tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47882571769035898112024-02-20T02:53:00.148-08:00StoicSpiritBeatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-13395903502690340192010-05-05T09:18:00.000-07:002010-05-05T09:21:15.770-07:00WELCOMEStoicSpirit is a small collage of essays about how various<br />philosophical elements of the Ancient Stoa might impact <br />upon our own lives here and now. But the essays begin <br />with a small philosophical history of Stoicism and notes <br />how this early history played into the thinking of the <br />Fathers of Early Christianity.<br /><br />It would probably be useful to start with the oldest essay and<br />then work your way forward.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-21932022709570567842010-05-01T13:15:00.000-07:002010-05-01T13:26:44.068-07:00(25) Ideal AgencyYears back I took a graduate course in Moral Theology and I <br />learned that ethics are generated by the community (of a given <br />people or culture). There's seemingly an innate recognition <br />that there is a need for rules of conduct if a given society is to <br />survive and thrive. In archaic societies more than often these <br />rules of conduct were mythologized into their religious creeds. <br />The rules were endowed with "divine authority," thus propa-<br />gating their adherence amongst the populace.<br /><br />In Stoicism, however, there is this idea of the "Perfection of <br />Agency" or "Ideal Agency." What this means is as follows: <br />the means to the optimal integration and realization of our <br />ends. It is about virtuosity, that of "an ability developed to <br />the limit of human capability, and not merely to the limit of a <br />given agent's capability." <br />[Lawrence C. Becker, A NEW STOCISM, Princeton University <br />Press, 1998, pp. 107, 133-134.]<br /><br />As Professor Becker puts it: "Virtuoso agents are made, not born, <br />and they are made by having to learn to cope with passion, fear,<br />pain, loss, depression, disappointment, malevolence, failure, and <br />so on as well as the opposites." And "they must know as much as <br />is humanly possible about things relevant to integrating all of the <br />endeavors that they themselves might have, and optimizing their <br />success in the entire range of circumstances they might possibly <br />face." [Ibid, p. 108.]<br /><br />The ancient Stoics were well-known for their stable character <br />traits. And they stressed benevolence, persistently so! And though <br />cooperative, they remained "committed to their own agendas, <br />principled but not rigoristic." [Ibid, 110.]<br /><br />So what we are talking about above is the highest Virtue for the <br />Stoic, the perfection of that *ideal* one holds of oneself. Coming <br />to know what that ideal might be for yourself must be the single <br />focus around which all other, more communal forms of virtue <br />must circulate. These other virtues are the foundational edifice <br />for making the "ideal" in you "real."<br /><br />These ancient Stoics, however, believed that we simply did not <br />approach this foundational edifice from a base utilitarian perspective. <br />These other virtues were not to be used just only as props, but they <br />were to become *traits* of Ideal Agency.<br /><br />As for their foundational edifice, the ancient Stoics fell back on an <br />even older ethical set of virtues called traditionally the "Cardinal <br />Virtues."<br /><br />The ancient Cardinal Virtues are as follows: Justice, Wisdom, <br />Bravery, and Moderation. And there are also the "Three Treasures" <br />that undergird the Cardinal Virtues: Beauty, Truth, and Love.<br /><br />Once I did a dictionary hunt into the finer meaning of the Cardinal <br />Virtues, and I found this effort quite helpful. So if I may, I'll present <br />such.<br /><br />JUSTICE: the Quality of being Righteous; Impartiality; Fairness; <br />Sound Reason; Reasonableness; Rightfulness; Validity; and Lawful.<br />WISDOM: the Quality of being Wise--sound judgment, judging rightly <br />and following the soundest course of action, based on knowledge, <br />experience, and understanding; Discretion--careful about what one <br />says or does; Sagacity--penetrating intelligence, perceptive; <br />Erudition--having wide knowledge, learned, scholarly; and Wise <br />Discourse or Teaching.<br />BRAVERY: Gallantry--nobility of behavior or spirit; Brave--<br />Fearlessness in meeting danger or difficulty; Courage--stout-<br />hearted; and Valor--a heroic quality in the courage or fortitude <br />shown.<br />MODERATION: Moderate--within reasonable limits, avoiding <br />extremes; Mild, calm, gentle; and Temperate-- deliberate <br />self-restraint.<br /><br />Besides the Cardinal Virtues, the later Stoics of the Roman Period <br />surely also concentrated on the practice of what is commonly <br />called the "Roman Virtues."<br /><br />The "Roman Virtues" were those qualities of life to which every <br />Roman citizen should aspire. They are the heart of the Via <br />Romana--the Roman Way. They are rods, standards by which <br />we can measure our own behavior and character.<br />AUCTORITAS; "Spiritual Authority," the sense of one's social <br />standing, built up through experience, Pietas, and Industria.<br />COMITAS: "Humor;" ease of manner, courtesy, openness, and <br />friendliness.<br />CLEMENTIA: "Mercy," mildness and gentleness.<br />DIGNITAS: "Dignity." a sense of self-worth, personal pride.<br />FIRMITAS: "Tenacity," strength of mind, the ability to stick to <br />one's purpose.<br />FRUGALITAS: "Frugalness," economy and simplicity of style, <br />but not to be miserly.<br />GRAVITAS: "Gravity," a sense of the importance of the matter <br />at hand, responsibility and earnestness.