Michael Leunig 67

Michael Leunig 66

 

Michael Leunig 65

Michael Leunig 64

How Is Your Heart?

"How Is Your Heart?" 

Charles Bukowski (1920-1994) 

During my worst times on the park benches, in the jails, or living with whores, I always had this certain contentment— I wouldn't call it happiness— it was more of an inner balance that settled for whatever was occurring and it helped in the factories and when relationships went wrong with the girls. It helped through the wars, and the hangovers, the back alley fights, the hospitals. To awaken in a cheap room in a strange city and pull up the shade— this was the craziest kind of contentment. And to walk across the floor to an old dresser with a cracked mirror— see myself, ugly, grinning at it all. What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.

Stobaeus on Stoic Ethics 11

Consistently with this, the Stoics hold also that the wise man acts with good sense, and dialectically and sympotically and erotically; but the erotic man is so called in two senses, the one who is virtuous and gets his quality from virtue, and the one who is blamed, who gets his quality from vice—a sort of sex fiend. . . . 

And being worthy of sexual love means the same as being worthy of friendship, and not the same as being worthy of being enjoyed; for he who is worthy of virtuous sexual love is properly worthy of sexual love. 

They understand virtue exercised at a symposium as similar to virtue in sexual matters, the one being knowledge that is concerned with what is appropriate at a symposium, namely, of how one should run symposia and how one should drink at them; and the other is knowledge of how to hunt for talented young boys, which encourages them to virtuous knowledge, and in general, knowledge of proper sexual activity. 

That is why they say that the sensible man will engage in sexual activity. And sexual activity just by itself is an indifferent, since at times it also occurs among base men. But sexual love is not desire, nor is it directed at any base object, but is an effort to gain friendship resulting from the appearance of beauty. 

Buckaroo Banzai

I have an entire essay, written some years ago, about how Buckaroo Banzai, one of the weirdest of cult films, has remained a steady anchor in my life. 

I fear the reflection insists upon itself too much, as they say, so I will not ask you to suffer through it. 

Instead, I simply offer you the scene from the end credits, where my favorite characters, all of them complete genius freaks, go for a little walk. 

These are the sorts of friends I always wanted to have. . . . 

Proverbs 1:20-33

[20] Wisdom cries aloud in the street;
in the markets she raises her voice;
[21] on the top of the walls she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
[22] "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?
[23] Give heed to my reproof;
behold, I will pour out my thoughts to you;
I will make my words known to you.
[24] Because I have called and you refused to listen,
have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,
[25] and you have ignored all my counsel
and would have none of my reproof,
[26] I also will laugh at your calamity;
I will mock when panic strikes you,
[27] when panic strikes you like a storm,
and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
[28] Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;
they will seek me diligently but will not find me.
[29] Because they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord,
[30] would have none of my counsel,
and despised all my reproof,
[31] therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way
and be sated with their own devices.
[32] For the simple are killed by their turning away,
and the complacence of fools destroys them;
[33] but he who listens to me will dwell secure
and will be at ease, without dread of evil." 

IMAGE: Icon of Holy Wisdom, Vologda (16th century) 

Seneca, Moral Letters 72.2

Nevertheless, I ought to accomplish something even on days like these—days which are fully employed, and indeed from morning until night. For there is never a moment when fresh employments will not come along; we sow them, and for this reason several spring up from one. 
 
Then, too, we keep adjourning our own cases, saying: "As soon as I am done with this, I shall settle down to hard work," or: "If I ever set this troublesome matter in order, I shall devote myself to study." 
 
But the study of philosophy is not to be postponed until you have leisure; everything else is to be neglected in order that we may attend to philosophy, for no amount of time is long enough for it, even though our lives be prolonged from boyhood to the uttermost bounds of time allotted to man. 
 
It makes little difference whether you leave philosophy out altogether or study it intermittently; for it does not stay as it was when you dropped it, but, because its continuity has been broken, it goes back to the position in which it was at the beginning, like things which fly apart when they are stretched taut. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 72 
 
I’m afraid I quickly lose friends whenever I dare to say this, but the sad fact is that we think it makes us look important to always be busy, and most of what we consider to be critical work is entirely unnecessary. This is hardly a modern problem, because Seneca knew it just as well. 
 
