this point, represent the sum total of my fate.  It is uniquely mine and I ought to love it.  Hadot says, "The instant is our only point of contact with reality, yet it offers us the whole of reality; precisely because it is a passage and metamorphosis, it allows us to participate in the overall movement of the event of the world, and the reality of the world's coming-to-be" (p. 229).

Our duty, in this moment in time and space "is the harmonization of the reason within us with the reason which guides the cosmos, and produces the chain of causes and effect which makes up fate.  At each moment, we must harmonize our judgement, action, and desires with universal reason" (p. 229).

This is why Marcus said, "He who sees the present has seen all things, both all that has come to pass from everlasting and all that will be for eternity: all things are related and the same" (Meditations 6.37).

And later on he added, "Whatever happens to you was being prepared for you from everlasting, and the mesh of causes was ever spinning from eternity both your own existence and the incidence of this particular happening" (Meditations 10.5).

Hadot continues, "At each moment and every instant, we must say 'yes' to the universe; that is, to the will of universal reason.  We must want that which universal reason wants" (p. 230).  Hence Marcus cries out:

Universe, your harmony is my harmony: nothing in your good time is too early or too late for me. Nature, all that your seasons bring is fruit to me: all comes from you, exists in you, returns to you. The poet says, 'Dear city of Cecrops': will you not say, 'Dear city of Zeus'? (Meditations 4.23)

And for Seneca, he notes that the Stoic sage "plunges himself into the whole of the universe (toti se inserens mundo)" (p. 230).

This mindset helps produce, within the individual, an attitude of "giving your all" and being fully engaged with life.  It leaves behind the victim mentality and empowers the individual to carpe diem and confront the events of life.  And the more this mindset becomes entrenched in an individual, the more the individual begins to want events to happen exactly as they do.  There is no more cowering or disengagement or cordoning of "safe zones."  Rather, there is active participation in life and the whole world and cosmos becomes your home.

To finish, let me quote two passages from the essay that encapsulate what has been discussed.

"The ultimate meaning of Goethe's attitude toward the present is thus, as it was for ancient philosophy, the happiness and the duty of existing in the cosmos.  It is a profound feeling of participation in and identification with a reality which transcends the limits of the individual."

Hadot, quotes Nietzsche again in this essay (p. 235).

Let us assume we say "Yes!" to one single, unique moment: we have thus said yes, not only to ourselves, but to the whole of existence.  For nothing is isolated, neither in ourselves nor in things.  And if, even once, our soul has vibrated and resounded like a string with happiness, all eternity was necessary to created the conditions for this one event; and all eternity has been approved, redeemed, justified, and affirmed.

Memento Mori (Memento Vivere) and Why I Should Give a Damn

This blog remained quiet all through the months of September and October, for various reasons.

Firstly: I spent time reading Pierre Hadot's Philosophy as a Way of Life, and I have been digesting it.  I'm reading it a second time now and will post several reviews and commentaries on it through this month.

Secondly: My practice of memento mori has sunken really deeply lately, so much so, that one of the conversations I had with my dear wife a few weeks ago, centered around the question: why did my parents decide to have me?  My father was 49 years old and my mother almost 40 when I was born?  What drove them to have a seventh child?  I don't have an answer yet, but I think I'm closer to it now.

Additionally, as I have pondered my death, I have seriously realized the futility of all the human efforts.  "What is the point?!" I shout out to the vastness of space towards the stars.  As Marcus, so often reminded himself, emperors, kings, conquerors, after having left a meager mark on the earth, have passed on to become dust and then are not even remembered after a few generations ... or sooner (see Meditations 8.21 as an example).  So what is the point of it all, if in the end, the world and everyone in it, will be sucked into a super-massive black hole?  After it has all been said and done, will there simply be silence, and no one there to not hear it?  I think, perhaps.  Or maybe we just do it all over again.

Does that scare you?  Depress you?  Or maybe it emboldens you?

My daily routine involves reviewing the day's events; making notes of improvement and actions done well and virtues displayed (or not).  A few weeks ago, I found myself writing the word "again" repeatedly.  The word "rut" comes to mind.  Days and weeks were beginning to feel like Groundhog's Day.  It didn't feel like I was accomplishing much, when in fact, I was.  Also, during this time, I noticed again, that people weren't really listening to me.  It was like I was a no-body; people might acknowledge me when I shared my opinion or views, but no one actually heeded my advice.  And so this thought of "what's the point?  what value am I adding?" grew stronger.  I began to question what real value I bring to this life.  If I'm ignored while I live, and I'll be long forgotten when I die, then my life really is like a tree that grows, dies and falls in the forest and no one hears it or sees it.

