Stoic Week 2015 - Day 3

7:02AM

For this morining they have really great quote:

People look for retreats for themselves, in the country, by the coast, or in the hills; and you too are especially inclined to feel this desire. But this is altogether un-philosophical, when it is possible for you to retreat into yourself at any time you want. There is nowhere that a person can find a more peaceful and trouble-free retreat than in his own mind, especially if he has within himself the kind of thoughts that let him dip into them and so at once gain complete ease of mind; and by ease of mind, I mean nothing but having one’s own mind in good order. So constantly give yourself this retreat and renew yourself. You should have to hand concise and fundamental principles, which will be enough, as soon as you encounter them, to cleanse you from all distress and send you back without resentment at the activities to which you return.

– Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 3.6

This seems to be very similar to the mindfulness meditation, in which you can easy calm yourself, examine your thoughts and accept that they will pass, they they are not really what you are. They arise, they pass.

On the other hand, stoics seems to say, that you can get rid of bad thoughts by trying to be ones best, to accept (bad) stuff as something one can not control (if that's the case). But, of course, that does not mean that they do not do anything at all. They try their best even with stuff that is not fully under their control, but they are not devastated when it ain't working, because they prepared themselves for the possibility of things going all wrong.

Which is very nice, but I better like mindfulness (or maybe budhist?) meditation as it gives me more oportunity to explore my mind, and is not driving me to some moral role in society. (Well, that's at least how I feel about stoicism. Might be wrong.)

7:55PM

Just reading today's Lunchtime excerice, and Ain't that funny?, they are comparing stoicism to Budhist's mindfulness.

Then they say we should examine our thoughts, emotions, desires and etc. Are they within our powers? We should as well accept that they are not reality, just impressions and we can distance ourselves from them.

I like that.

In words of Epitecus, It is not the things themselves that disturb people but their judgements about those things. Similar to midfulness: I am not my thoughts; they come, they pass.

And one more great advice from the excercise: postbone reactions to troubling situations.

Get rid of the judgement and you have got rid of the idea. ‘I have been harmed’; get rid of the idea, ‘I have been harmed’, and you have got rid of the harm itself.

– Meditations, 4.7

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