Storm on the Sea 34

Theodore Gudin, Rough Sea at the Entrance to the Port (1839) 

Ruins 24

Heinrich Meichelt, Rötteln Castle Ruins (1827) 

Memento Mori 17

Hermione von Preuschen, Mors Imperator (1887) 

Vanitas 102

Hendrick Andriessen, Vanitas (c. 1640) 

Chuang Tzu 6.14

Yen Hui said, "I am making progress." 

Kung-nì replied, "What do you mean?" 

"I have ceased to think of benevolence and righteousness," was the reply. 

"Very well; but that is not enough." 

Another day, Hui again saw Kung-nì, and said, "I am making progress." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I have lost all thought of ceremonies and music." 

"Very well, but that is not enough." 

A third day, Hui again saw the Master, and said, "I am making progress." 

"What do you mean?" 

"I sit and forget everything." 

Kung-nì changed countenance, and said, "What do you mean by saying that you sit and forget everything?" 

Yen Hui replied, "My connection with the body and its parts is dissolved; my perceptive organs are discarded. Thus leaving my material form, and bidding farewell to my knowledge, I am become one with the Great Pervader. This I call sitting and forgetting all things." 

Kung-nì said, "One with that Pervader, you are free from all likings; so transformed, you are become impermanent. You have, indeed, become superior to me! I must ask leave to follow in your steps." 

IMAGE: Georges Seurat, Peasant Boy Sitting in a Meadow (1883) 

Epictetus, Discourses 2.15.5

“If you force me to this, I would fain die.” 
 
Why, man, what has happened? 
 
“I have decided.” 
 
Lucky for me that you have not decided to kill me. 
 
“I do not take fees.” 
 
Why? 
 
“I have decided." 

 
Let me tell you that the same energy with which you now refuse to take fees may incline you one day (what is to prevent it?) to take them and to say again, “I have decided.” 
 
Just as in an ailing body, which suffers from a flux, the flux inclines now to this part and now to that, so it is with a weak mind: no one can tell which way it sways, but when this swaying and drift has energy to back it, then the mischief becomes past help and remedy. 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.15 

 
I can recall so many times when the people around me were being obstinate, and so many more when I was the one who wouldn’t give an inch, that reliving those petty struggles fills me with disgust. Was I the one who started it, or did I justify myself on only being the one who would finish it? Does it even matter? Any hope for progress is lost at that moment when I can’t bear to confess my error. 
 
We laugh when children hold their breaths in protest, and yet the adults do much the same, just in more refined and cunning ways. I have engaged in battles with men in suits that never moved beyond the immaturity of the playground, and I have traded “I love you’s” as if they were no more than tokens for bragging rights. We put on such a show because we have abandoned any measure beyond our own pride. 
 
Here is a fine lesson I wish I had learned much earlier: if you are looking for the fellow who is acting in good faith, find the one who is perfectly happy to lose face. He is working from a far higher standard. 
 
I get so frustrated with others when they remain stubborn, and I feel so ashamed of myself when I remain stubborn. To dwell on this is itself another form of stubbornness, of clinging to what should be left in the past, so I will refrain from any further examples, however instructive or humorous they may be.
 
Now you would think that insistent people would never change their minds, taking their pledges to the grave, and yet they are just as likely to stand their ground for a mere day as they are for an entire decade. As Epictetus observes, the strength of their commitment proceeds from the intensity of an immediate passion, not from any grounding in a timeless truth, so there is really no way to predict where things might stand tomorrow. How tiring such a life becomes! 
 
In order to avoid the exhausting back-and-forth, the constant waffling that comes from confusing a preference with a principle, it is best to look before we leap, to seek out a certainty in our judgments. If this means going slow, then so be it. Take the small steps before making the bigger ones. Don’t allow the impulsive folks to drag you along. 
 
Despite all of this, mistakes will still be made, and the trick is then to transform those blunders into a means for self-improvement. A man can never learn to be right if he can never admit that he was wrong. 

—Reflection written in 9/2001 

Vivekachudamani 154-164

THE VESTURE FORMED OF FOOD 

The food-formed vesture is this body, which comes into being through food, which lives by food, which perishes without food. 

