This post is the first in an experimental Stoic Philosophy book club series on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. See the genesis post here. Participants expressing interest are tagged at the end of the post, let us know if you're new and would like to join and be tagged!

Introduction

My copy of Meditations included a really lengthy introduction section which was fascinating, but cost a delay in getting started with the discussion. It provided some personal background on both Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism, as well as some initial commentary on the work's style and recurrent ideas. Below is an outline of the points I found interesting and will try to remember as we go:

Marcus Aurelius

  • Marcus was a Roman, but the philosophical system was Greek. He wrote it in Greek.
  • He was emperor of Rome (obvs). His two main concerns in life seemed to be philosophy and the court. He expressed legislative interest in freeing slaves and in the guardianship of orphan. It was a priority for him to have a good relationship with the Senate.
  • His father died when he was very young and he was adopted by Antoninus, a childless senator at the arrangement of Hadrian the emperor.
  • His reign took place during the time of early Christian cults. It was illegal to be Christian under penalty of death.
  • His reign navigated a time in Rome during plague, and military struggles with Germanic tribes.
  • There is a possibility that near the end of his life, he realized that his son, Commodus, didn't share his character (Gladiator movie plot).
  • He was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, a topic for another religious history post.
  • This work was written as a personal diary of sorts, without a known intention to be shared publicly.

Stoicism

  • Philosophy was not a study or course in school like it is today, it was seen as a design for how to live with many schools competing and sharing ideas.
  • The central idea of Stoicism is that the world is organized in a rational and coherent way. The term for this is logos. Logos operates in individuals as the reasoning function, but it also operates more broadly in the cosmos as the ordering principle of the Universe.
  • Logos is also an actual physical substance, pneuma, which is like a vital "breath of life" animating humans and living beings. When the object inevitably dies, the pneuma is reabsorbed back into the cosmos as a whole. This process happens at all conceptions of relativity (ex. subatomic particles appearing and disappearing at each and every moment, human body growing and decaying during a lifetime, the birth and death of the Universe in fire).
  • Stoics approved of participation in public life, which attracted the Romans as that was a cultural priority for them.
  • Marcus seemed to be heavily influenced by Epictetus, a slave-turned-philosopher, and a doctrine of The Three Disciplines in his work:
    1. Perception: Objectivity of thought - see things for what they are without the coloring of interpretation or value judgments. Our duty is to control perception in order to protect the mind from erroneous beliefs.
    2. Action - Perform our best on the things that are given under our control by the greater cosmic order. Cooperate actively in the world with other people and with the Universe itself. Act justly by treating others as they deserve in accordance with cosmic order.
    3. Will - When events happen to us that are outside our control, we have a choice on how we relate to them. If we choose to interpret them as harmful, we suffer. Accept and acknowledge things happening beyond our control as good and natural by the order of the cosmic logos.

