Epictetus, Discourses 1.5.3

Do you comprehend that you are awake?

 

“No,” he says, “no more than I comprehend it, when I seem to be awake in my dreams.”

 

Is there no difference then between the one sort of impression and the other?

 

“None.”

 

I know how easily I can allow myself to confuse fantasy and reality, having once spent a number of years convinced that the dreams I faced while asleep were more harmful to me than the exhaustion I faced while awake. 

 

The danger is in taking a mere impression for its own sake, and not looking to what it represents, to what stands behind it. 

 

No feeling exists in isolation, just as something cannot come from nothing, and wherever there are effects there must always be causes. Instead of doubting away the world, I am far better served by finding the order in what initially confuses me. 

 

Though Descartes would have it that impressions can deceive the mind, I would rather suggest that the mind deceives itself about impressions. Yes, it looks a certain way, and now I am called to understand how and why it looks that way, and what that can tell me about the meaning and purpose of the world in which I am quite clearly immersed.

 

In other words, our errors lie in our judgments about things, and they are not resolved by rejecting the immediate presence of things. 

 

Perception is always a relationship between the knower and the known, such that one can never be artificially divorced from the other. Is it that the world is unintelligible, or rather that I have refused to be open to its intelligibility? The problem is usually that I want or expect things to be a certain way, and so I assume they must be broken if they are not working as I wish. 

 

How often, for example, I have foolishly thrown away the tool, when I simply wasn’t using it correctly. 

 

The very fact that I can already distinguish between waking and sleeping, or between what is and what seems, tells me that I have a context and a frame of reference to work from. The point is not in how vivid or forceful an impression is, but rather in reflecting on the reasons it would come across in the way that it does. 

 

Doubt can be liberating, and does not need to be crippling, whenever we work to lift the veil instead of getting all tangled up in it. The prisoners in Plato’s Cave, and the characters in The Matrix, and all the people on the face of this Earth are presented with that challenge. 

Written in 12/2016 

Sayings of Ramakrishna 81

Little children play with dolls in a room apart just as they like, but as soon as their mother comes in they throw aside the dolls and run to her crying, "Mamma, Mamma!"

You also are now playing in this world deeply absorbed with the dolls of wealth, honor, and fame, and have no fear or anxiety. But if you once see the Divine Mother entering in, you will not find pleasure any more in wealth, honor, and fame. Leaving off all these you will run to Her. 

Vanitas 39

 

Gerhart Altzenbach, Memento Mori (c. 1673)

Epictetus, Discourses 1.5.2

Now there are two ways in which a man may be thus hardened: one when his reasoning faculty is petrified, and the other when his moral sense is petrified, and he sets himself deliberately not to assent to manifest arguments, and not to abandon what conflicts with them. 

 

Now most of us fear the deadening of the body and would take all possible means to avoid such a calamity, yet we take no heed of the deadening of the mind and the spirit. 

 

When the mind itself is in such a state that a man can follow nothing and understand nothing, we do indeed think that he is in a bad condition; yet, if a man's sense of shame and self-respect is deadened, we even go so far as to call him “a strong man”.

 

There can come a point where I might get terribly confused by all the brightness and the noise, not knowing up from down, and that can lead me to momentarily forget the calm and proper order of reasoning. 

 

There can also come a point where my mind is slow and creaky from being neglected for too long, and it will take me some time to kick it back into shape. 

 

That is very different, however, from deliberately choosing to be obtuse, for the express sake of avoiding the reality of what I do not prefer. 

 

Almost without exception, whenever I have been burdened with extreme doubt, it has had less to do with my inability to understand, and more to do with my unwillingness to understand. 

 

I perversely work backwards, starting with my immediate selfish wants, and then making up excuses to justify my conclusions. As Fulton Sheen so nicely put it, I make myself the measure, instead of a thing measured. 

 

I can’t speak for everyone else in the world, but I do know that I will become a skeptic and a relativist when it is most convenient, not when there is some insurmountable mental obstacle. My problem is moral, not intellectual. 

 

Once I suspected that a weak will was the problem, instead of a weak mind, I was surprised to find how much more easily I could also appeal to others. 

 

“Now are you saying that because you don’t get it, or actually because you won’t get it?”

 

People can become remarkably open when you are brutally honest, sincere but firm. That is often a sign of genuine caring. 

 

Yes, befuddled thoughts can be a problem, though they aren’t our biggest problem. Self-absorbed wishes are a far bigger problem, and they can only be fixed from the inside out. 

 

To say that someone is “strong” is actually a rather neutral and indifferent thing. Strong in what? Strong for what? Strength in ignorance and obstinance is not so good; strength in openness and compassion is quite a bit better. 