It is formed of cuticle, skin, flesh, blood, bone, water; this is not worthy to be the Self, eternally pure. 

The Self was before birth or death, and now is; how can it be born for the moment, fleeting, unstable of nature, not unified, inert, beheld like a jar? For the Self is the witness of all changes of form. 

The body has hands and feet, not the Self; though bodiless, yet because it is the Life, because its power is indestructible, it is controller, not controlled. 

Since the Self is witness of the body, its character, its acts, its states, therefore the Self must be of other nature than the body. 

A mass of wretchedness, clad in flesh, full of impurity and evil, how can this body be the knower? The Self is of other nature. 

Of this compound of skin, flesh, fat, bone, and water, the man of deluded mind thinks, "This is I"; but he who is possessed of judgment knows that his true Self is of other character, is nature transcendental. 

The mind of the dullard thinks of the body, "This is I"; he who is more learned thinks, "This is I," of the body and the separate self; but he who has attained discernment and is wise knows the true Self saying, "I am the Eternal." 

Therefore, O you of mind deluded, put away the thought that this body is the Self, this compound of skin, flesh, fat, bone, and water; discern the universal Self, the Eternal, changeless, and enjoy supreme peace. 

So long as the man of learning abandons not the thought, founded on delusion, that "This is I," regarding the unenduring body and its powers, so long there is no hope for his liberation, though he possess the knowledge of the Vedanta and its sciences. 

As you have no thought that "This is the Self," regarding the body's shadow, or the reflected form, or the body seen in dream, or the shape imagined in the mind, so let not this thought exist regarding the living body. 

The thought that the body is the Self, in the minds of men who discern not the real, is the seed from which spring birth and death and sorrow; therefore slay you this thought with strong effort, for when you have abandoned this thought the longing for rebirth will cease. 

Snippets from the Handbook 4

Make it your study then to confront every harsh impression with the words, "You are but an impression, and not at all what you seem to be." 

Then test it by those rules that you possess; and first by this—the chief test of all—"Is it concerned with what is in our power or with what is not in our power?" 

And if it is concerned with what is not in our power, be ready with the answer that it is nothing to you. 

—Epictetus, The Handbook 1 

Jottings on Marcus 6

Do wrong to yourself, do wrong to yourself, my soul; but you will no longer have the opportunity of honoring yourself.

 Every man's life is sufficient.

But yours is nearly finished, though your soul reverences not itself but places your felicity in the souls of others. 

—from Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 2.6 

I am slowly learning how a profound truth can be inspirational in theory, even as it may then become terrifying in practice. It really hits home once it starts to hurt. 

If you tell me how a man might waste his whole life on trivialities, I will nod my head knowingly. But when I finally confront my own indecision, I am filled with a sense of urgency. 

That panic will pass as soon as I commit to Nature over Fortune. Now. Not tomorrow. 

IMAGE: Anthony van Dyck, The Head of an Old Man (c. 1620) 

Udana 1.1

Thus have I heard. On a certain occasion the Exalted One, soon after the attainment of Buddhahood, dwelt at Uruvela, on the banks of the stream Neranjara, at the foot of the tree of Enlightenment. At that time the Exalted One, after remaining in a sitting posture for seven days, experienced the joy of Emancipation.

When the seven days had come to a close, the Exalted One arose from the state of trance and in the first watch of the night, thoroughly thought out the chain of cause and effect, in direct order, thus: "If there is this state, another state arises, by the arising of this state, a state is produced, that is to say:

"From Ignorance spring Conformations, from Conformations springs Consciousness, from Consciousness spring Mind and Material Form, from Mind and Material Form, the six Organs of Sense, from the six Organs of Sense, Contact, from Contact, Sensations, from Sensations, Desire, from Desire, Attachment, from Attachment, Being, from Being, Birth, from Birth spring Decay, Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Pain, Grief and Despair. Thus the whole mass of suffering originates." 

And the Exalted One in this connection, on that occasion, breathed forth this solemn utterance: 

"When the conditions of existence dawn upon the strenuous meditative Brahmana, 
When he understands the nature of cause and effect, 
Then all doubts depart." 