Book 1: Debts and Lessons

To get to the comparatively short content of the actual book we're reading, I guess I'll say that I was both surprised and pleased by the structure. In listing off a bunch of people that are important to him and deep, insightful appreciations for what he's learned from them, he's obviously very reflective. To be honest, it feels like a bit of a challenge to write about it. Most of my experience was simply recognizing myself in his perceptions. Other times I recognized attributes that I know I struggle with, or haven't cultivated enough of. Here are some of my highlights:
5. From his first teacher, he learned "not to support this side of that in chariot-racing, this fighter or that figher in the games... and have no time for slanderers." To me this means to suspend a sense of judgement between two sides of an argument and not get swept away in drama. 6. From Diogenes, in addition to the general statements of not wasting time on bullshit, the detail to "write dialogues as a student" seemed an encouragement to take more initiative and "learn by doing". Something I'm looking to cultivate more of. 7. From Rusticus, I can identify a commentary on resentment when he is reminding to "behave in a conciliatory way when people who have angered or annoyed us want to make up". 8. From Apollonius, I haven't thought so much before about the fine balance between losing self-respect or feeling ungrateful when receiving things from other people. I guess I would call this being "graceful"? I can definitely see times in the past where I've done both. It could be an art to both give and receive to/from other people. It's not sincere generosity to throw money at a friend or beggar arrogantly or contemptuously. Likewise, receiving with a wrong or imbalanced attitude makes a regret out of a gift. Very interesting... 9. From Sextus, to "show intuitive sympathy for friends", I definitely can relate to situations where sympathy for others doesn't come naturally or organically. Feels to me like this quality isn't something you can "force" yourself to do, but one needs to become like that, where it's a natural reaction. Cultivating such qualities might take a long time and a lot of practice. 10. From The Literary Critic Alexander, observing the behaviors he lists is a really beautiful way to capture the virtue of humility. 13. From Catulus, again the topic of resentment -- perhaps it was a recurrent issue for him? It can be for me... 15. From Maximus, I particularly like the phrase, "The sense he gave of staying on the path rather than being kept on it." Emits a feeling of dedication and commitment. Also a strong echo of the Stoic resolution to action where one is able, and that would be where to put your literal or metaphorical foot. 16. From his adopted father, who "was qualified to govern both himself and them (the people)" echos the idea of an ordered cosmos where those who master themselves are qualified to grow their influence and take on more responsibility. Also, that he was able to delegate responsibility to experts is a quality I could learn more -- sometimes I find myself micromanaging out of a fear and need to relax and trust the Universe and others around me more. I particularly like the last sentence, "You could have said of him (as they say of Socrates) that he knew how to enjoy and abstain from things that most people find it hard to abstain from and all too easy to enjoy. Strength, perseverance, self-control in both areas: the mark of a soul in readiness -- indomitable." It is said elsewhere that a wise man appears to be a fool to the world around him, and he knows the world around him to be foolish... when one has wisdom the world is turned upside down. His depiction of this state is exciting and encouraging and feels like the soul is a rocket ready to blast off. LFG!!! 17. The Gods. More on this later, but in particular, I appreciated his gratitude for "a father--who could keep me from being arrogant", which underscores the positive aspects of discipline and occasional harshness. Sometimes I wish I'd had a little more of that in childhood when seen in this context. Also, the fact that his children "weren't born stupid or physically deformed" seems like an observation to gloss over. But when you consider his wife had 13 children and many of them died young, I sense a man finding gratitude in what might have a painful category of life experience.

Reflections

It quite a long and impressive list of appreciable attributes. I wonder how many of the lessons he learned from those people were because they embodied them, or because he saw how they behaved and learned what NOT to do?
On the logos and the cosmic order, I sort of worry there is a danger that one can fall into an arrogant trap of justifying asshole behavior because their position in society reflects the "order in nature". For example, I it's not ok for a corrupt politician to lie, steal and take advantage of others because the cosmic order has granted them that position. It's also not ok for the USA as a "world leader" to war, meddle and violate the sovereignty of other countries because of it's position. I think it's important to temper this cosmic world order principle with the reality that everything, including that order is changing and dying. And if those in power do not use it with wisdom, they are destined to lose it, as can be seen with both examples.
So far, the principles we're discussing syncretize nicely with my understanding of Buddhism and meditation in other traditions. In #8, from Apollonius, says "to pay attention to nothing, no matter how fleetingly, except the logos". This feels like a description of a state of meditation to me. Paying attention only to the present moment. More importantly, by recalling his appreciation, this whole Book 1 reads something like an exercise in a Buddhist meditation practice called Metta. This is where you send love, compassion and kindness to yourself, people in your life, to all beings and to the Universe as a whole. The fact that he ended up at The Gods made it feel like an process resulting in the expansion of consciousness.

My original idea for this post was to additionally, go through a similar process to Marcus and list out important people in my life and appreciable things I've learned from them. Maybe I still will. But it's been a long day of reading and writing to get this out in current form. Really looking forward to what the rest of the group has come up with and taking up discussion. In the future, I don't expect my posts to be this long, but I wanted to include the introduction and kick this project off well. Let's carry the discussion forward!