Sisyphus condemned to push a rock for eternity

I kept returning to Sisyphus.  For being so clever and to have outwitted many gods, he was condemned, by Zeus, to roll a boulder up a mountain, only to have it roll over the top of the mountain and back down.  And the condemnation also included him having to perform this chore every day, all day, for eternity.  How absurd!  How unproductive!  Nothing he did, in rolling this stone, accomplished anything.  The one thing he could possibly accomplish (rolling it up the hill and having it stay there), was not even possible.  My life, often feels like Sisyphus'.

A few weeks ago, I picked up Pierre Hadot's Philosophy as a Way of Life, as I have mentioned previously.  In the first few chapters, he quoted Georges Friedmann twice.

Take flight every day!  At least for a moment, which may be brief, as long as it is intense.  A "spiritual exercise" every day - either alone, or in the company of someone who also wishes to better himself.  Spiritual exercises.  Step out of ... duration ... try to get rid of your own passions, vanities, and the itch for talk about your own name, which sometimes burns you like a chronic disease.  Avoid backbiting.  Get rid of pity and hatred.  Love all free human beings.  Become eternal by transcending yourself.

This work on yourself is necessary; this ambition justified.  Lots of people let themselves be wholly absorbed by militant politics and the preparation for social revolution.  Rare, much more rare, are they who, in order to prepare for the revolution, are willing to make themselves worthy of it.

The words, "become eternal by transcending yourself" sunk deep into my soul.


Another passage, which I have often read and re-read via Hadot, is by Friedrich Nietzsche and deals with the concept of satisfaction and happiness:

The main question is not at all whether or not we are satisfied with ourselves, but whether, more generally, there is anything at all with which we are satisfied.  Let us suppose we said Yes to one single instant: we have thereby said Yes not only to ourselves, but to the whole of existence.  For nothing is sufficient unto itself - neither in ourselves, nor among things - and if, just one single time, our soul has vibrated and resonated with happiness, like a stretched cord, then it has taken all of eternity to bring about that single event.  And, at that unique instant of our Yes, all eternity was accepted, saved, justified and affirmed. (The Inner Citadel, p. 144)

Now, to go back to the idea of Sisyphus.  Albert Camus took the story of Sisyphus, turned it on its side and told people, like me, to take a look.  In The Myth of Sisyphus, he said:

I leave Sisyphus at the foot of the mountain. One always finds one’s burden again. But Sisyphus teaches the higher fidelity that negates the gods and raises rocks. He too concludes that all is well. This universe henceforth without a master seems to him neither sterile nor futile. Each atom of that stone, each mineral flake of that night-filled mountain, in itself, forms a world. The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

And so Hadot, Friedmann, Nietzsche, Sisyphus and Camus, grabbed me by the shirt-collar and slapped me across the face!  If for one single moment, you can say you were pleased or happy or satisfied, even in the daily grind, then your life and the universe and the world and eternity, would have been worth it.  And if you can grab it once, then why not try to grasp at it again?  Why not perform a "spiritual exercise" and transcend yourself every day?  Why not aspire to the "higher fidelity" of life?  What if, for an instantaneously brief moment, that rock paused at the pinnacle, and Sisyphus simultaneously gazed across the universe and was able to grasp and comprehend the totality of God's creation (not unlike the Overview Effect)?

The ancient Stoics, while not astronauts, still aspired to achieve this view from above in their quest to become sages.  And while modern man has left the Earth's atmosphere and traveled our solar system, this spiritual exercise, for the post-modern human, is still worthy of practicing here on Earth - in a forest, or by a lake.  In a sense, it is not a memento mori practice, but rather a memento vivere practice!

Post-script quotes I found after this post was published.

From Seneca (source):

I often entertained the impulse of ending my life then and there; but the thought of my kind old father kept me back. For I reflected, not how bravely I had the power to die, but how little power he had to bear bravely the loss of me. And so I commanded myself to live. For sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.

From Einstein:

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.

Post-script January 8, 2020

I have just completed They Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus and I've just re-read this post and realized that Camus rejected 'the leap' which I had Sisyphus perform - the leap to faith and God.  So I guess that answers the question which category I fall under in Camus' mind!

I will also say, I understand, now, Camus' point that one must imagine Sisyphus happy.  It was just lost on me, when I read that passage, that one must imagine Sisyphus rejecting the leap to faith (i.e. rejecting illusion & delusion) and embracing fully and lucidly that the universe is absurd and remain happy.  It's almost as if he defiantly stands firm, shakes his fists to ... I guess nothing ... and carries on with himself as his own audience.  I think I comprehend that, but don't think it fits with my own delusion.  What I'm most appreciative of is someone, besides me, sees how absurd the world and universe are.

I have felt the vibration of my life; I've felt the goodness and timelessness of virtue and my directing mind chooses to strive for it, even if it is brief in duration and sparse in repetition.

What rings truer (than Camus) to me is this passage from Marcus Aurelius:

"The Whole is either a god - then all is well: or if purposeless - some sort of random arrangement of atoms or molecules - you should not be without purpose yourself." (Book 9.28)

If there can be some semblance of order and purpose and I can find it within myself, then I should choose that path.