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130 sats \ 9 replies \ @siggy47 10 Mar freebie \ on: Stoic Book Club: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius #5 - Book 5 BooksAndArticles
At the risk of being too literal, I have trouble with #18. First the obvious challenge: the example of an adverse event that kills the person. Are we to take that as completion, or just assume the point is meant for the living?
I'm thinking more though, about horrible things that occur to people that don't kill them, but put them into such a mental state that their lives are a slow descent. I've read stoic texts elsewhere where a person is advised to imagine the worst thing they can think of happening to them, short of death, in order to imagine yourself living through that circumstance. Personally, I can always think of one that I am certain I cannot endure.
Before becoming a father, I was of the principle that there is nothing that a good night’s sleep can’t cure. After becoming one, however, I think it would be devastating if children die before their time. A few years ago, a 16-year-old teenager killed a child 3 years his junior at school in a case that shocked the whole nation. I think if I were the 13 year old’s parents, I will never recover from that
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I don't have kids, so I can't really comment on this scenario without a high degree of ignorance. It is worth noting, however, that Marcus lost more than a few of his own kids :(
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Well let me comment on your scenario then xP. Is there any particular challenge you would be able to handle now but might overwhelm you in the past because you haven’t honed your meditation competency yet?
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I've been sitting with your question trying to come up with a thoughtful answer, but it's a bit nuanced.
I actually got into meditation after having some incredibly overwhelming life experiences which I didn't think I would make it through at the time. Meditation helped me integrate those experiences, but has also shown me that while certain traumas seemed life-threatening, I was challenged just exactly to my breaking point -- where I survived, but was absolutely forced to grow. I see the logos in this today, a super-ordinate wisdom of Nature which brings me exactly what I need, even if I don't think I can handle it.
I think a common misconception regarding meditation is that the more proficient you are, the more blissful, happy and peaceful life is. And while experiencing those states is certainly part of the process, I find that fundamentally, meditation is increasing awareness and that includes the awareness of both pleasure and pain. Everything in life becomes simultaneously more beautiful, but also more painful, or maybe I see pain that I wasn't aware of before. However, with more life experience and more practice, a kind of faith grows that for each new challenge that gets thrown at me, it will be for my own Good, even if it's unpleasant, painful or a messy process.
I wouldn't call myself necessarily proficient even, but this is my perspective for where I'm currently at.
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Amazing. What an incredible answer.
It made me realise that I have gotten the idea of meditation all wrong. I assumed that it is akin to attaining some kind of Nirvana. That I toughen my mind n spirit to acquire spiritual armour so that the arrows that Life throws at me will just get deflected. Your sharing made me realise that darn, these arrows still pierce one’s soul and oh boy, do they hurt. But because of your ritualised practice, you feel confident about living with the pain. Maybe it isn’t even about conquering the pain? Because the pain is transient - just like pleasure. All things shall pass.
@Oialt just awarded me a 1000 sat bounty, which I’m more than happy to share with you!
Do you know the next level you want to ascend to?
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Aw, shucks Sensei... What a kind and generous response!
I assumed that it is akin to attaining some kind of Nirvana. That I toughen my mind n spirit to acquire spiritual armour so that the arrows that Life throws at me will just get deflected.
This view is familiar to me also, especially a few years ago -- and I think there is value to it. Meditation is a personal journey, and I can see how my perspective has changed a bit with time and practice.
Do you know the next level you want to ascend to?
Moreso and moreso, I feel like I'm letting go of controlling or directing where the practice takes me. Of course, there were times when I wanted to be a very powerful yogi, heal the world, or become the next Buddha -- powerful fantasies :) But I think I'm more in touch these last years with Marcus' message when he talks about accepting Fate, accepting the tasks granted to me and trying to do my best with those. The path is now more of a discovery than a self-created plan for achieving enlightenment or something.
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Ohhh interesting how meditation allows for plurality of paths haha
Wouldn’t you know? My first nym is faterider, as in riding the tides of fate. Your view agrees well with my free-spirited nature.
What do you make of Sigmund Freud’s “The Theme of the 3 Caskets”? He explains that the names of the three goddesses of fate mean “the accidental within the decrees of destiny,” “the inevitable,” and “the fateful tendencies each one of us brings into the world.”
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Welp. I'll definitely be reading "The Theme of the 3 Caskets" sometime soon, now. Thanks! Who knows, maybe it will inspire another post? :)
Exactly where I was going. It's a tragedy I can't even think about. I have a friend who calls himself a stoic and we have discussed this. He says that is the one thing he won't even let himself consider. This past week another friend's daughter died suddenly. She was the mother of a one year old child. To compound the suffering, his daughter could have been easily saved but for the incompetence of the first responders. Her death was on videotape from his ring doorbell surveillance camera.
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