Welcome to your Saturday Meditation — A weekly recap and reflection of ancient lessons for modern life. Below you’ll find notable quotes, transcript summaries, reading recommendations, and a question to ponder.
1. True and False Friendship with Seneca
On the Perennial Meditations podcast this week, we explored a selected reading of Seneca’s Letter titled On True and False Friendship (Listen here). Seneca wrote,
“If you consider any man a friend whom you do not trust as you trust yourself, you are mightily mistaken, and you do not sufficiently understand what true friendship means. Indeed, I would have you discuss everything with a friend; but first of all, discuss the man himself. When friendship is settled, you must trust; before friendship is formed, you must pass judgment.
Ponder for a long time whether you shall admit a given person to your friendship, but when you have decided to admit him, welcome him with all your heart and soul. Speak as boldly with him as with yourself.” […]
2. Three (More) Paradoxes of Life
In our Monday Meditation (The PATH), we reflected on three paradoxes of life (Read here). Specifically, the insights of Thinking, Silence, and Knowing Yourself.
Thinking — The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once said, “The thinker without a paradox is like a lover without a feeling.” Simply put, one could think of a paradox as a counterintuitive or seemingly contradictory insight. For example, Mother Teresa observed, "I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love." […]
Silence — Strangely, silence is a difficult skill to cultivate. The late Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh stressed, “What you need, what we all need, is silence.” Stranger still, silence is essential in everything — even music. […]
Knowing Yourself — The maxim “Know Thyself” was inscribed at the Oracle at Delphi, where Socrates was proclaimed the wisest in Athens. But is it possible to honestly know ourselves? How does one know if they have actually found themselves? […]
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