—all of the passages in this series are taken from the translation of the Udana by Dawsonne Melanchthon Strong (1902) 

Wisdom from the Early Cynics, Diogenes 44

On being asked what he had gained from philosophy, Diogenes replied, "This at least, if nothing else—to be prepared for every fortune." 

Asked where he came from, he said, "I am a citizen of the world." 

Certain parents were sacrificing to the gods, that a son might be born to them. "But," said Diogenes, "do you not sacrifice to ensure what manner of man he shall turn out to be?" 

When asked for a subscription towards a club, he said to the president: 

Despoil the rest; off Hector keep thy hands. 

The mistresses of kings he designated queens; for, said he, they make the kings do their bidding. 

When the Athenians gave Alexander the title of Dionysus, he said, "Me too you might make Sarapis." 

Someone having reproached him for going into dirty places, his reply was that the sun too visits cesspools without being defiled.

—Diogenes Laërtius, 6.63 

Wisdom from the Early Stoics, Zeno of Citium 84

It is also the Stoic doctrine that amongst the wise there should be a community of wives with free choice of partners, as Zeno says in his Republic and Chrysippus in his treatise On Government—and not only they, but also Diogenes the Cynic and Plato. 

Under such circumstances we shall feel paternal affection for all the children alike, and there will be an end of the jealousies arising from adultery. 

The best form of government they hold to be a mixture of democracy, kingship, and aristocracy, or the rule of the best. 

Such, then, are the statements they make in their ethical doctrines, with much more besides, together with their proper proofs: let this, however, suffice for a statement of them in a summary and elementary form. 

—Diogenes Laërtius, 7.131 

Sayings of Publilius Syrus 200

Put a bridle on your tongue, but at all hazards on your baser members. 

IMAGE: Hieronymus Bosch, Allegory of Intemperance (c. 1500) 

Epictetus, Discourses 2.15.4

Well, I had much ado to persuade that friend to change his mind. But it is impossible to move some of the men of today, so that I think that I know now what I did not know before, the meaning of the familiar saying, “A fool is not to be persuaded nor broken of his folly.” 
 
May it never be my lot to have for friend a wise fool: nothing is more difficult to handle. 
 
“I have decided.” 
 
So have the madmen, but the more firmly they persist in false judgements the more hellebore do they require. Will you not act as the sick man should, and call in the physician? 
 
As he says, “I am sick, master; help me: consider what I ought to do, it is for me to obey you”, so you should say, “I do not know what I ought to do, but I have come to learn.” 
 
Oh no, you say: “Talk to me about other things; this I have decided.” 
 
Other things indeed! What is greater or more to your advantage than that you should be convinced that it is not sufficient to have decided and to refuse all change of mind? This is the firmness of madness, not of health. 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.15 
 
I will often hear people reducing a poor decision to a mere lack of intelligence, with phrases such as “dumber than a box of rocks” or “you can’t fix stupid”. I have recently discovered how in the South, there can be nothing kinder, and also nothing more condescending, than exclaiming “Bless your heart!” 
 
Now I understand that we tend to use words casually, and that we should not split hairs over colloquialisms, but I will protest if someone hastily insists on equating folly with idiocy. While we are all gifted with different degrees of intellectual skills, and some of us are challenged by disabilities beyond our control, a man does not become good because his is a genius, or bad because he is a dunce—the difference arises from the depth of our deliberate concern, regardless of any IQ scores. 
 
Some of the best folks I have known were dismissed for being dull, and some of the worst folks I have known were celebrated for being clever. Whatever the mental capacity, it is a caring and humble attitude that builds genuine character, for anyone is able to form a sound judgment, within the limits of what nature has provided to him. The quickest or the flashiest solution is not necessarily the wisest or the most loving; slow and steady wins the race. 
 
No, I do not suffer a fool gladly, if by foolishness we mean a willful refusal to think with clarity and integrity. It isn’t that the fool can’t reason, but rather that he won’t reason, choosing to begin with his preferred conclusion, instead of arriving at an uncomfortable conclusion through his own hard deliberation. As the Thomist might say, one may cast blame for vincible ignorance, not for invincible ignorance. 
 