<br />HONESTAS: "Respectability," the image that one presents as a <br />respectable member of society.<br />HUMANITAS: "Humanity," refinement, civilization, learning. <br />and being cultured.<br />INDUSTRIA: "Industriousness," hard work.<br />PIETAS: "Dutifulness," more than religious piety: a respect for <br />the natural order socially, politically, and religiously. Includes <br />the ideas of patriotism and devotion to others.<br />PRUDENTIA: "Prudence," foresight, wisdom, and personal <br />discretion.<br />SALUBRITAS: "Wholesomeness," health and cleanliness.<br />SEVERITAS: "Sternness," gravity, self-control.<br />VERITAS: "Truthfulness," honesty in dealing with others.<br /><br />So--perhaps old, ancient--the combination of the Stoic's "Ideal <br />Agency" along with the Cardinal Virtues and the Roman Virtues <br />might serve today as an acceptable ethical system for not only <br />the evolution of the community but for the personal development <br />of the individual.<br /><br />And none of these perspectives of Virtue/virtues have ever been <br />mythically clouded. They are innately universal-- presented as <br />such in the Hellenistic World, and just as easily could be employed <br />in the Modern World.<br /><br />In the end, however, it's all a matter as to whether we truly believe <br />in and honor the Virtuous Life.<br />[This essay was originally posted in my "Stoa del Sol" website.]Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-53665730028383918222010-04-21T12:18:00.000-07:002010-04-21T12:24:51.789-07:00(24) Attitude, Adversity, & AffirmationOccasionally the question is asked as to why "bad things <br />happen to good people?" And usually accompanying this<br />question comes another: "How could a loving God" allow <br />such to happen? Theologians refer to this issue of evil in <br />our life as the Theodicy Problem.<br /><br />There have always been answers, rarely good ones, to the <br />Theodicy Problem. Regardless, I thought I might present a <br />set of answers that may seem provocative--since they seem <br />so different from what we so oft hear.<br /><br />I'll be quoting from the Stoic philosopher--Lucius Annaeus <br />Seneca (c. 4 b.c.e.-65 c.e): [God] "does not treat the good <br />man like a toy, but tries him, hardens him, and readies him <br />for himself."<br /><br />"Adversity [does] not affect the spirit of a stalwart man. He <br />maintains his poise and assimilates all that falls to his lot to <br />his own complexion, for he is more potent than the world <br />without. I do not maintain that he is insensible to externals, <br />but that he overcomes them."<br /><br />"Good men...must not shrink from hardship and difficulty or <br />complain of fate; they should take whatever befalls in good <br />part and turn it to advantage. The thing that matters is not <br />what you bear but how you bear it."<br /><br />"No one is more unhappy, in my judgment, than a man who <br />has never met with adversity. He has never had the privilege <br />of testing himself."<br /><br />"For self-knowledge, testing is necessary; no one can discover <br />what he can do except by trying..."<br /><br />"Why do you wonder that good men are shaken to make them <br />strong? No tree stands firm and sturdy if it is not buffeted by <br />constant wind; the very stresses cause it to stiffen and fix its <br />roots firmly."<br /><br />"Scorn poverty: no one is as poor as he was at birth. Scorn <br />pain: either it will go away or you will. Scorn death: either it <br />finishes you or it transforms you." [Above quotations derived <br />from the following book: THE STOIC PHILOSOPHY OF SENECA, <br />translated by Moses Hadas, W.W. Norton & Company, 1958,<br />pp. 29, 36-37, 40, and 44.]<br /><br />Seneca's approach to the Theodicy Problem is really about <br />turning the bad into the good. It's about honing one's self. <br />Rather than just stressing the stiff upper lip, Seneca sees this <br />world and its challenge as a stage where we *learn* how to <br />act out the play. For Seneca, the Theodicy Problem is a <br />contingent of lessons that a good person will come to learn <br />in order to evolve and prepare himself spiritually.<br /><br />But, as always, Seneca's answer to the Theodicy Problem is <br />commendable but incomplete--like all those, since, who have <br />also tried to answer such. Seneca talks of bravery, courage,<br />and maturity in meeting the challenge. But he does not broach <br />the loss of innocents to what we perceive as evil in this world.<br /><br />Still, Seneca's explanation is perhaps to be admired. He does <br />not dally in victimization, but rather stresses courage, thinking, <br />cunning, and fortitude in the face of these as of yet unexplained <br />Forces of Nature. If a person has to go down, they should try to <br />go down well. Perhaps this is what some of the old monks meant <br />about the importance of "dying right?"<br /><br />As that ancient Stoic philosopher discovered for himself--as do <br />we--this business of living and dying isn't simple. Seneca endured <br />years of Imperial-dictated exile on a stony, lonely island. Later, in <br />the end, he was ordered to die by suicide by the Emperor Nero. <br />In both situations, Seneca practiced what he preached bravely--<br />overcoming the adversity involved, but surely it wasn't a simple <br />matter.<br /><br />Seneca and other Stoics, like Epictetus, talked about *attitude.* <br />No doubt all of us have practiced this--overcoming adversity <br />through our attitude.<br /><br />But Epictetus warned that we must come to realize what we <br />"can and cannot control" in this world. To attempt to exercise <br />control where you really have none is truly vain and illusory, <br />but exercising right control when you have the capacity to do <br />so is a form of wisdom. The challenge is being able to discriminate <br />the difference. And I think this has real significance when it comes <br />to the Theodicy Problem--and our very own individual theodicy <br />problem.