For every minute spent achieving something good, an hour is wasted to attend a meeting or to fill out the paperwork. Unless you are very fortunate, your workplace probably has a dozen folks who do nothing, while one fellow picks up the slack. I endure it at the college, I observe it at any construction site, and I dread it at the DMV. 
 
Even when I am occupied with a routine duty, I make a point to focus on the meaning and the value of my worldly efforts, however humble or mundane they may be. Philosophy is always with me, not with the awe of profound contemplation, but with the immediate comfort of a driving purpose, a way to keep me sane during a long day. 
 
By all means, put a roof over your head and food on the table, yet remain constantly aware of how accumulating ever more wealth and status is not an excuse for ignoring philosophy. They tell you to slave away for the whole week, and then maybe recharge for a bit on the weekend, when the best way to arouse the soul is to understand, from the get-go, why life is worth living. Philosophy will do that for you, not your paycheck. 
 
Philosophy must be present in the proccess of the whole, not merely given occasional lip service. In the business world, they warn us not to “drop the ball”, though it is far more important not to interrupt the flow of mindfulness, for once we lose the force of conviction, it’s awfully hard to start it up again. There should always be pauses in the work of the day, though there should never be pauses in our self-awareness. 
 
Since philosophy is actually the highest priority, providing the very measure of benefit and harm to everything else, she must be attended to right now, not tomorrow. In claiming otherwise, the busybody has already assumed certain values, even as he has obviously not arrived at them through any sound reasoning. He is flying blind. 

—Reflection written in 9/2013 

The Art of Peace 110

The Divine does not like to be shut up in a building. The Divine likes to be out in the open. 

It is right here in this very body. Each one of us is a miniature Universe, a living shrine. 

Seneca, Moral Letters 72.1

Letter 72: On business as the enemy of philosophy
 
The subject concerning which you question me was once clear to my mind, and required no thought, so thoroughly had I mastered it. But I have not tested my memory of it for some time, and therefore it does not readily come back to me. 
 
I feel that I have suffered the fate of a book whose rolls have stuck together by disuse; my mind needs to be unrolled, and whatever has been stored away there ought to be examined from time to time, so that it may be ready for use when occasion demands. 
 
Let us therefore put this subject off for the present; for it demands much labor and much care. As soon as I can hope to stay for any length of time in the same place, I shall then take your question in hand. 
 
For there are certain subjects about which you can write even while travelling in a gig, and there are also subjects which need a study-chair, and quiet, and seclusion. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 72 
 
Since we no longer have copies of the letters from Lucilius, I can only speculate on the original inquiry here, though it still offers the perfect segue into a reflection on keeping our knowledge fresh and vital. 
 
I have been a voracious reader since I was a young pup, and yet I am familiar with that dreadful feeling of slowly forgetting so much of what I had once understood. If it is indeed a good book, I must return to it regularly, refreshing my appreciation for its truth and its beauty, reveling in every tiny detail, so it may again inspire me to live with enthusiasm. 
 
All knowledge is like that, for it will atrophy as soon as we cease to apply it. While most will assume that philosophy is a luxury for idle intellectuals, an abstract theory to be left behind when returning to the real world, Seneca stands firm with the perennial common sense that wisdom is perfected in daily practice. 
 
What use is that old guitar, gathering dust in the back of your closet, the one you bought in hopes becoming a rock god? What use is that noble education, wasting away in the back of your brain, now that you crunch numbers and lick the boss’s boots? Instead of being an escape from the world, philosophy, properly conceived, is your very guide to the world. 
 
One of the difficulties with philosophy, however, is that she does demand your complete loyalty, and she doesn’t take kindly to being neglected in favor of your menial tasks. There is the sort of thinking you can do while you are busy with your chores, and then there is the sort of thinking you can only do in serene concentration. 
 
