Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

• Three disciplines: perception, action, and will
  • Perception: requires that we maintain objectivity of thought—that we see things dispassionately
    • This involves avoidance of inappropriate value judgements, such as designating things as good or evil. The things aren’t the problem, but the interpretations we place on them are. This is similar to emptiness in Buddhism. We assign an essence to things and thus interpret them as attractive or unattractive
  • Action: active cooperation with the world, with fate, and above all with other human beings. We were made not for ourselves but for others (agree), and our nature is fundamentally unselfish* (I don’t completely agree with this)
  • Will: we control our actions and are responsible for them—if we act wrongly, we harm ourselves. Likewise, if someone or something else harms us, they are harming themselves and not us, the victim. Acts of nature such as fire or illness, can only harm us if we see them as harmful
• Seeing things for what they are and accepting them, is something Epictetus calls “the art of acquiescence”
• Objective judgement, unselfish action, and willing acceptance of all external events. These three points are a recurring theme in Marcus’ writings
• “The best revenge is not to be like that”
• “To accept without arrogance, and let go with indifference”
• “The sense he gave of staying on the path rather than being kept on it”
  • This is similar to the dog running alongside the wagon rather than being dragged by it, the wagon being logos. Those who feel helpless about life and settle into this mode get the sense that there’s no point in trying if the cards are stacked against them. There’s more room for growth than what they can see and limits they can reach. Giving up removes the possibility of seeing where those limits can take you
• Mentions that wrongdoing done over pleasure is worse than that over anger. The angry wrongdoer is a victim of his anger, but the man doing it for pleasure is motivated by desire
  • Don’t quite agree with this. Anger is also motivated by desire, an attraction towards an angry state. Both are motivated by desire, and thus both are victims. Buddha once said that anger is like an arrow with a poisoned root with a honeyed tip
• Emphasis on being honest and present in one’s thoughts. If the mind is preoccupied with something you wouldn’t be comfortable speaking about, when those ask what you’re thinking about you will answer dishonestly—so be disciplined with your thoughts
• Be ready to reconsider your position, when someone can set you straight or convert you to his. Conversion should always rest on a conviction that it’s right, or benefits others. Not because it’s more appealing or more popular
• When something threatens to cause you pain: the thing itself is no misfortune at all, to endure it and prevail is good fortune
• If you resist the temptation to feel victimized—to feel harmed—then harmful things can’t happen to you, only things
• Be tolerant of others, but strict with yourself
• The best revenge is not to be like that
• When asked to write out a name, would you clench your teeth and groan as you write it? When faced with responsibilities, approach them as you would writing a name, methodically and one letter at a time. Don’t get dissuaded by the text itself—complete it one task at a time
• We tend not to waste much time concerning ourselves with our height or width, spatial dimensions of our bodies (these days a little more so, with weight issues associated with caloric abundance). So why should we concern ourselves with the temporal dimension of our body, i.e., how long we live? Accept the limits placed on the body.
• The importance of detaching from our body’s urges, to resist impulses and sensations. Thoughts seek to be their master, not their subject. Thoughts were created for this use.
  • Interesting. Frontal lobe development, contributing to logical calculus and delayed gratification, evolved such that our survival wouldn’t be impinged by short term gratification—i.e., indulgence in impulsive behaviour
• Actions and perceptions need to aim at:
  • Accomplishing practical ends
  • The exercise of thought
  • Maintaining a confidence found on understanding
    • in Buddhism action is understood as having three aspects: thinking, speaking, and acting (doing something). Some similarities here
• When bothered by those behaving poorly in pursuit of pleasure, money, or status—reflect on when you thought like that. Recognize that they are acting out of compulsion, and attempt to remove the compulsion if you can