<br /><br />Some respond to Seneca saying: "Simple isn't it? Yes, but....!" <br />Speaking out loud the ideas, how we can overcome the <br />adversities of life, is the simple part. Living out such isn't as <br />simple. According to Seneca there is a formula involved, <br />which is about the measure of our *greatness.* The great <br />souls somehow have learned how to "grow beyond" the <br />fear and chaos of adversity.<br /><br />I should think this process is linked with coming to a greater <br />comprehension about that with which we are dealing in <br />adversity, and it's about coming to know inside *who we are.* <br />It's really somewhat akin to Carl Jung's idea of the "individuation <br />process." Not simple, but rather very, very challenging!<br /><br />And, "Yes, but...! " There's the trap of the Theodicy Problem. <br />Perhaps Seneca was wise enough not even to allude to the <br />disasters and death perpetrated upon innocents. How can <br />one speak of attitude or challenge regarding such events as <br />tornadoes sweeping people to their death--or air disasters <br />that evaporate people in mid-air?<br /><br />Perhaps the only attitude we can hold at this point, concerning <br />the innocents, is to try to understand better what has happened, <br />to not so quickly blame "God" or Nature and thus fall into the <br />"victim syndrome," but rather investigate the event(s) more <br />thoroughly for future prevention.<br /><br />A case in point is mechanical neglect or human negligence <br />involved in aircraft disasters. More careful attention to one's <br />duty or more careful workmanship perhaps could prevent such <br />tragic disasters. As for the Forces of Nature, human efforts are <br />busy at work trying to learn the processes and course of these <br />forces--but long-range forecasting and alert still remain in its <br />infancy.<br /><br />Nonetheless, the above effort towards greater comprehension <br />and prevention falls into Seneca's idea about *attitude.* A <br />courageous and intelligent attitude can bring us a long way <br />towards comprehending and thus defeating both our individual <br />and our collective Theodicy Problem.<br /><br />But it's not simple! Courage is required to maintain such a Stoic <br />attitude against adversity on the part of an individual.<br /><br />Paul Tillich, the great theologian best known for his concept of <br />the "Ground of Being," takes this Stoic attitude a few steps further. <br />He shows the transformation from individual courage in the face <br />of adversity to an affirmative courage expressed at the cosmic <br />or "God" level. To quote:<br /><br />"Stoic courage is neither atheistic nor theistic in the technical <br />sense of these words. The problem of how courage is related <br />to the idea of God is asked and answered by the Stoics...The <br />courage to be transcends the polytheistic power of fate. The <br />[Stoic's] second assertion is that the soul of the wise man is <br />similar to God [hence a microcosm]...who is indicated here <br />[as] the divine Logos in *unity* with whom the courage of <br />wisdom conquers fate..." [Paul Tillich, THE COURAGE TO BE, <br />Yale University Press, 1952, p. 15.]<br /><br />"Seneca says that while God is *beyond* suffering the true <br />Stoic is *above* it. Suffering, this implies, contradicts the nature <br />of God. It is impossible for him to suffer, he is *beyond* it. The <br />Stoic as a human being is able to suffer. But he need not let <br />suffering conquer the center of his rational being. He can keep <br />himself *above* it." [Ibid, p. 16.]<br /><br />But Tillich takes these steps into another place! "Courage of <br />wisdom and resignation [can] be replaced by the courage of <br />faith in salvation, that is by faith in a God who paradoxically <br />participates in human suffering. But [ancient] Stoicism itself <br />can never make this step." [Ibid, p. 16.]<br /><br />And Tillich takes yet another step! Though Stoicism seemingly <br />disappeared by the 3rd Century c.e., there was a... "revival of the <br />ancient schools of thought at the beginning of the modern <br />period...not only a revival but also a *transformation.*" [Ibid, p. 18.]<br /><br />"While the ancient world valued the individual not [just] as an <br />individual but as a representative of something universal, [e.g. a <br />microcosm, a virtue]...the rebirth of antiquity [especially during <br />the Renaissance period] saw the individual as a *unique <br />expression of the universe,* incomparable, irreplaceable, and <br />of infinite significance." [Ibid, p. 19.]<br /><br />Later--in Neo-Stoicism, particularly as expressed by Spinoza, <br />'the courage to be is not one thing beside others. It is an <br />expression of the essential act of everything that participates <br />in being, namely self-affirmation." [Ibid, p. 20.]<br /><br />"Virtue is the power of acting exclusively according to one's <br />true nature...Self-affirmation is, so to speak, virtue altogether. <br />But self-affirmation is affirmation of one's essential being, and <br />the knowledge of one's essential being is mediated through<br />reason, the power of the soul to have adequate ideas." <br />[Ibid, p. 21.]<br /><br />And "self-affirmation, according to Spinoza, is participation<br />in the divine self-affirmation." [Ibid, p. 22.]<br /><br />"If the soul recognizes itself...it recognizes its being in God... <br />Perfect self-affirmation is not an isolated act which originates <br />in the individual being, but is participation in the universal or <br />divine act of self-affirmation which is the originating power in <br />every individual act..." [Ibid, p. 23.]