Now while the world will tell to put your career first, and any quest for wisdom second, Nature will always firmly remind you to get your priorities in order. Philosophy informs absolutely every judgment you make, and so she should always remain your true love—being a rich man will be pointless if you are not first a good man. To be soundly principled is to be genuinely pragmatic. 

—Reflection written in 9/2013 

Sayings of Ramakrishna 255

Sin, like quicksilver, can never be kept concealed. 

When a man takes calomel, sooner or later it is sure to show itself in the shape of eruptions on the skin. 

Seneca, Moral Letters 71.14

That which is short of perfection must necessarily be unsteady, at one time progressing, at another slipping or growing faint; and it will surely slip back unless it keeps struggling ahead; for if a man slackens at all in zeal and faithful application, he must retrograde. No one can resume his progress at the point where he left off. 
 
Therefore, let us press on and persevere. There remains much more of the road than we have put behind us; but the greater part of progress is the desire to progress. I fully understand what this task is. It is a thing which I desire, and I desire it with all my heart. I see that you also have been aroused and are hastening with great zeal towards infinite beauty. 
 
Let us, then, hasten; only on these terms will life be a boon to us; otherwise, there is delay, and indeed disgraceful delay, while we busy ourselves with revolting things. Let us see to it that all time belongs to us. 
 
This, however, cannot be unless first of all our own selves begin to belong to us. And when will it be our privilege to despise both kinds of fortune? When will it be our privilege, after all the passions have been subdued and brought under our own control, to utter the words "I have conquered!"? 
 
Do you ask me whom I have conquered? Neither the Persians, nor the far-off Medes, nor any warlike race that lies beyond the Dahae; not these, but greed, ambition, and the fear of death that has conquered the conquerors of the world. Farewell. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 71 

 
I have a weakness for an old 1990’s film starring Bill Murray, called What About Bob? It contains his trademark humor, with just a touch of dark comedy, and I find myself squirming whenever I watch it, much as I do from the painful shenanigans of Fawlty Towers. 
 
Yet what has stuck with me most over the years is a far more serious lesson: while Dr. Leo Marvin is an arrogant self-promoter, he has inadvertently stumbled across the wisdom of “baby steps”. 
 
To this day, whenever I am faced with a challenge that seems insurmountable, the phrase “baby steps” pops into my head. I can then laugh a little, which is of far greater help than I might think, and I can then also remember how just making it out the door is the first stage in managing the rest of my day. 
 
It’s silly, it’s hackneyed, but gosh darn it, it works. Break down the progress into manageable chunks, so that the whole does not appear as terrifying. When Seneca asks me to press on and to persevere, I need not feel intimidated by the vastness of the task. 
 
As much as I may fall back during those moments of weakness, the slightest bit of headway is a worthy achievement. A part of the trick involves a constant commitment to improvement, however slight, since maintaining a momentum keeps me from passively yielding to the prevailing wind. 
 
Once I stop being mindful, I have let my circumstances rule my actions, and a depth of consistency is more important here than a burst of intensity. 
 
Slowly but surely, my model for success in this life has shrunk drastically in its breadth, while it has grown substantially in its depth. It has long been clear that I will never become a bigwig or a wheeler-dealer, and that has probably been for the best, because it has cleared a path for what is truly significant.
 
Today, I intend to tame my resentment, and to offer kindness over callousness, and to apply a soothing balm for my grief. If I can address those little things, I have mastered myself. 

—Reflection written in 9/2013 

Sayings of Heraclitus 83

For what thought or wisdom have they? 

They follow the poets and take the crowd as their teacher, knowing not that there are many bad and few good. 

IMAGE: Aegidius Sadeler, Wisdom Conquers Ignorance (c. 1600) 

Stoic Snippets 252

Socrates used to call the opinions of the many by the name of Lamiae—bugbears to frighten children. 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 11.23 

Dhammapada 390

It advantages a Brahmana not a little if he holds his mind back from the pleasures of life; when all wish to injure has vanished, pain will cease. 

