The Experience of Life, Pursuing Joy, Thinking, and Appreciating Art
Monday Muse (August 7th, 2023)
Greetings Readers!
Here is the latest Monday Muse with a morning meditation, perennial reminder, question, and recommendation(s) to consider.
Be wise and be well this week!
📿 Morning Meditation
This week’s morning meditation is courtesy of The Wisdom School podcast (Apple or Spotify). Today’s meditation is a short selected reading (delivered in a Lectio Divina style) inspired by the Dhammapada (an ancient Buddhist text) by The Buddha.
📌 Perennial Reminder(s)
The free person, by contrast, pursues only the good and does so directly, not because he is avoiding the bad. He is pursuing joy, not dodging sadness. Spinoza illustrates this with a culinary example. “The sick man, from timidity regarding death, eats what he is repelled by, whereas the healthy man enjoys his food, and in this way enjoys life better than if he feared death and directly desired to avoid it.”
The same principle that governs the healthy person’s enjoyment of food applies to the free person’s striving for perseverance. He is not fleeing death but delighting in the strength of his own power and his relationship to God or Nature. His rational self-esteem is a joyful appreciation of what he is, what he can do, and the life he is leading.
Source: Think Least of Death by Steven Nadler (Listen to the conversation)
💡 Perennial Question(s)
Are you thinking for yourself?
Emerson taught that pain, loss, suffering, and conflict are teachers and guides in disguise, crucial for our awakening; and that nonconformity, inconsistency, introversion, stubbornness, quirkiness, and a “little wickedness” are beneficial virtues for self-realization. Following the crowd is a mistake, and changing your mind is a very good thing. These were eye-opening insights for me, opposed to everything I had been taught. The idea that we are spiritual beings first, personalities second, that no real separation exists between human life and God, cast a sacred light on existence that I had never seen before.
Source: Lessons from an American Stoic by Mark Matousek (an upcoming podcast guest on In Search of Wisdom)
🔥 Recommendation(s)
This week’s recommendation is a book by Carolyn Schlam titled The Joy of Art: How to Look at, appreciate, and Talk About Art. “Generally speaking,” explains Schlam, “art is a heightened form of communication. It arises out of the consciousness of an artist who has an intention to express something felt or thought or both.” I have found it to be a great introduction to exploring and appreciating art!
🎧 Recent Podcast(s)
Thank you for reading/listening; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
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