<br /><br />Reading through this small section of Tillich's thought, he <br />illustrates the historical development of ideas about the <br />movement from just suffering and adversity to learning and <br />overcoming to self-affirmation. And as the human soul does, <br />so does "God." Echoing from the ancient world to our own <br />times, the microcosm and the macrocosm is all of the same <br />fabric: God is Kosmos!<br /><br />This above idea that "God is Kosmos" permeated the ancient <br />world--and, today, this great consideration is returning to enrich <br />not only our concepts of relationship between our self and "God," <br />but of our relationship with what we deem as Creation.<br /><br />The original meaning of Kosmos was the patterned nature or <br />process of all domains of existence, from matter to math to theos, <br />and not merely the physical universe, which is usually what both <br />"cosmos" and "universe" has meant until recently.<br /><br />The Kosmos contains the cosmos (or the physiosphere), the <br />bios (or biosphere), nous (the noosphere), and theos (the <br />theosphere or divine domain)--none of these separately <br />being foundational. This holistic view was held by the great <br />ancient philosophers right through to Hegel. And, happily, <br />work in Holistic Science and the new philosophical paradigm, <br />Deep Ecology, has led in part to systems thinking, to ecological <br />thinking, and to thinking directed towards a new organic <br />worldview. <br /><br />[This item was originally posted in my "Stoa del Sol" website.]Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-29695720138346729152010-03-27T15:01:00.000-07:002010-03-27T15:05:16.120-07:00(23) Aging WellMany of the great Stoic thinkers, like Seneca, were quite<br />down-to-earth and talked in a universal language that <br />holds meaning for most of us today. These philosophers <br />spoke to and wrote for their friends, for the citizenry of the <br />Greco-Roman world, and maybe they just might speak to us!<br /><br />As for aging in this life, that's one item we all have in <br />common. As for aging *well,* that's not so common. This <br />is an area where the words of Seneca might seem quite <br />applicable. Let us proceed with his good, practical wisdom.<br /><br />"Often an old man will have nothing but the calendar to <br />prove that he has lived a long time." [Moses Hadas <br />(translator), THE STOIC PHILOSOPHY OF SENECA, <br />W.W. Norton & Co., 1958, p. 84.]<br /><br />So many of us complain that life is so short, but for Seneca <br />it's only short "when it is squandered through luxury and <br />indifference, and spent for no good end..." For him it's all <br />a matter of how we use our life, how we engage in life. <br />"The life we receive is not short but we make it so; we are <br />not ill provided but use what we have wastefully." <br />[Ibid, p. 48.]<br /><br />Rather "it takes a great man...to allow none of his time to <br />be frittered away; such a man's life is very long because he <br />devotes every available minute of it to himself. None of it lies <br />idle and unexploited, none of it is at the disposal of another." <br />[Ibid, p. 55.]<br /><br />I don't think Seneca is advocating a narcissistic selfishness <br />in this above statement. In this case he is talking about a <br />person who is sufficient unto himself, a person who knows <br />his likes and dislikes, a person who can carry out pursuits <br />effectively, and a person who can plan ahead.<br /><br />For Seneca "the man who puts all of his time to his own <br />uses, who plans every day as if it were his last, is neither <br />impatient for the morrow nor afraid of it." [Ibid, p. 56.]<br /><br />Conversely, those "busy over nothing" can never restore <br />their years--and no one can gain lost time back.<br /><br />Seneca is especially discussing how we employ our leisure. <br />Naturally, as a Stoic, he considers that the best way to engage <br />in this time we have to ourselves is to "take time for philosophy." <br />In a sense he is referring to our grasp of great human works <br />down through history, and how we may take such unto <br />ourselves and make it part of our own life's continuum!<br /><br />"Only men who make Zeno and Pythagoras and Democritus <br />and the other high priests of liberal studies their daily familiars, <br />who cultivate Aristotle and Theophrastus, can properly be said <br />to be engaged in the duties of life." [Ibid, p. 66.]<br /><br />As for these ancient philosophers, as for all the great modern<br />thinkers in many fields, whose disciplines we select to study <br />today, "It is not their lifetime alone of which they are careful <br />stewards: they annex every age to their own and exploit all the <br />years that have gone before." [Ibid, p. 65.]<br /><br />Interestingly, Seneca draws an analogy regarding these <br />studious pursuits. "It is a common saying that a man's parents <br />are not of his own choosing but allotted to him by chance. But <br />we can choose our genealogy. Here are families with noble <br />endowments: choose whichever you wish to belong to." <br />[Ibid, p. 67.]<br /><br />The more we connect to great and noble thinking, the more <br />noble we become, and the more noble our efforts as life unfolds.<br /><br />Moving even more precisely, towards a deeper personal level,<br />Seneca believes that in order to age well we need also to develop<br />a stability of mind. By this he means the "well-being of soul,"<br />which he calls *tranquility.*<br /><br />Seneca puts the question: how can the mind "maintain a <br />consistent and advantageous course, be kind to itself and take <br />pleasure in its attributes...