So the wise man will develop virtue, if he may, in the midst of wealth, or, if not, in poverty; if possible, in his own country—if not, in exile; if possible, as a commander—if not, as a common soldier; if possible, in sound health—if not, enfeebled.
Whatever fortune he finds, he will accomplish therefrom something noteworthy.
Animal tamers are unerring; they take the most savage animals, which may well terrify those who encounter them, and subdue them to the will of man; not content with having driven out their ferocity, they even tame them so that they dwell in the same abode.
The trainer puts his hand into the lion’s mouth; the tiger is kissed by his keeper. The tiny Aethiopian orders the elephant to sink down on its knees, or to walk the rope.
Similarly, the wise man is a skilled hand at taming evils. Pain, want, disgrace, imprisonment, exile—these are universally to be feared; but when they encounter the wise man, they are tamed. Farewell.
Whatever fortune he finds, he will accomplish therefrom something noteworthy.
Animal tamers are unerring; they take the most savage animals, which may well terrify those who encounter them, and subdue them to the will of man; not content with having driven out their ferocity, they even tame them so that they dwell in the same abode.
The trainer puts his hand into the lion’s mouth; the tiger is kissed by his keeper. The tiny Aethiopian orders the elephant to sink down on its knees, or to walk the rope.
Similarly, the wise man is a skilled hand at taming evils. Pain, want, disgrace, imprisonment, exile—these are universally to be feared; but when they encounter the wise man, they are tamed. Farewell.
—from Seneca, Moral Letters 85
But doesn’t there have to be some limit, a bare minimum of conditions for me to work with? How can I be expected to bear such an intensity of hardship and suffering? There must surely be a point when it all becomes too much.
In the depths of despair, I cannot blame anyone for thinking and feeling this way. I have been there myself, and I know very well how those impressions will frantically rush about, or they will firmly attach themselves in the most inauspicious of places.
Yet I also know how quickly we can underestimate the strength of our understanding to bring meaning and purpose to even the fiercest of emotions. Ironically, I find the trick to not be in applying more brute force, but rather in yielding to an inner calm.
It is an illusion to believe that a happy life demands more money, or greater authority, or even better health. Take both their presence and their absence as matters of indifference, in the total awareness that they can never define the dignity of our choices. I have often been at my best when everything else seemed to fall apart, and I have often been at my worst when the perks seemed to fall into my lap. It was estimation that made all the difference.
Apply, rinse, and repeat: change the measures, and you change the outcomes. Once I no longer care so much for the accidents, I can finally get to work on the essence.
It is hard enough for me to live in a precarious equilibrium with my headstrong tomcat, so I don’t foresee any animal training in my future.; I am content when he is being himself, and he is content when I am scratching his head. Nevertheless, the analogy is fitting, because the appetitive, however savage or intimidating, calls out for the guidance of the rational, however gentle or modest. Serenity is ultimately about taming those lions, tigers, and bears running around inside of our souls.
Those pesky syllogisms can only be of some use when they aid us in forming our daily habits, which, in turn, allow us to become our own masters. When I cry out in fear and distress over the circumstances, it is a sign that I have not yet come to fully know myself.
But doesn’t there have to be some limit, a bare minimum of conditions for me to work with? How can I be expected to bear such an intensity of hardship and suffering? There must surely be a point when it all becomes too much.
In the depths of despair, I cannot blame anyone for thinking and feeling this way. I have been there myself, and I know very well how those impressions will frantically rush about, or they will firmly attach themselves in the most inauspicious of places.
Yet I also know how quickly we can underestimate the strength of our understanding to bring meaning and purpose to even the fiercest of emotions. Ironically, I find the trick to not be in applying more brute force, but rather in yielding to an inner calm.
It is an illusion to believe that a happy life demands more money, or greater authority, or even better health. Take both their presence and their absence as matters of indifference, in the total awareness that they can never define the dignity of our choices. I have often been at my best when everything else seemed to fall apart, and I have often been at my worst when the perks seemed to fall into my lap. It was estimation that made all the difference.
Apply, rinse, and repeat: change the measures, and you change the outcomes. Once I no longer care so much for the accidents, I can finally get to work on the essence.
It is hard enough for me to live in a precarious equilibrium with my headstrong tomcat, so I don’t foresee any animal training in my future.; I am content when he is being himself, and he is content when I am scratching his head. Nevertheless, the analogy is fitting, because the appetitive, however savage or intimidating, calls out for the guidance of the rational, however gentle or modest. Serenity is ultimately about taming those lions, tigers, and bears running around inside of our souls.
Those pesky syllogisms can only be of some use when they aid us in forming our daily habits, which, in turn, allow us to become our own masters. When I cry out in fear and distress over the circumstances, it is a sign that I have not yet come to fully know myself.
—Reflection written in 1/2014
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