Wednesday, June 30, 2021

The Serenity of a Cheerful Mind

The Meditations
The Meditations 
We, however must escape to freedom. But this is only possible if we are indifferent to Fortune. Then we shall attain that one overriding blessing -- the serenity and exaltation of a firmly anchored mind. For when error is banished, we shall have the great and satisfying joy that comes from the discovery of truth, plus a kind disposition and cheerfulness of mind.
- Seneca, On the Happy Life, IV.



Marcus Aurelius
was steeped in the thoughts of the Greek and Roman stoics who, starting with Zeno, focused on the search for a firm support for the moral life. "How should I live?" was the great and overriding question for them. Following on from Zeno, Epictetus, and Seneca, Marcus Aurelius portrayed in his Meditations the idea that the importance of philosophical inquiry lay in its significance for the moral life. He said, “Always think of the universe as one living organism with a single substance and a single soul.” This leads to the basic Stoic perception that “there is a law which governs the course of nature and should govern human actions.”(Meditations, p 73)

Marcus Aurelius emphasizes several other themes in his notes on life known as the Meditations. Among them are the tenets that underlie the stoic philosophy that he learned from his teachers including a discussion of the importance of your duty both to your own nature and that of the whole universe. It is with these tenets in mind that we see him telling us to accept what is beyond our control (5.8) in his expression of the notion that freedom for man is possible only when he is indifferent to the his fate as decreed by nature. This is consistent with the view of Epictetus in his Enchiridion. Both emphasize that this in the sense that the we are all a part of the whole of nature and recognition of that is necessary to achieve the good. The good which is always the moral good.

The importance of this is seldom clearer than when Aurelius notes the importance of focusing on the present, the "task at hand" if you will by exercising dispassionate justice in the following way:

"Vacating your mind from all its other thoughts. And you will achieve this vacation if you perform each action as if it were the last of your life: freed, that is, from all lack of aim, from all passion-led deviation from the ordinance of reason, from pretense, from love of self, from dissatisfaction with what fate has dealt you." (2.5)

It is acting like this, not in any morbid sense, but with a cheerfulness of mind, as described in the quote from Seneca above, that you will achieve the tranquility of being that is the ultimate form of happiness. But there is more than happiness in Stoicism and honestly that is not the primary goal of the stoic life.



6 comments:

mudpuddle said...

i studied Zen pretty intensely for several years... it's remarkable how closely the tenets of Aurelius and the Stoics parallel some of the Zen precepts...

James said...

mudpuddle,
That is somewhat surprising but undeniably true. The stoic mantra is often similar to Zen in many ways.

Cleo said...

What did you personally think of the book? Did Aurelius' thoughts and ideas resonate with you? I have it coming up soon (hopefully) this year and I'm quite looking forward to it!

Kathy's Corner said...

Hi James, I agree with both you and Mudpuddle there is a similarity between the Stoics and Buddhism, clearing one's mind of worries about past and present and just being here in the now and seeing the world and oneself as one integrated organism. I am not saying it well but both of these ways of living can give people alot of peace in these troubled times.

James said...

Cleo,
Yes, many of his thoughts and ideas resonated, especially his emphasis on a reliance on your reason. He relates a goal-oriented nature for man including the importance of having a aim that is in accordance with your nature as a human being. He hearkens back to Socrates' emphasis on examining one's life while also recommending to always act in a just way. There are many other thoughts that will encourage you to reflect on the way you live your life, and perhaps meditate on them.

James said...

Kathy,
Thanks for your observation. While the similarities with Buddhism are undeniable, there are a wealth of other ideas touched upon in The Meditations that are worthy of reflection even in our modern world.