[and] abide in its serenity, without <br />excitement or depression?" [Ibid, p. 80.]<br /><br />For Seneca it's easy to observe the general populace, full of <br />people "who are afflicted with fickleness and ennui and <br />continual shifting of aim." These are people who blow with the <br />wind and oft are blown away by the wind, so to speak. They are <br />not able to settle. They don't know their own mind. And many <br />abhor innovation. Seneca realizes that this common malady "<br />has countless symptoms but its effect is uniform--dissatisfaction <br />with self." [Ibid, p.80.]<br /><br />This ancient malady is also extremely modern, as Mihaly <br />Csikszentmihalyi--the exponent of "Flow" psychology-- points <br />out: "In normal everyday existence, we are the prey of thoughts <br />and worries intruding unwanted in consciousness... <br />Consequently the ordinary state of mind involves unexpected <br />and frequent entropy interfering with the smooth run of psychic <br />energy." [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, FLOW: THE PSYCHOLOGY <br />OF OPTIMAL EXPERIENCE, Harper Perennial, 1991, p. 58.]<br /><br />This common condition reflects the vacillation of minds that <br />seemingly can find no outlet. Seneca describes such minds in <br />that they are "naturally restless, and obviously without internal <br />resources." These are people who are never at rest, always in <br />need of entertainment--and when this is "withdrawn, their <br />mind cannot endure home,loneliness, walls, and cannot <br />abide itself left to itself." [Hadas, STOIC PHILOSOPHY OF <br />SENECA, p. 81.]<br /><br />So, is there a remedy?<br /><br />Yes, but the responsibility for aging well rests squarely upon <br />the individual. Seneca provides a general outline for a <br />balanced life: though a man may seemingly lead a life of <br />"insulated" leisure, it still is his duty "to be of service to <br />individuals and to mankind by his intelligence, his voice, <br />his counsel." [Ibid, p. 83.]<br /><br />For those embarking on such a noble course, Seneca stresses <br />that "our first duty will be to examine ourselves, next the <br />career we shall undertake, and finally our associates in the <br />work and its beneficiaries."What he is describing is that we <br />develop an ability for strategic thinking, quietly studying and <br />determining our course before we set sail from one point in our <br />life to the next. [Ibid, p. 87.]<br /><br />Beyond this, be realistic! Regarding any endeavor, Seneca <br />stresses that you "put your hand to one you can finish or at <br />least hope to finish..." [Ibid, p. 88.]<br /><br />And realistic goal-setting, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is <br />psychologically positive and enjoyable---because "clear goals, <br />stable rules, and challenges [that are] well matched to skills <br />[present] little opportunity for the self to be threatened." <br />[Csikszentmihalyi, FLOW, p. 63.]<br /><br />Of course life is not all work and service to others. We need <br />to well serve ourselves also. If we are to lead a successful <br />life, one of our crucial choices will center upon friendship. "<br />Nothing can equal the pleasures of faithful and congenial <br />friendship." But Seneca gives warning! We need to be mindful <br />over the choice of our friends. Rather than moving into <br />diatribes about choosing good or bad people as friends, <br />Seneca puts it simply: "To mingle the healthy with the sick <br />is the beginning of disease." [Hadas, STOIC PHILOSOPHY <br />OF SENECA, p. 89.]<br /><br />Seneca's wisdom is reflected by Csikszentmihalyi when he <br />exclaims that besides enjoyable work, "studies on Flow have <br />demonstrated repeatedly that more than anything else, the <br />quality of life depends on...our relations with other people." <br />He proceeds: "We are biologically programmed to find other <br />human beings the most important objects in the world." And <br />as Seneca stressed, and Csikszentmihalyi states, we need to be <br />discerning about our choice of friends..."because they can <br />make life either very interesting and fulfilling or utterly <br />miserable...how we manage relationships with them makes <br />an enormous difference to our happiness." <br />[Csikszentmihalyi, FLOW, p. 164.]<br /><br />It pays to be thrifty, too! Of course there's the woes of <br />materialism and ostentation, but Seneca focuses especially <br />on spiritual thrift. "We must learn to strengthen self-restraint, <br />curb luxury, temper ambition, moderate anger, view poverty <br />calmly, cultivate frugality...keep restive aspirations...and <br />make it our business to get our riches from ourselves rather <br />than from Fortune." [Hadas, STOIC PHILOSOPHY OF <br />SENECA, p. 91.]<br /><br />Not forgetting that a balanced life is a better life, Seneca <br />alerts us that we must also engage in solitude as well as <br />service. "It is important to withdraw into one's self." We <br />need respite for ourselves, time to relax and enjoy life. So <br />go ahead and pursue the joys of the intellect or the athletic <br />life. Pursue, too, simplicity: "We ought to take outdoor <br />walks, to refresh and raise our spirits by deep breathing <br />in the open air. Sometimes energy will be refreshed by a <br />carriage drive, a journey, a change of scene, good company,<br /> and a more generous wine." [Ibid, p. 105.]