Participants

331 sats \ 1 reply \ @gd 13 Feb
I'd love to be included in this too.
Meditations is a profoundly impactful book in a different way each time I read it. I'd call myself an eager student of Philosophy (especially socratic and stoic) and try to practice whenever I can.
To me— debts and lessons reads as an exercise in gratitude. Marcus wasn't born to be the heir to the Roman Empire, he was chosen. I imagine this magnitude of social elevation providing immense perspective to him, both in good and bad ways. Marcus seems to always want to extinguish the bad and bring to light the good. He distinguishes both not by his instinct, but by comparing it to the logos.
The logos is synonymous with nature, God, the cosmos, everything. By justifying one's actions as in accordance with the logos (or nature as Marcus frequently writes) we should be able to rationally prove that our actions are virtuous.
This task is where we meet our first and arguably most important virtue of Stoicism— Wisdom.
Wisdom: The ability of one's rational mind to discern good from bad, truth from falsehood.
The pursuit of wisdom is one the will last until your final moment.
To live in accordance with the logos, we must be able to use our wisdom to guide our actions.
reply
Wonderful synthesis. Your observation that he was chosen is acute and really quite important. By being chosen, he is a product of logos itself, his appointment is ordered by Nature. Leaders who are clamoring for (more) power without responsibly managing that which is already within their sphere of influence are trying to bend Nature. They don't have "the mark of a soul in readiness".
It conjures an image of the knight kneeling to receive his title and duty. We must do our best with what we have, not conquest for more before we're ready.
reply
268 sats \ 1 reply \ @davidw 13 Feb
Please tag me also. Really want to read more stoic philosophy and explore it with you misfits ;)
reply
Welcome! Will tag you on the next post. More people == more learning!
reply
105 sats \ 0 replies \ @xz 19 Feb
Just wanted to tack on that I really enjoyed reading this. It's oddly consistent for myself to be reading one chapter, post or step behind. I find some of the Greek and Roman classics a little obtuse on first attempts. This was a beautiful introduction to history and thought.
reply
42 sats \ 1 reply \ @Atreus 14 Feb
This is an old favorite book of mine. I love when he tells himself to, "Put away the books!" It's a few more chapters in, if memory servers.
Add me to the list as well; I'll probably have some commentary to add as you go on.
reply
Welcome! Will do.
reply
31 sats \ 1 reply \ @lunanto 13 Feb
He was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, a topic for another religious history post.
I will be waiting for this one
reply
@lunanto The Mysteries part is not nearly as comprehensive as it should be, but here's a taste:
Taste like soma? ;)
reply
I have to commend you for this first installment. I read Debts And Lessons again, since I have read Meditations a few times in the past, but my memory is not great. Your post allows a reader to engage without even reading the original. Nice job. It will take me another reading to absorb in more detail what you have written.
reply
One thing that really struck me was the wealth of educational opportunity available to a wealthy Roman. The plebs, meanwhile, were just trying to get through the day focused on daily survival needs.
reply
Yeah, in 6. From Diognetus, the last sentence is an appreciation to "choose the Greek lifesytle -- the camp-bed and the cloak." It reads like the wealthy Romans are on luxury study abroad in Greece and the have to choice to just party, or assimilate and learn from the lifestyle.
reply
Blue collar vs white collar vs platinum collar
reply
I’m still reading the introduction haha
I think what struck me most so far was how Marcus formulated his Stoic philosophy in the middle of war time. This reminds me of “Man’s Search for Meaning” by Viktor Frankl - how he survived the concentration camp with his mind and spirit intact. It seems that humans must undergo extreme adversities in order to churn out something exquisite.
Not sure if I wanna go through such challenges to improve my mind and enhance my resilience though. But I will remind myself of how the Obstacle is the Way.
More later!
reply
I've had recommendations for that Viktor Frankl book come up a few times over the years. I still haven't read it.
Looking forward to your take. Take your time -- I'm reading two books right now and will be pacing myself.
reply
Please tag me
reply
Will do!
reply
I've sparsely read Marcus Aurelius but I've found that his insights are deeply human and thoughtful. Sometimes his style can be somewhat obscure to me compared to Seneca for instance, which is another Stoic philosopher that I really like. But the Meditations are exactly that after all: the inner thoughts of an interesting guy who happened to be an emperor of Rome.
