Much unrest, anxiety and unease in the world today due to the ongoing Covid 19 pandemic, the events in the US capital, and apprehension about the future.
The Stoic philosophers can contribute much to helping modern people navigate turbulent times. Three of its most prominent ancient representatives come from diverse backgrounds. Epicetus (d. 135 CE) was a Greek slave, Marcus Aurelius (d. 180 CE) was a Roman emperor, and Seneca (d. 65 CE) was a Roman politician. Each drew on something very important and one of the most important insights from Marcus Aurelius influenced CBT or at the very least is very similar to it.
Marcus Aurelius said famously that it is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them. This is a profound quote and one that we will all have to contemplate in our minds. We may resist the truism of this quote in times of great distress, but, actually, this is profoundly accurate. Often events happen outside of our control and in this age of social media we are accustomed to feeling as though we need to somehow be disturbed or disrupted by them. Or even events in our own lives can rock and destabilize us. However, the height of conscious agency is to realize that the thoughts we form about those events and the narratives we create are just that - thoughts and narratives. Consequently, we need to cultivate the habit of being self-critical and not assume that our narratives of the event is useful especially if it disrupts our interior tranquility.
In fact, interior tranquility and freedom is the goal of Stoic philosophy (and I would add psychology). When our inner tranquility is challenged in some way, we need to step back and consider the source of that discord. That discord may be because we are not living in a way that is integrated and we may feel we lack integrity. In this case we need to take steps to become more integrated. Here, the Stoics do support a certain degree of asceticism both in terms of intellectual asceticism, emotional asceticism, and lifestyle asceticism. This kind of detachment is difficult but it is the way to become spiritually free. In this regard, one can see congruence between Stoicism and Buddhism.
But Stoicism also clearly influenced many forms of Christian spirituality and certainly monasticism.
Take time, therefore, to drink deeply and hear the muses of this ancient wisdom.
The Stoic philosophers can contribute much to helping modern people navigate turbulent times. Three of its most prominent ancient representatives come from diverse backgrounds. Epicetus (d. 135 CE) was a Greek slave, Marcus Aurelius (d. 180 CE) was a Roman emperor, and Seneca (d. 65 CE) was a Roman politician. Each drew on something very important and one of the most important insights from Marcus Aurelius influenced CBT or at the very least is very similar to it.
Marcus Aurelius said famously that it is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them. This is a profound quote and one that we will all have to contemplate in our minds. We may resist the truism of this quote in times of great distress, but, actually, this is profoundly accurate. Often events happen outside of our control and in this age of social media we are accustomed to feeling as though we need to somehow be disturbed or disrupted by them. Or even events in our own lives can rock and destabilize us. However, the height of conscious agency is to realize that the thoughts we form about those events and the narratives we create are just that - thoughts and narratives. Consequently, we need to cultivate the habit of being self-critical and not assume that our narratives of the event is useful especially if it disrupts our interior tranquility.
In fact, interior tranquility and freedom is the goal of Stoic philosophy (and I would add psychology). When our inner tranquility is challenged in some way, we need to step back and consider the source of that discord. That discord may be because we are not living in a way that is integrated and we may feel we lack integrity. In this case we need to take steps to become more integrated. Here, the Stoics do support a certain degree of asceticism both in terms of intellectual asceticism, emotional asceticism, and lifestyle asceticism. This kind of detachment is difficult but it is the way to become spiritually free. In this regard, one can see congruence between Stoicism and Buddhism.
But Stoicism also clearly influenced many forms of Christian spirituality and certainly monasticism.
Take time, therefore, to drink deeply and hear the muses of this ancient wisdom.
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