<br /><br />But Csikszentmihalyi realizes that solitude is a major <br />concern for modern people. Talking about ways to grow, <br />about ways of creating higher forms of order in our lives in <br />order to forestall entropy, he points out that we need to take <br />time for quiet learning and improving our skills. And, <br />especially, when "physical vigor fails with age...it means <br />that one [should] be ready to turn one's energies from the<br />mastery of the external world to a deep exploration of inner <br />reality." But--"it is difficult to accomplish any of them unless <br />one has earlier acquired the habit of using solitude to good <br />advantage." We need to "tame" solitude, and Seneca's excellent <br />suggestions above provide a fine foundation.<br />[Csikszentmihalyi, FLOW, p. 172.]<br /><br />Nonetheless, Seneca is no Pollyanna. He realizes the <br />adversities that all of us must face in this life. It's seemingly <br />our condition in this world. Still we have the ability to cope <br />and adapt, if we so choose--even with this! "Man must...<br />complain of it as little as possible, and grasp whatever good<br /> lies within his reach." Again, "apply good sense to your<br />problems; the hard can be softened, the narrow widened, <br />and the heavy made lighter by the skillful bearer." And for <br />what is seemingly impossible, leave it alone! [Hadas, <br />STOIC PHILOSOPHY OF SENECA, pp. 93-94.]<br /><br />For Csikszentmihalyi, Seneca's above advice is about <br />"taming chaos." As he puts it, "sooner or later everyone <br />will have to confront events that contradict his goals: <br />disappointments, severe illness, financial reversal, and <br />eventually the inevitability of one's death." Thus, "It is for <br />this reason that courage, resilience, perseverance, mature <br />defense, or transformation coping--the dissipative structures <br />of the mind--are so essential. Without them we would be <br />constantly suffering through the random bombardment<br />of stray psychological meteorites." <br />[Csikszentmihalyi, FLOW, p. 202.]<br /><br />And, finally, any life well spent must look bravely at the <br />issue of death. If we fear too much and dwell on death, it will <br />bring us down. "A man afraid of death will never play the part <br />of a live man." Rather than dwell on death, depression, and <br />discouragement, Seneca wisely advises that we "take the<br />lighter view of these things...it is more civilized to laugh <br />at life than to lament over it." [Hadas, STOIC PHILOSOPHY <br />OF SENECA, p. 102.]<br /><br />(The above essay of mine was originally posted in my "Stoa<br />del Sol" website.)Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-5155210160212515702009-08-21T11:47:00.000-07:002010-03-27T15:01:12.623-07:00(22) Happiness II"To be concerned with happiness as an end, the Stoics argue, is<br />to be concerned with virtue in the sense of what a person can <br />bring about through his own powers and rational agency. Accordingly,<br />they will argue, happiness is not a virtuous action...Rather, happiness<br />is virtuous activity in the leaner sense of skill and effort...whether or<br />not one successfully achieves the objectives."<br />[Nancy Sherman, STOIC WARRIORS: THE ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY<br />BEHIND THE MILITARY MIND, Oxford University Press, 2005, p.33.]<br /><br />Comment: This is an interesting statement, because it addresses <br />the subject of happiness. Probably one of the most misconceived<br />considerations about Stoicism circulates around this issue of <br />happiness. Lots of people imagine stoics wearing a "sour and dour"<br />countenance. This misunderstanding stands right up there with the<br />perceived "stiff upper lip" of stoics.<br /><br />Now I cannot attest that each and every stoic, whether ancient or <br />modern, goes around wearing a "happy button," but probably most<br />were/are not adverse to happiness. If we can truly attain it, we might<br />discover happiness to be a natural human expression. The smile <br />has long been with us down through the ages.<br /><br />But what Sherman is discussing in the quoted paragraph, I believe, <br />is significant for all of us. Yes, sometimes happiness just lights upon <br />our shoulders; but, more than often, happiness is a result of right <br />behavior. And even before behavior, there need be an under-<br />standing of this virtuous activity.<br /><br />Just guessing, but I'm willing to bet that many of us *wait* for <br />happiness to drop in. And while we are waiting, there's this pall <br />of waiting. And within this pall there's "want." We wait for that <br />special person in our life. We want a great job. We want our life <br />to somehow be significant. This waiting and wanting is intimately <br />connected with a hoped-for happiness.<br /><br />Somehow, when I think about the subject of happiness, Epictetus'<br />prayer comes to mind--that we need come to understand what <br />we can or cannot control in our life. As Sherman attests, happiness <br />is linked with what we "can bring about through his own powers"<br />and reason. This doesn't mean that we have to sell ourself short; <br />rather, it is about maturity.<br /><br />So often I hear some poor soul hoping to win the Lottery, because<br />that situation will bring the idealized happiness they seek. It's<br />usually about money. Of course money isn't everything, but it does<br />loom *big* when it comes to living a happy existence. It's just that<br />there need be a practical approach, if you will. Waiting for the <br />Lottery just might not cut it. Making good money usually depends<br />on "skill and effort." The better qualified, the better job = usually <br />equals more money, and perhaps happiness.