Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.13

I am composed of the formal and the material; and neither of them will perish into non-existence, as neither of them came into existence out of non-existence.

Every part of me then will be reduced by change into some part of the Universe, and that again will change into another part of the Universe, and so on forever.

And by consequence of such a change I too exist, and those who begot me, and so on for ever in the other direction. For nothing hinders us from saying so, even if the Universe is administered according to definite periods of revolution.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 5 (tr Long)

The stress upon the unity of all things in Stoicism has always spoken to me, especially because we all too readily slide into the completely opposite direction of highlighting division and difference. The many are only possible through the measure of the one, and distinctions are only possible through the measure of what is shared.

This passage helps me to remember that the unity of all things is not only for this moment, but binds together all moments. It surrounds me here and now, and also passes forward and backwards, into all that was and all that will be.

Stoic principles can admit of many different perspectives on the structure of the physical Universe, or on the essence of the Divine, or on human immortality. Whatever specific views we might hold, however, Stoicism will always insist that nothing ever completely begins or completely ceases, because everything that changes proceeds from something else, and then into something else.

In this sense, I can know that who I am, the active principle of having a certain identity, and what I am made of, the passive principle of the matter out of which I am composed, does not merely come to an end. Both of these principles continue, even as they are transformed into different states.

My own attempts at understanding and practicing Stoicism have been private for most of my life, largely because so much of what Stoicism speaks to for me is so deeply personal. At the same time, however, I am also careful about discussing Stoic thinking with others because of the responses it can elicit.

Some will assume that Stoicism is like a cult or organized religion, which is hardly the case. Others will assume that Stoic principles necessarily contradict certain things they might already believe in.

I have been told that Stoic are atheists, even though the entire tradition has always had a central place for the Divine and for Providence, and is compatible with a wide range of theistic views. I have been told that Stoics are materialists, though this usually considers the definition of matter far more narrowly than the Stoics did. I have been told that Stoics are determinists, yet the Stoics always understood that human freedom does not contradict fate, but rather exists completely within it.

I have also been told that Stoics don’t believe in the immortality of the soul, and so a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Hindu, for instance, couldn’t possibly accept anything Stoic.

Now read the above passage again, and recognize that Marcus Aurelius is clearly saying that everything about who I am will never cease, both in matter and in form. Again, Stoicism is a broad philosophy, and can accommodate a variety of interpretations, and exist within other traditions, and it only insists here that there will always be a “me”, though necessarily changed in some fundamental way. We can always say more about how that may take place, but I suggest that the Stoic will leave those specifics to you.

The unity of all things necessarily tells me that there is also a continuity to all things, and the unity of all things also tells me never to assume conflict and disagreement where there can be balance and harmony. 

Written in 5/2006

IMAGE: M.C. Escher, Gravitation (1952)