Building upon many years of privately shared thoughts on the real benefits of Stoic Philosophy, Liam Milburn eventually published a selection of Stoic passages that had helped him to live well. They were accompanied by some of his own personal reflections. This blog hopes to continue his mission of encouraging the wisdom of Stoicism in the exercise of everyday life. All the reflections are taken from his notes, from late 1992 to early 2017.
Reflections
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Primary Sources
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Saturday, July 7, 2018
Stoicism and Buddhism
I was raised as a Roman Catholic, as all good hybrids of Ireland and Austria should be. It remains the faith of my fathers, and it remains my own faith. It will stand.
I also had the good fortune of being raised by people who were interested in a universal sense of human piety and decency, not in tribalism or narrow dogmatism. I was encouraged to learn about Hinduism and Taoism, for example, because my family never thought that this would hinder my search for a good life.
Yet I always struggled with understanding Buddhism. This was never because of its content, but because I never knew quite where to begin. I felt that I had long neglected one of the greatest sources of human wisdom. It took me many years to even get started.
An online friend recently suggested the following link as a place for the beginner:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/
Making sense of the Buddhist Scriptures can be a daunting task. The Pali Canon may seem quite intimidating. It doesn't need to be, because some people would like to help us understand it.
Stoicism helped me from my own background, and there is no reason we can't also be helped by a wisdom from any background. Not only do the Stoic and the Buddhist have so very much in common, but all men of good will have so very much in common.
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