<br /><br />Of course what we are discussing here is what I might call <br />"surface happiness." That's okay, it's a start. On the other hand, <br />some persons--as they grow older--start feeling a strange sense<br />of emptiness. They have begun to realize that money can't buy<br />everything, I guess. <br /><br />So what might this portend, this strange emptiness? Usually it is<br />an ontological condition. In both philosophy and theology <br />Ontology is about the nature of being. Who are we, how do we<br />fit in our world, what are we supposed to become? According to<br />human development theorists, this ontological condition is <br />something that clicks on at mid-life. <br /><br />Now I know people who were gripped by this ontological condition.<br />Sometimes it becomes an "angst" and really can cause problems.<br />Other of us might grasp at straws, imagining great callings, being<br />tapped on the shoulder to do this or that. And there's no denying <br />that occasionally we can "run" with our fantasies, perhaps even<br />making something concrete out of them.<br /><br />However, finally, at the cusp of elderhood some of us finally realize<br />that we can "manage" happiness up-to-a-point. And that's when<br />a more stoic approach might become a better compass. Happiness<br />might end simply being a daily routine, a more composed <br />acceptance of Life, a deeper appreciation for our surroundings.<br />And, above all, maybe in the end happiness might not need be<br />chained to an objective.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-8520329575213958612009-06-15T11:21:00.000-07:002009-08-21T12:09:18.800-07:00(21) Seeds of Virtue"I do not need to be told that all virtues are fragile in the beginning<br />and acquire toughness and stability in time."<br />[Moses Hadas, Translator, THE STOIC PHILOSOPHY OF SENECA: <br />ESSAYS AND LETTERS, W.W. Norton & Company, 1958, p. 76.]<br /><br />Comment: Upon reading the little sentence above, by the great<br />Roman Stoic, I immediately thought about human development in<br />modern terms. I also thought about the philosophical concept of<br />*apriori,* the assumption that proceeds from deduction--or perhaps<br />knowledge which we bring into the world, already intuitively aware<br />from the very beginning of our wee consciousness.<br /><br />Our memories really have to be jarred, if we can go back to our<br />first couple of years. Did we sit at our parents' knees and listen,<br />comprehending the nuances of Virtue--or did we simply respond<br />to Yes and No, sometimes emphatically expressed?<br /><br />Still I can relate to some early experience, when not yet five years<br />old. It was about facing a "justice" issue, and somehow deciding<br />by my action upon what I considered a good and right course to<br />take. Over the years I have wondered about this event, wondered<br />how in the world I knew correctly what to do. Was this action on my<br />part something inborn? I knew that my father subscribed to a system<br />that caused a certain injustice to others, and by my small action I<br />took issue.<br /><br />So was I perhaps acting out some sort of disagreement (or even<br />antagonism) against my father? Later, when I was lots older, yes<br />I disagreed with my father on this justice issue. But by that time I<br />was far more consciously aware about the history and concerns of<br />this issue. I truthfully cannot say that was the case when I took<br />action when still a very small child.<br /><br />Now very much more mature in age, I have been long exposed to <br />my environment and its impact upon what is deemed Virtue. <br />Just me, but I'm inclined to wonder where our idea(s) of Virtue <br />come from. I believe that the "seeds" of Virtue are imbued in us, <br />already imbued as we are born into this world--thus, *apriori."<br />Many of us seem to know that certain high values are written in <br />our heart.<br /><br />But like any form of talent or potential, it is left to our evolving<br />human development to hone our sense of Virtue and according<br />conduct. Hence Education is significant.<br /><br />With this there is an abiding question: why is Virtue important?<br /><br />I suspect it is strongly connected with Survival. As we humans<br />slowly developed socially, developed communities, unto cultures<br />and civilizations, we had to learn to live effectively with one<br />another. Our behavior toward the "other" had to be carefully<br />constructed, so as to produce a livable environment wherein<br />we did not harm (or even destroy) the other. Like tennis, what<br />we lob across the court can come back at us. The "Golden<br />Rule" is basic, so to speak.<br /><br />Yet the wise Seneca noted we need stay strong when it comes<br />to Virtue. If we let such slip, we can quickly begin to see the<br />sad ramifications. Virtue need *stay* written in our heart, mainly<br />accomplished by continual testing of our individual and societal<br />behavior towards one another. As for Stability, well it surely is<br />helped along when we successfully practice Virtue.<br /><br />It would seem that we need constantly to nourish the Seeds of<br />Virtue, lest we fail.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-44143288823356543472008-04-23T12:58:00.000-07:002009-08-21T12:08:37.962-07:00(20) Kinship"More significant was the emphasis the Stoics placed on the<br />essential kinship of all men through their participation in divine<br />reason, or logos. They spoke of a universal society, a kind of<br />brotherhood of mankind, transcending the state. They refused<br />to attach any significance to noble birth and showed concern <br />about the position of the slave."<br />[Encyclopedia Americana, "Stoicism," p. 735.]<br /><br />Comment: The above quote represents an on-going idealism<br />that has followed us down through the ages. This "kinship" is<br />like a dream that won't go away, no matter how we decry such<br />a possibility through our actions.