Written in 12/2016

Stoic Snippets 70

In one respect man is the nearest thing to me, so far as I must do good to men and endure them. 

But so far as some men make themselves obstacles to my proper acts, man becomes to me one of the things which are indifferent, no less than the sun or wind or a wild beast.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.20

Wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita 31

21. What has been called Unmanifested and Imperishable, has been described as the Goal Supreme. That is My highest state, having attained which, there is no return.

22. And that Supreme Purusha is attainable, O son of Prithâ, by whole-souled devotion to Him alone, in Whom all beings dwell, and by Whom all this is pervaded.

23. Now I shall tell you, O bull of the Bhâratas, of the path traveling in which the Yogis return, and again of that, taking which they do not return.

24. Fire, flame, day-time, the bright fortnight, the six months of the Northern passage of the sun, taking this path, the knowers of Brahman go to Brahman.

25. Smoke, night-time, the dark fortnight, the six months of the Southern passage of the sun—taking this path the Yogi, attaining the lunar light, returns.

26. Truly are these bright and dark paths of the world considered eternal: one leads to non-return; by the other, one returns.

27. No Yogi, O son of Prithâ, is deluded after knowing these paths. Therefore, O Arjuna, be you steadfast in Yoga, at all times.

28. Whatever meritorious effect is declared in the Scriptures to accrue from the study of the Vedas, the performance of Yajnas, the practice of austerities and gifts—above all this rises the Yogi, having known this, and attains to the primeval, supreme Abode.

—Bhagavad Gita, 8:21-28

Dhammapada 119

Even an evil-doer sees happiness as long as his evil deed has not ripened; but when his evil deed has ripened, then does the evil-doer see evil.

Epictetus, Discourses 1.5.1

Chapter 5: Against followers of the Academy. 
 
If a man, says Epictetus, objects to what is manifestly clear, it is not easy to find an argument against him, whereby one shall change his mind. 
 
And this is not because of his power, nor because of the weakness of him that is instructing him; but, when a man, worsted in argument, becomes hardened like a stone, how can one reason with him anymore?
 
When I was in graduate school, I feebly struggled my way through a dissertation on the problem of skepticism in the history of philosophy. This brief chapter from Epictetus was my original inspiration, though I was told that I wouldn’t be able to “sell” myself on the job market if I wrote about the Stoics. I worked from Thomas Aquinas and Thomas Reid instead, though the attitudes of realism and common sense will be much the same, wherever you may find them. 
 
I must always resist the temptation to get lost in the details here, so it helps me to just express the problem in the simplest way I can. 
 
For all of our abstract reflections and profound noodling, there are certain obvious facts of experience that form the very basis of our awareness. Euclid understood this, when he started with definitions, postulates, and axioms that were necessary for thinking about geometry. 
 
There is a great danger in being so enamored of constant “demonstration” that we forget how arguments cannot regress to infinity, and that we need to begin with self-evident first principles. 
 
There is, similarly, a big difference between doubting in order to arrive at the truth, and doubting in order to deny that there is any such thing as the truth to begin with. 
 
So many philosophers, and so many thinkers of any sort, get caught up in needing to prove what doesn’t need to be proven, and therefore in denying what is manifestly given. The problem isn’t merely academic, since it results in the extreme forms of skepticism, subjectivism, and relativism that are so trendy in post-modern life. 
 
“How could you possibly know that? It all depends on your opinion. Who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong?”
 
What can one even begin to do with someone who withdraws into this sort of mental prison? Is there anything that can be said to help open a closed mind? 
 
Over the years, the members of Plato’s Academy succumbed to this weakness of crippling uncertainty, and they would raise their heads into the clouds, while forgetting that they still needed to have their feet firmly planted on the ground. 
 
The extreme skeptic may well seem as immovable as a stubborn mule. It’s not that he isn’t able to move, it’s just that he doesn’t want to.

Written in 12/2016

Wisdom from the Early Cynics, Antisthenes 7

And he used to taunt Plato with being conceited. 

At all events when in a procession he spied a spirited charger he said, turning to Plato, "It seems to me that you would have made just such a proud, showy steed." This because Plato was constantly praising horses. 

And one day he visited Plato, who was ill, and seeing the basin into which Plato had vomited, remarked, "The bile I see, but not the pride."

—Diogenes Laërtius, 6.7

Wisdom from the Early Stoics, Zeno of Citium 31

There are, as stated by Diogenes in his treatise on Language and by Chrysippus, five parts of speech: proper name, common noun, verb, conjunction, article. To these Antipater in his work On Words and their Meaning adds another part, the "mean."

