Musonius Rufus, Lectures 6.5

Now there are two kinds of training, one which is appropriate for the soul alone, and the other which is common to both soul and body. We use the training common to both when we discipline ourselves to cold, heat, thirst, hunger, meager rations, hard beds, avoidance of pleasures, and patience under suffering.

For by these things and others like them the body is strengthened and becomes capable of enduring hardship, sturdy and ready for any task; the soul too is strengthened since it is trained for courage by patience under hardship and for self-control by abstinence from pleasures.

Far too often they tell my to fix my head, or to fix my body, but they will rarely tell me to improve both together.

I once had a coach who told me that the way to run my best mile was just to constantly run; he never once suggested how my thinking could help me to do that.

I once had a confessor who told that the way to avoid lust was just to think about pure thoughts; he never once suggested how taming my own passions could help me to do that.

I have also had doctors of both sorts. Some insist that I must eat well, or take a brisk walk every day, or consume my pills as prescribed, and then everything will be fine. Others insist that I will be cured by having a better attitude, or by looking at the bright side, or by wishing wellness for myself. Both are right broadly, while both are also wrong narrowly. I will rarely find anyone telling me to do both.

For all the ways we publicly preach a holistic sense of the person, we are still remarkably dualist in our attitudes. Put the mind over here, and put the body over there. It took me many years to bring them together, having somehow forgotten that they were made to be as one.

When working in social services, I have seen two major school of how to deal with addicts. One crowd says they are ready for further treatment only when they have an awareness of hitting rock bottom, of knowing the waste in their lives. The other crowd says they are ready for further treatment only when they have gone through a sufficient detox, when the drugs have been flushed from their systems.

I found myself confused. “Don’t they need both before they can get better?”

“Don’t be an idiot. We get them into rehab however we can. We fill the beds.”

“Do we help them in rehab if they aren’t ready?”

“Shut up and process the files.”

The virtue of temperance, of a mastery over my desires, is a perfect example of this struggle. I can make all sorts of decisions about putting my life back into my own control, but that alone doesn’t work. I can also physically steel myself to temptations, but that alone doesn’t work. No, the former must rule the latter. The change comes from all of it, not from a part of it.

A discipline of both mind and body are necessary to tame the beast. Stop thinking filthy thoughts, and at the same time stop being affected by filthy things. Mental habits are joined to physical habits.

The virtue of fortitude, of a mastery over my own fear, is a very close second. I can be quite brave in my intentions, but that alone doesn’t work. I can also physically make myself strong, but that alone doesn’t work. No, the former must rule the latter. The change comes from all of it, not from a part of it.

A discipline of both mind and body are necessary to no longer be a coward. Stop thinking about the weight of the hurt, and at the same time stop feeling the hurt to begin with. Mental habits are joined to physical habits.

Even the virtues of prudence and justice require the value of action to go with the value of principle. There will no understanding without a discipline of the senses. There will be no fairness without a discipline of the hands. Mental habits require physical habits.

Our family regularly jokes about our “First World problems”, yet it is hardly a joke. How often has my mind given way to a hardship, simply because my body is not accustomed to the suffering? How often have the habits of my soul been weakened by the habits of my flesh?

“I’m starving!” No, I am not starving at all. I may feel hunger, but I am not starving.

“I’m dying of thirst!” No, I am not dying of thirst. I may feel thirsty, but I am not dying.

“I can’t resist her!” Of course I can resist her. I may feel longing, but I still have my judgment.

Train the body to bear something, and this will help the mind and the will to bear something. Is it hot? Is it cold? First accustom the hands to both fire and ice, and the soul will find it so much easier.

Written in 7/1999