Seneca, Moral Letters 71.13

The matter can be imparted quickly and in very few words: 
 
"Virtue is the only good; at any rate there is no good without virtue; and virtue itself is situated in our nobler part, that is, the rational part." 
 
And what will this virtue be? A true and never-swerving judgment. For therefrom will spring all mental impulses, and by its agency every external appearance that stirs our impulses will be clarified. 
 
It will be in keeping with this judgment to judge all things that have been colored by virtue as goods, and as equal goods. 
 
Bodily goods are, to be sure, good for the body; but they are not absolutely good. There will indeed be some value in them; but they will possess no genuine merit, for they will differ greatly; some will be less, others greater. 
 
And we are constrained to acknowledge that there are great differences among the very followers of wisdom. 
 
One man has already made so much progress that he dares to raise his eyes and look Fortune in the face, but not persistently, for his eyes soon drop, dazzled by her overwhelming splendor; another has made so much progress that he is able to match glances with her—that is, unless he has already reached the summit and is full of confidence. 

—from Seneca, Moral Letters 71 
 
“But what about making money? Don’t I need to do that?”
 
You may stumble across a heap of cash, or you may spend your entire life begging on the street corner. In either case, it will have nothing to do with you, and everything to do with your circumstances. In either case, the value of whatever you happen to receive is measured by the content of your character. 
 
“But it will be okay if other people like me, right?” 
 
Perhaps you will be praised, and perhaps you will be scorned. Some of the worst people will die surrounded by a crowd of adoring fans, and some of the best people will die completely alone. How you choose to face such possibilities will determine your worth. In any event, none of it will matter one bit once you’re gone. 
 
“Come on now, you have to be more realistic!” 
 
What do you take to be most “real” in this world? There’s the rub! The greater things will give meaning and purpose to the lesser things. The Stoic looks at life from the top down, while the lemming looks at life from the bottom up. One man seeks on the inside, while another man grasps at the outside. 
 
It pains me to admit it, but I have not had a single problem that couldn’t have been addressed immediately by modifying my judgments about benefit and harm. What held me back, each and every time, was a failure to connect what I knew in theory to how I felt in practice, and a desperate hope that I could cling to the gratifying thing without doing the right thing. Virtue makes everything else better, while vice makes everything worse: the quicker I learn this basic rule, the closer I will come to peace of mind. 
 
Even as the pleasures of the body will increase or decrease, and I will always be apprehensive about losing them, the goods of the soul are already complete in their integrity, and they can never be taken away from me, as long as I choose to retain them. The grand deeds of the rich man are no greater than the humble deeds of the poor man, for total human excellence admit of no further improvement. 
 
Nevertheless, we approach this perfection in stages, such that some are more skilled than others at confronting the whims of Fortune with the constancy of their own virtues. I have now gained more practice in looking away, though I still struggle greatly with looking her directly in the face for more than a moment. I feel dizzy as she spins her wheel, but I am learning to keep my head. 

—Reflection written in 9/2013 

IMAGE: Hans Sebald Beham, Fortuna (c. 1641) 

Tidbits from Montaigne 66

He who remembers the evils he has undergone, and those that have threatened him, and the slight causes that have changed him from one state to another, prepares himself in that way for future changes and for recognizing his condition. 

The life of Caesar has no more to show us than our own; an emperor's or an ordinary man's, it is still a life subject to all human accidents. 

—Michel de Montaigne, Essays 3.13 

IMAGE: Karl von Piloty, The Murder of Caesar (1865) 

Epictetus, Golden Sayings 180

It is best to share with your attendants what is going forward, both in the labor of preparation and in the enjoyment of the feast itself. 

If such a thing be difficult at the time, recollect that you who are not weary are being served by those that are; you who are eating and drinking by those who do neither; you who are talking by those who are silent; you who are at ease by those who are under constraint. 

Thus no sudden wrath will betray you into unreasonable conduct, nor will you behave harshly by irritating another. 

IMAGE: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra (1744) 

Jacob Wrestling with the Angel 10

Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Jacob Wrestles with the Angel (1639)