A common noun or appellative is defined by Diogenes as part of a sentence signifying a common quality, e.g. man, horse; whereas a name is a part of speech expressing a quality peculiar to an individual, e.g. Diogenes, Socrates. 

A verb is, according to Diogenes, a part of speech signifying an isolated predicate, or, as others define it, an undeclined part of a sentence, signifying something that can be attached to one or more subjects, e.g. "I write," "I speak." 

A conjunction is an indeclinable part of speech, binding the various parts of a statement together; and an article is a declinable part of speech, distinguishing the genders and numbers of nouns, e.g. ὁ, ἡ, τό, οἱ, αἱ, τά.

—Diogenes Laërtius, 7.58

Sayings of Ramakrishna 80

So long as the bee is outside the petals of the lotus, and has not tasted its honey, it hovers round the flower, emitting its buzzing sound; but when it is inside the flower, it drinks its nectar noiselessly. 

So long as a man quarrels and disputes about doctrines and dogmas, he has not tasted the nectar of true faith; when he has tasted it he becomes still.

Fractals 11

Seneca, Moral Letters 9.13

You may say: "What then? If yonder man, rich by base means, and yonder man, lord of many but slave of more, shall call themselves happy, will their own opinion make them happy?" 

 

It matters not what one says, but what one feels; also, not how one feels on one particular day, but how one feels at all times. 

 

There is no reason, however, why you should fear that this great privilege will fall into unworthy hands; only the wise man is pleased with his own. Folly is ever troubled with weariness of itself. Farewell.

 

I regularly notice certain sorts of people who like to insist upon themselves, drawing our attention to how completely happy they are. Since I know how much I struggle, I am tempted to feel both jealous and resentful. Since I wonder if I’m getting it right, I am tempted to imitate their confidence. Since I lack the worldly successes they revere, I am tempted to pay more attention to such external trappings. 

 

My worry, of course, is entirely of my own making, and I should attend to the business of improving myself, instead of envying anyone else. If they are truly content, I should feel glad for them, but if they are simply playing a game, I should want no part in it. 

 

Happiness is not in what we might say, or in the image we are able to present. Happiness is not in what we might possess, or in the number of our followers. Happiness is rather measured by the peace within our minds and hearts, and that will only follow from a life lived with understanding and love. 

 

If he gains his riches by treading on his neighbors, or if she elevates herself by pandering to others, I am right to suspect that something is amiss. I do not know what is going on in their deepest thoughts and feelings, but I do know that their words and deeds don’t appear to match. 

 

Talk, after all, is fairly cheap when it is separated from sincere character. I know from my own failures that I am likely to shout all the louder as I grow more anxious and uncertain; it is very easy to protest too much. 

 

The words won’t cut it, and the quick bursts of elation won’t cut it. True happiness becomes like a constant companion to the soul, present regardless of what is said, and it is something that stands firm through whatever may come or go. 

 

In this sense, it has much in common with being a true friend. 

 

I do not need to fret that the selfish or grasping people will somehow run away with all the happiness. What they think and do has no power to affect what I think and do, and they are already far too busy with their other frustrations and longings. 

Written in 5/2012

The Old Man and Death

Joesph Wright, The Old Man and Death (1774)

Stoic Snippets 69

Things themselves touch not the soul, not in the least degree; nor have they admission to the soul, nor can they turn or move the soul: but the soul turns and moves itself alone, and whatever judgments it may think proper to make, such it makes for itself the things which present themselves to it. 

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.19

Michael Leunig 19

Seneca, Moral Letters 9.12

But you must not think that our school alone can utter noble words; Epicurus himself, the reviler of Stilpo, spoke similar language; put it down to my credit, though I have already wiped out my debt for the present day. He says: "Whoever does not regard what he has as most ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the whole world." 

 

Or, if the following seems to you a more suitable phrase—for we must try to render the meaning and not the mere words: "A man may rule the world and still be unhappy, if he does not feel that he is supremely happy."

 

In order, however, that you may know that these sentiments are universal, suggested, of course, by Nature, you will find in one of the comic poets this verse:

 

“Unblest is he who thinks himself unblest.”

 

For what does your condition matter, if it is bad in your own eyes?

 

Whatever is given to me, or not given to me, is not what will make me happy; it is my own estimation of whatever is given to me, or not given to me, that will allow me to be happy. 

 

I sometimes see people assume that Stoicism demands being poor in body, or even deliberately denying ourselves any luxuries of life. Each person must learn to distinguish within himself what he needs and what he wants, but the key is to never measure oneself by the presence or absence of anything external, and to never seek or avoid any such conditions for their own sake. 

