Look at everything that exists, and observe that it is
already in dissolution and in change, and as it were putrefaction or
dispersion, or that everything is so constituted by nature as to die.
—Marcus
Aurelius, Meditations, Book 10.18 (tr
Long)
For many
people, the thought that everything ceases to be, and is already at this very
moment ceasing to be, can be quite disturbing. For the Stoic, this thought can
rather be quite comforting. To see things coming in and out of existence allows
us to understand them within the context of the whole, and to appreciate that
the Universe is unfolding exactly as it should.
Nothing will
seem too terrible, or, just as dangerous for me, too attractive, if I remember
that it is only here for a time. All that frightens me, or all that is luring
me in, is changing as I perceive it. I am changing as I perceive it. Do I feel
that it is going to do me some harm? I should not fret, because it will soon be
gone. Do I feel that I must possess it? I should not be so eager, because it
will soon be gone. The pain will have its end, just as the pleasure will have
its end.
This puts everything in a proper
perspective, and, if rightly understood, can be a great source of serenity and
contentment. Nothing is so great as to be unbearable or overwhelming, because
time is already catching up to it.
My great-grandmother liked to say,
“This too shall pass!”
In high school, I would often mull
over the phrase, “Sic transit Gloria mundi.” Thus passes the glory of the
world.
In college, I enjoyed the story
about how the victorious Roman generals were paraded in triumph through the
streets of the city, but as the crowd praised them, a slave would always be whispering
in the great man’s ear, “Respice
post te. Hominem te esse memento. Memento mori!” Look behind
you. Remember that you are a mortal. Remember that you must die!
I will only find that disturbing if
I have my priorities out of order, if I somehow wish to define myself by
passing pleasures, possessions, or honors. I will only fear impermanence if I
think it important that I be permanent. I will only be disgusted by death and
decay if I continue to see it as an evil, and not as a necessary aspect of
Nature, the very condition for rebirth.
If I have my head on straight, and I
am keeping my eyes focused on what is good and beautiful, I will only find this
comforting.
Written in 2/2009
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