It is indeed a sort of madness when I close my mind to some inconvenient truth, though the insanity is something I freely invited, by making my immediate desire the final measure. However mortifying they felt, the most fruitful moments of my life were always the ones where I finally adapted my wants to fit my needs. I refused to talk it over while I was obdurate, and the fever only lifted once I made that painful admission: “I don’t know. Help me to work this out.” 
 
Don’t get caught up in being “smart” or “educated”, which is often no more than an excuse for being headstrong. An open mind will bend without breaking. 

—Reflection written in 9/2001 

IMAGE: Hieronymus Bosch, The Ship of Fools (c. 1500) 

Frippisms 7

If you wish to change the world, better first to know the world you wish to change. 

Maxims of Goethe 92

For the man of the world a collection of anecdotes and maxims is of the greatest value, if he knows how to intersperse the one in his conversation at fitting moments, and remember the other when a case arises for their application. 

Epictetus, Discourses 2.15.3

Will you not lay this foundation to begin with—that is, examine your decision and see whether it is sound or unsound, and then afterwards build on it your firmness and unshaken resolve? 
 
But if you lay a rotten and crumbling foundation you will not be able to build even a tiny building; the more courses and the stronger that you lay upon it the quicker will it collapse. 
 
You are removing from life without any reason our familiar friend, our fellow citizen in the great City and the small, and then, though you are guilty of murder and of killing one who has done no wrong, you say, “I must abide by my decisions.” 
 
If perchance it occurred to you to kill me, would you be bound to abide by your decisions? 

—from Epictetus, Discourses 2.15 
 
In what we like to call a “developed” country, I imagine that all of us have suffered under the dull inflexibility of a mindless bureaucracy. I repeatedly run across these three variations, which are common symptoms of the mulishness Epictetus describes: 
 
“I really don’t want to do this, but I’m afraid I have to.” 
 
Strictly speaking, you never have to do anything you don’t want to, but I suspect your real meaning to be that you can’t be bothered to reevaluate your priorities. If you truly believed it to be right, you would gladly change your tune. 
 
“These are the procedures. These are the rules. These are the best practices. My hands are tied.” 
 
I believe Emerson put it best: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” A law ought to be in service to the good of people, not the good of people in service to a law. As our understanding increases, our practices should be modified accordingly. 
 
“Unfortunately, the wheels are already in motion. There is no turning back.” 
 
I don’t think I have ever seen this one to be literally true. I was once deeply impressed by a fellow who intercepted a letter, after he had second thoughts about the contents of a recommendation. We are all capable of such concern and diligence. 
 
I am usually met with blank stares, or sometimes branded as a disturber of the peace, whenever I question the lazy assumptions behind a tired routine. However politely I point out how the house is built on sand, the stubborn man will take it as a personal insult, as it does not occur to him why a suggestion for improvement can be a mark of respect. 
 
A local contractor was recently taken to court over new homes already sinking into the ground. His defense was that the cost of repouring the foundations would have been too high—though surely not as high as the price he must now pay for his carelessness? He was more ashamed of being caught than he was of having done a poor job to begin with. 
 
I’m afraid Epictetus is not exaggerating when he says this can also be a matter of life and death. How many innocent men have been executed because a district attorney couldn’t admit he was wrong? How many livelihoods have been destroyed because a mogul refused to deviate from his master plan? You say it can’t be all that many, just a small minority? You would not say such a thing if you chose humility over pride, and if you loved virtue more than utility. 
 
There comes a critical point in our growth when a mistake is no longer something to be hidden away, but rather an opportunity to finally become responsible for ourselves. To admit the error of my thinking is a necessary step toward any progress; love regularly means having to say you’re sorry. 

—Reflection written in 9/2001 

Frippisms 6

The way we describe our world shows how we think of our world. 
How we think of our world governs how we interpret our world. 
How we interpret our world directs how we participate in the world. 
How we participate in the world shapes the world. 

Delphic Maxims 101

Ἁμαρτάνων μετανόει 

Repent of sins 

IMAGE: Gerard Seghers, Repentance of St. Peter (c. 1629) 

Frippisms 5

If we are divorced from the consequences of our actions, our actions are likely to be inappropriate. 
Perhaps dangerous. 
Perhaps disastrous.