 

I might be in poverty or in plenty, and still be content with myself. As soon as I chase after one or run away from the other, I am now at their beck and call, and my contentment is now beyond my power. 

 

Perhaps I repeat it too often, but the repetition does help me to build a habit of sound thinking: I have known good people who happened to be rich or poor, but I have never known anyone who was good because he was rich or poor. 

 

The merit, and therefore the happiness, are in the free disposition of the soul. 

 

I occasionally enjoy playing a little mental exercise, where I consider some legendary figures, known for their great successes or failures, and ask myself if they would still be happy or miserable if their circumstances were turned around. 

 

Sisyphus was punished by the gods for his pride, doomed to roll a boulder uphill for all eternity. Let’s say instead that he did finally make his way to the top of the hill: was the boulder the actual source of his misery, or would his shifty soul still have burdened him? 

 

A friend once offered this similar example: Was the defeat at Waterloo and the exile at St. Helena what broke Napoleon, or would he have died a broken man in any event, even if he lived to a ripe old age, still the Emperor of the French, and surrounded by his grand retinue? 

 

In Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, would Raskolnikov have been a happier man if he had gotten away with the murder, or was his own confession and imprisonment a necessary part of his redemption?

 

Imagine if George Bailey rushed home after learning that his life had indeed made a difference, to find only the bank examiners and the sheriff waiting for him, and he is carted off to jail. His friends have not gathered or raised any money to support him. Is that still “a wonderful life”? 

 

The blessings and the curses come from the inside, not from the outside. 

Written in 5/2012

Sayings of Socrates 53

Antisthenes in his Successions of Philosophers, and Plato in his Apology, say that there were three accusers, Anytus, Lycon and Meletus; that Anytus was roused to anger on behalf of the craftsmen and politicians, Lycon on behalf of the rhetoricians, Meletus of the poets, all three of which classes had felt the lash of Socrates. 

Favorinus in the first book of his Memorabilia declares that the speech of Polycrates against Socrates is not authentic; for he mentions the rebuilding of the walls by Conon, which did not take place till six years after the death of Socrates. And this is the case.

—Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 2.39

Dhammapada 118

If a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him delight in it: happiness is the outcome of good.

Seneca, Moral Letters 9.11

We marvel at certain animals because they can pass through fire and suffer no bodily harm; but how much more marvelous is a man who has marched forth unhurt and unscathed through fire and sword and devastation! 

 

Do you understand now how much easier it is to conquer a whole tribe than to conquer one man? 

 

This saying of Stilpo makes common ground with Stoicism; the Stoic also can carry his goods unimpaired through cities that have been burned to ashes; for he is self-sufficient. Such are the bounds which he sets to his own happiness.

 

As a child, I was a bit disappointed to learn that salamanders were not actually invulnerable to fire, but I do not need to turn to the stuff of legends to experience the incredible resilience of so many of Nature’s creatures. 

 

Close to home, my old tabby, Jack, has already used up his nine lives many times over. He’s a wiry little fellow, seemingly impervious to fear, never hesitant to defend his turf from possums or raccoons, regardless of whether he is outsized or outnumbered. He deftly escapes from the most dangerous dilemmas, and whenever he is injured or sick, he will never utter a sound of complaint. 

 

If he were human, I would say that he is the bravest and most constant fellow I have ever met. It may seem silly to some, but there have been many times where I find inspiration by reminding myself that if Jack can overcome all of his obstacles, then so can I. 

 

It isn’t in his brawn, or even in his wits, but in his attitude, a sort of animal equivalent to human character. Similarly, I do not have a powerful body, and I will often be slow on the uptake, and I certainly don’t have a vast reservoir of worldly influence to get my way. Still, I know I have it within me to never let myself be conquered. 

 

Yes, there are many things that people have taken from me, and there are many more that they could still take from me, and yet unless my mind and will are destroyed, which would effectively be the end of me, I can remain the captain of my soul. 

 

It may seem impossible to carry certain burdens, or to live with such great pain, and yet I have found, when I do have my head screwed on right, that my very thinking, if it is committed and sincere, will determine what I am able to handle. It is my own sense of meaning and value that shapes my priorities, and so if I do not think it important, I will not suffer its loss. 

 

When I choose to define my happiness by what is within the limits of my own self, then I can find peace within myself, regardless of the circumstances. Only the free surrender of my mind and will can make defeat possible. 

 

Jack is getting on in years, and I don’t know which of us will go first, but if it’s him, I have no doubt that he will point the way for me with his usual mettle. 

Written in 5/2012