Stoic Week 2015 Saturday Morning Reflection

Text for Morning Reflection: "Be like the headland on which the waves break constantly, which still stands firm while the foaming waters are put to rest around it. ‘It is my bad luck that this has happened to me!’ On the contrary, say, ‘It is my good luck that, although this has happened to me, I can bear it without getting upset, neither crushed by the present nor afraid of the future'."

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.49

Stoic Week 2015 Friday Evening Reflection

Text for Evening Reflection: "One type of person, whenever he does someone else a good turn, is quick in calculating the favour done to him. Another is not so quick to do this; but in himself he thinks about the other person as owing him something and is conscious of what he has done. A third is in a sense not even conscious of what he has done, but is like a vine which has produced grapes and looks for nothing more once it has produced its own fruit, like a horse which has run a race, a dog which has followed the scent, or a bee which has made its honey. A person who has done something good does not make a big fuss about it, but goes on to the next action, as a vine goes on to produce grapes again in season. So you should be one of those who do this without in a sense being aware of doing so.

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.6

Stoic Week 2015 Friday Morning Reflection

Text for Morning Reflection: "Say to yourself first thing in the morning: I shall meet with people who are meddling, ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, and unsociable. They are subject to these faults because of their ignorance of what is good and bad. But I have recognized the nature of the good and seen that it is the right, and the nature of the bad and seen that it is the wrong, and the nature of the wrongdoer himself, and seen that he is related to me, not because he has the same blood or seed, but because he shares in the same mind and portion of divinity. So I cannot be harmed by any of them, as no one will involve me in what is wrong. Nor can I be angry with my relative or hate him. We were born for cooperation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of upper and lower teeth. So to work against each other is contrary to nature; and resentment and rejection count as working against someone."

 — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.1

Anyone who knows me well has probably heard me recite at least part of this passage before; it is one of my favorite passages in the whole of the Meditations, and has been the only thing that seemed to help me get through some days that seemed hard because my perception of indifferents was flawed!

Stoic Week 2015 Thursday Evening Reflection

Text for Evening Reflection: "Every habit and faculty is formed or strengthened by the corresponding act — walking makes you walk better, running makes you a better runner. If you want to be literate, read, if you want to be a painter, paint. Go a month without reading, occupied with something else, and you’ll see what the result is. And if you’re laid up a mere ten days, when you get up and try to talk any distance, you’ll find your legs barely able to support you. So if you like doing something, do it regularly; if you don’t like doing something, make a habit of doing something different. The same goes for the affairs of the mind… So if you don’t want to be hot-tempered, don’t feed your temper, or multiply incidents of anger. Suppress the first impulse to be angry, then begin to count the days on which you don’t get angry. ‘I used to be angry every day, then only every other day, then every third…’ If you resist it a whole month, offer God a sacrifice, because the vice begins to weaken from day one, until it is wiped out altogether. ‘I didn’t lose my temper this day, or the next, and not for two, then three months in succession.’ If you can say that, you are now in excellent health, believe me."

 — Epictetus, Discourses, 2.18

Stoic Week 2015 Thursday Morning Reflection

Text for Morning Reflection: "If you find anything in human life better than justice, truthfulness, self-control, courage… turn to it with all your heart and enjoy the supreme good that you have found… but if you find all other things to be trivial and valueless in comparison with virtue give no room to anything else, since once you turn towards that and divert from your proper path, you will no longer be able without inner conflict to give the highest honour to that which is properly good. It is not right to set up as a rival to the rational and social good [virtue] anything alien its nature, such as the praise of the many or positions of power, wealth or enjoyment of pleasures."

 — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 3.6

Stoic Week 2015 Wednesday Evening Reflection

Texts for Evening Reflection: "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."
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.7

"All turns on judgement, and that is up to you. So when you want to do this, get rid of the judgement, and then, as though you had passed the headland, the sea will be calm and all will be still, and there won’t be a wave in the bay."
 — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 12.22

Stoic Week 2015 Wednesday Morning Reflection

Text for Morning Reflection: "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 unphilosophical, 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, 1.3.1-3

Stoic Week 2015 Tuesday Evening Reflection

Text for Evening Reflection:  "Try to persuade them; and act even against their will, whenever the principle of justice leads you to do so. But if someone uses force to resist you, change your approach to accepting it and not being hurt, and use the setback to express another virtue. Remember too that your motive was formed with reservation and that you were not aiming at the impossible. At what then? A motive formed with reservation. But you have achieved this; what we proposed to ourselves is actually happening."

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.50

Stoic Week 2015 Tuesday Morning Reflection

Text for Morning Reflection: "Early in the morning, when you are finding it hard to wake up, hold this thought in your mind: ‘I am getting up to do the work of a human being. Do I still resent it, if I am going out to do what I was born for and for which I was brought into the world? Or was I framed for this, to lie under the bedclothes and keep myself warm?’ ‘But this is more pleasant’. So were you born for pleasure: in general were you born for feeling or for affection? Don’t you see the plants, the little sparrows, the ants, the spiders, the bees doing their own work, and playing their part in making up an ordered world. And then are you unwilling to do the work of a human being? Won’t you run to do what is in line with your nature?"

 — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.1

Stoic Routine - Evening (from "The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy")

     From Donald Robertson's The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, more daily routines constructed as a modern approximation of the daily practice of Stoic philosophers:

"Evenings

1. Retrospection
     1.1. Mentally review the whole of the preceding day three times from beginning to end, and even the days before if necessary.
     1.1.1. Ask yourself what mistakes you made and condemn (not yourself but) what actions you did badly; do so in a moderate and rational manner.
     1.1.2. Ask yourself what virtue, that is, what strength or wisdom you showed, and sincerely praise yourself for what you did well.
     1.1.3. Ask yourself what could be done better, that is, what you should do instead next time if a similar situation occurs.
2. Relaxation
     2.1. Adopt an attitude of contentment and satisfaction with the day behind you. (As if you could die pleased with your life so far.) Relax your body and calm your mind so that your sleep is as tranquil and composed as possible; the preceding exercise will help you achieve a sense of satisfaction and also tire your mind."

Stoic Routine - Throughout the Day (From "The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy)

     A modern regimen based on ancient Stoic practice, from Donald Robertson's The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy:

"Throughout the day

1. Self-awareness. Continually bring your attention back to the use you are making of your mind, your mental activity in the here and now, during any given situation.
     1.1. Logic. Remember the difference between what is under your control and what is not, in any given moment. Separate your thoughts from the real facts. Stick to the facts and avoid using rhetoric to distort your own emotions. Remain objective. Question each impression that enters your mind, especially those that are accompanied by distress, asking yourself whether it is true or false, i.e. objectively true, or an emotive distortion of things. Remember what is under your control and what is not.
     1.2. Physics. Serenely accept the given moment as if you had chosen your own destiny, 'will your fate' after it has happened. Accept the hand which fate has dealt you. Trivialize trivial things. Contemplate the transience of material things, how things are made and then destroyed over time, and the temporary nature of pleasure, pain, and reputation. Think of the essence of things, and what they really are.
     1.3. Ethics. Take full responsibility for your own judgments and actions. Continually remind yourself to question each thought and ask whether it is true or false, healthy or unhealthy. Does each thought contribute to your long-term happiness and well-being, or not? Reject false or unhealthy impressions immediately, and replace them with more healthy and accurate ones. Pursue your own enlightened self-interest, seeking genuine well-being and happiness. Try to act as if you were already a sage. Recall your principles often and affirm them to yourself in a word, or a short phrase.
2. Oneness.
     2.1. Empathy. Contemplate the virtues of both your friends and your enemies. Empathize with everyone. Try to understand their motives and imagine what they are thinking. Praise even a spark of strength and wisdom and try to imitate what is good. Ask yourself what errors might cause those who offend you to act in such an inconsiderate, unhappy, or unenlightened manner. Love mankind, and wish your enemies to become so happy and enlightened that they cease to be your enemies.
     2.2. Cosmic consciousness. Think of yourself as part of the whole cosmos; indeed, imagine the whole of space and time as one and your place within it. Imagine that everything is interconnected and determined by the whole, and that you and other people are like individual cells within the body of the universe.

Stoic Routine - Mornings (From "The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy")

     A modern adaptation of the kind of daily regimen practiced by ancient Stoics, taken from Donald Robertson's The Philosophy of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy:

"Mornings

1. Meditation
     1.1. Take time to calm your mind and gather your thoughts before preparing for the day ahead.
     1.1.1. Be still and turn your attention inward, or isolate yourself from others and walk in silence in a pleasant and serene environment.
     1.1.2. The View from Above. Observe (or just imagine) the rising sun and the stars at daybreak, and think of the whole cosmos and your place within it.
2. Premeditation
     2.1. Mentally rehearse generic precepts, for example,
     2.1.1. "Follow nature," i.e., accept the here and now, and,
     2.1.2. "Make good use of your impressions," that is, monitor your thoughts and forcefully question their logic and objectivity where it is necessary to do so (Epictetus)
     2.2. Mentally rehearse any potential challenges of the day ahead, and the specific precepts required to cope wisely with them, perhaps making use of the previous evening's self-analysis.
     2.3. Periodically contemplate catastrophe and death, rehearse facing such calamities "philosophically," that is, with rational composure; contemplate the uncertainty of the future and the value of enjoying the here and now. Remember you must die, that is, that as a mortal being each moment counts and the future is uncertain.
3. Contemplation of the sage
     3.1. Periodically try to contemplate the ideal of the sage, try to put his philosophical attitudes into a few plain words, what must he tell himself when faced with the same adversities you must overcome? Memorize these precepts and try to apply them yourself. Ask yourself, 'What would someone with absolute wisdom do today?' Adopt a role model such as Socrates, or someone whose wisdom and courage you admire."