Epicurus says, “In my sickness my conversation was not about
my bodily sufferings, nor,” says he, “did I talk on such subjects to those who
visited me; but I continued to discourse on the nature of things as before,
keeping to this main point, how the mind, while participating in such movements
as go on in the poor flesh, shall be free from perturbations and maintain its
proper good.”
“Nor did I,” he says, “give the physicians an opportunity of
putting on solemn looks, as if they were doing something great, but my life
went on well and happily.”
Do, then, the same that he did both in sickness, if you are
sick, and in any other circumstances. For never to desert philosophy in any
events that may befall us, nor to hold trifling talks either with an ignorant
man or with one unacquainted with Nature, is a principle of all schools of
philosophy; but to be intent only on that which you are now doing and on the
instrument by which you do it.
—Marcus
Aurelius, Meditations, Book 9.41 (tr
Long)
How absolutely
wonderful!
Philosophers of
different schools often seem to find great pleasure in bickering with one
another about the pettiest of distinctions. In fact, philosophers of the very
same school seem to do this even more, condemning those who should be their dearest
friends, with all the spite they can muster.
What does that
tell us about their real values, and their real intentions?
Yet here we
have Marcus Aurelius, a follower of the school of Stoicism, finding merit in
the words of Epicurus, the founder of Stoicism’s greatest rival school. The man
shows that he is truly a man, not a posturing ideologue; truth is truth,
wherever it may be found, and charity is charity, whoever we may meet. I find
that example deeply inspiring.
Marcus Aurelius
and Epicurus may disagree on the order and priority of virtue and pleasure, or
on the specific forces by which Nature operates, but they find common ground on
how the good life will be able to rise above all the diversions of
circumstance.
What may come
my way? I may feel taken down by pain, or lifted up by pleasure, or concerned
with my health and appearance, or anxious about my possessions, or in fear of
my enemies, or desperate to satisfy my friends. Different situations will come to
me at different times, in new and surprising ways, often when least expected. One
impression after another will dance before me, and each will exert a pull on my
attention.
What may I be
tempted to do? I may wish to reach out and define myself by each of these
events. I may want to make absolutely everything about what is merely
something, using those that I consider convenient as a means to glorify myself,
and those that I consider inconvenient as a means to cast blame on the world.
Sometimes I will try to brag and strut about, and sometimes I will try to complain
and play the victim. I may want to be a player, but I am really only letting
myself be played.
What should I
actually be doing? I should be accepting the things that happen to me for what
they are, however beneficial or harmful they may appear, and direct my efforts
to the purpose of what I, in turn, can choose to do. Anything right or wrong in
it will only follow from my own understanding of what is true and my own love
of what is good. I will only be confused or led astray by what I decide is
important. A focused mind will live with suffering, and disease, and poverty, and
loneliness, and pettiness, but it will not be determined by these states.
Please do not
confuse this with any sort of heartless or dismissive toughness; it is rather a
peace and tranquility that comes from being able to distinguish what is more
important from what is less important.
Though we may
hardly notice it if we wander into the halls of academia, philosophy is a far
more noble, uplifting, and absolutely necessary vocation than merely presenting
an image, or manipulating conditions, or coming across as the victor in some
conflict. What all true philosophers share in common is also what all good
people share in common, an absolute dedication to living well above all else,
never permitting lower distractions from interfering with this higher calling.
Written in 12/2008
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