I concur with your comparison to Buddhist meditation. I've practiced Zen for many years and Stoicism is very close from a philosophical standpoint to some of the Buddhist ideas stemming from meditation. While Stoic meditation is not quite the same, "studying yourself" was a very important practice for their followers, just like Zen students.
Thank you for posting your ideas, happy to be part of this discussion!
reply
Thanks for the thoughtful response! We'll add you to the mention list. Very interested to hear more about your insights from Zen. My primary experience with Buddhism is through some Vipassana meditation practice.
reply
Thanks for posting, excellent.
reply
Yes please tag a Stoic learner for years now
reply
Will do! Every year you have is one ahead of me, so we're excited to have you at the digital table.
reply
21 sats \ 5 replies \ @Roll 13 Feb
Just some thoughts :
When you mention: "I it's not ok for a corrupt politician to lie, steal and take advantage of others because the cosmic order has granted them that position. It's also not ok for the USA as a "world leader" to war, meddle and violate the sovereignty of other countries because of it's position. "
What is ok and not ok ? if you create a division , this could be an issue... Cause may be we are a whole... And may be it s has to be that way and no other way in order to transcent or i do not know...?
When you mention: "because the cosmic order has granted them that position" How can you be so sure ?
reply
I'm saying those things to serve as examples of people or organizations using their "place" in society to justify treating others around them negatively. Here is a quote from the introduction of the book:
Our duty to act justly does not mean that we must treat others as our equals; it means that we must treat them as they deserve. And their deserts are determined in part by their position in the hierarchy.
What I'm saying is that this view is easy and possibly dangerous to misinterpret. You could see it used for people to justify slavery or racism not so long ago. And... the Greeks had slaves and the treatment of them is mentioned in the text. If one uses the existing social or cultural hierarchy to justify evil actions, I believe that is a violation of natural law, the real logos, and they are headed for a fall.
This sort of thinking is probably subconsciously driving a lot of the abuses of power we see all around us. But I think working through this stuff is something humanity is working on collectively over a long period of time and with a lot of suffering in the lesson.
Hope this helps clarify my position! Thanks for contributing.
reply
Some thoughts:
"If one uses the existing social or cultural hierarchy to justify evil actions, I believe that is a violation of natural law, the real logos, and they are headed for a fall."
What is good or bad ? What is angel or devil ? May be, if we divide things, we miss something ? we close doors?
"Natural law" What is the natural law ?
"But I think working through this stuff is something humanity is working on collectively over a long period of time and with a lot of suffering in the lesson." What is suffering ? What is good things ? May be, we have to go through though moments to enable, transform, transcent, to improve our being.... ?
reply
Those are the tough questions the philosophers were wrestling with :)
Will you be reading the text with us in order to explore them further? There is a free copy online here:
reply
70 sats \ 1 reply \ @Roll 14 Feb
i will do my best :) but i m not sur i m the appropriate person (cause of the language and not sur i ve the ability to talk about it...)
Also if, i need to look for a copy in my own language to limit misunderstanding and to limit misunderstanding between your intepretation and the book ;)
reply
I live in a country where I'm not very good with the language yet, so I understand the difficulty. You're of course welcome, and encouraged, to participate however feels good for you.
reply
Stoicism is my jam. Thanks for sharing
reply
what a great post, this is excellent
reply
yes. just ordered my copy of the book
reply
tag me please
reply
Will do, welcome!
reply
Stoicism often takes on some Mr. Spock flavoring to most people, although a zen state and the core teachings of Stoicism have more in common with one another than differences.
reply
By Mr. Spock state you are referring to an impassive attitude? It was interesting to read in the introduction a few short paragraphs describing the other prevalent schools of philosophy at the time, namely the Cynics, aptly named, and the Epicureans. I'm still learning, but I am starting to envision that withing the culture of Greek philosophy, there exists a polarity or continuum to that found in other religious cultures. Compared to the Indian system, the stoics might be the Vendantic and the Epicureans the Tantrics. One view is pro life experience while the other is more ascetic.
reply
Correct. That is an interesting observation concerning India philosophy systems.
reply
deleted by author
reply