Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 10.18

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