The Secret to the Good Life - According to Marcus Aurelius
Saturday Review | Notes, Takeaways, and Reflection (4-10 Sep)
Welcome to the Perennial Meditations (Saturday Review) — A weekly recap and reflection of ancient lessons for modern life. Below you’ll find notable quotes, transcript summaries, and a Saturday Meditation.
1. The Perils of Crowds (Listen here)
Seneca stressed to Luciulius:
“To consort with the crowd is harmful; there is no person who does not make some vice attractive to us, or stamp it upon us, or taint us unconsciously therewith. Certainly, the greater the mob with which we mingle, the greater the danger.” […]
2. Three (More) Perennial Habits (Read here)
In our Monday Meditation (The PATH), we reflected on perennial habits from Stoic philosophy. Specifically — the dichotomy of control, the view from above, and memento mori.
The dichotomy of control — Epictetus said, “Some things are within our power, and some things are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever affairs are our own.”
The view from above — The Platonists, Epicureans, and Stoics all discovered this “exercise of imagination,” referred to as taking a cosmic view from above. The point of the exercise is to put into proper perspective the issues of daily life.
Memento mori — “We die every day, for every day some part of life is taken from us. Even when we are still growing, our life is shrinking,” wrote Seneca in a letter to Lucilius.
3. How to Keep Your Cool - Like Seneca (Read here)
In his essay, On Anger, Seneca explained,
Anger is a short madness: for it is equally devoid of self-control, regardless of decorum, forgetful of kinship, obstinately engrossed in whatever it begins to do, deaf to reason and advice, excited by trifling causes, awkward at perceiving what is true and just, and like a falling rock which breaks itself to pieces upon the very thing which it crushes.
4. Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind (Listen here)
In this episode, my guest is Shaila Catherine, the author of Beyond Distraction: Five Practical Ways to Focus the Mind. Shaila is a renowned meditation teacher and author of three books on concentration and insight meditation. You can learn more about Shaila’s work at shailacatherine.com.
In the conversation, Shaila and I discuss:
Focus and concentration
Content of thoughts and the process of thinking
We explore five practical ways to work with your mind
The wisdom of contemplation and much more
5. Seeing Yourself Beyond Time (Read here)
The present is an infinitely small point in time where the nonexistent past meets the imminent future. “At this point, which is timeless,” observed the writer Leo Tolstoy, “a person’s real life exists.”
Tolstoy is not alone in stressing the need to focus on the present moment. In a letter titled On the Shortness of Life, Seneca urges us to realize:
“The greatest impediment to living is expectancy, which relies on tomorrow and wastes today. You map out what is in fortune’s hand but let slip what’s in your own hand.”
What does it actually mean to say the past does not exist? […]
6. How to Get Over Yourself (Listen here)
How do you see your place in the world? The late Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh suggested, “When you ask the question, ‘Who am I?’ — if you have enough time and concentration — you may find some surprising answers.”
The philosopher Nic Bommarito (a previous podcast guest) writes in Seeing Clearly: A Buddhist Guide to Life,
The heart of Buddhism, if there is such a thing, is recalibrating how we relate to ourselves and to the world. It’s about confronting unpleasant realities directly, with an attitude of problem-solving. It’s about acknowledging these things and, rather than living in denial, forging a way of life in light of them.
But how does one begin to get over themselves? […]
7. Saturday Meditation — The Secret to the Good Life
How much clarity do you have on the path to the good life? Do you know what is required for the journey? Thankfully we don’t need to figure out all of these answers alone. We have one another and the people that have come before us. In On the Happy Life, Seneca advised that we look to those who have already traveled the path before starting out on any venture.
The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius is someone we can turn to for insights on the good life. His Meditations (or personal diary) provides an inside look at his philosophy of life. Take a moment to reflect on this passage:
“If you carry out every present task by following right reason assiduously, resolutely, and with kindness; if, rather than getting distracted by irrelevancies, you keep your guardian spirit unspoiled and steady, as though you had to surrender it at any moment; if you engage with the task not with expectations or evasions, but satisfied if your current performance is in accord with nature and if what you say and express is spoken with true Roman honesty, you’ll be living the good life. And there’s no one who can stop you from doing so!” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 3.12
Although living the good life may not always be easy — it is always within our control. As Marcus Aurelius said, “The fruit of this life is a good character and acts for the common good.” We are wise to look to others for wisdom and insights on the good life. But we are also wise to remember that we alone must walk the path.
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,