<br /><br />Unfortunately "positions of power," usually no longer attached<br />to nobility (whether inherited or instilled), still rule our world.<br />As for "slaves," maybe no longer chattel or serfs, there still <br />remain far too many enslaved peoples--whether to dictators,<br />to religious authorities, to unfair economic systems. Also,<br />enslavement is made possible through ignorance that--in turn--<br />is propagated by a lack of education or at least a lack of <br />information. These days much of the flow of information we<br />receive can be manipulated by those in a position of power,<br />employed for their own purpose.<br /><br />Sounds negative, but that wonderful dream of kinship still dwells<br />in quiet corners. The question is about the "how" of it. How can<br />we humans ever reach a stage of development wherein this<br />kinship can ever hope to become a reality?<br /><br />The Stoics talked of "divine reason," the Logos, as the path to<br />such a kinship. Their teachers talked of the "City of Zeus," which<br />indeed transcended governments, states, nations. This grand<br />City was cosmic, universal in nature. Even the Christians took<br />up the banner, talking about the "City of God." Alas, even after<br />such undertakings as the League of Nations and, later, the<br />United Nations, we are splintered. Why?<br /><br />If I had any precise, correct answers, well I would be a sage. I'm<br />not, however. I can only guess that our connection with "God"<br />isn't all that tight. We have even splintered God. Indeed it is a<br />long on-going habit. The ancients had their pantheon of gods,<br />and we moderns have our ever splitting denominations! And <br />too many of us declare that we *know* what God thinks and does.<br />This kind of mindset always makes trouble for the rest of us who<br />aren't sure.<br /><br />As for "divine reason," well some religious traditions do inject<br />Reason into their repositories as somewhat of a necessity when<br />it comes to an understanding of God. Just as much, alas, some<br />religious groups seem to forgo Reason altogether. We are a far<br />cry from the ideal kinship the Stoics stressed.<br /><br />How can we even begin to approach such a possibility nowadays?<br />Maybe scientific discoveries might begin to point the way. The<br />Human Genome project tackled our human DNA. Beyond this,<br />we have come to understand that no matter Religion, Color, Gender,<br />Nationality, or any other kind of separation can deny that we humans<br />share a common DNA. Gads! We even have discovered that our<br />common DNA doesn't differ much from our cousin, the Chimp. <br />This discovery--disturbing, surely, for some--links us with the <br />Natural World. Hateful a discovery it might be, there it is!<br /><br />Our DNA declares our human kinship. It's universal. Our DNA even<br />connects us with other species, linking us to that natural Web of<br />Relationship that is declared by both scientists and philosophers of<br />"Deep Ecology." Perhaps we need attend "divine reason" from far<br />different perspectives as we come more informed. If we look at<br />Creation and all the discoveries we are making therein, we just<br />might get a glimpse of "divine reason" long at work, seeing how<br />we are all strung together under its aegis.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-70855888470200022002008-02-04T10:06:00.000-08:002009-08-21T12:08:05.508-07:00(19) Happiness"We hold that happiness as understood by mature and fit <br />agents is a property of whole lives, not of transient mental<br />states. We hold that is is achievable only through a proper<br />balance of stability and control..."<br />[Lawrence C. Becker, A NEW STOICISM, Princeton University<br />Press, 1998, p. 138.]<br /><br />Comment: I agree generally, but slightly disagree specifically.<br />There are some moments of happiness that can happen to <br />us unexpectedly. These moments perhaps should be seen <br />as gifts of Fortune, if you will. And just because we didn't<br />generate these special moments does not mean that we need<br />deny such. <br /><br />But generally I do believe happiness is a state-of-mind that<br />spreads out into our life, stays sweetly, calm and content.<br />It's a matter of outlook, perhaps. And reaching towards this<br />condition is not a matter of specific happenings. As Becker<br />puts, this more steady form of happiness is not something<br />that is transient--that comes and goes.<br /><br />However, this more general form of happiness is easier said<br />than done. I believe, as Becker does, that it's a result of<br />"stability and control." But these are attributes that take time<br />and effort, when it comes to developing them.<br /><br />Stability? What does that really mean? In the monastic world,<br />stability is an essential that revolves around "staying put" in a<br />specific location; i.e., a monastery. But this idea can be expanded<br />in lots of different ways. There's long been talk that the *person*<br />is the living monastery, instead of some geographic spot behind<br />walls. But evolving personhood does depend on developing <br />personal stability. And with this, we are right back with the Stoics!<br /><br />The next question is how does one develop stability? Surely <br />the answer depends on the person's personality. How you might<br />become stable might differ from the way I might evolve stability.<br />Perhaps I can only speak for myself in this matter. Mainly, I think<br />the big (or biggest) step is coming "To Know Thyself." I believe<br />the ancients had it right in this case.<br /><br />More questions arise. Is knowing one's self a much more <br />complex issue today? Do we now live not only in a more <br />complicated outer world, but also a more complicated inner <br />world? Are ancient quotations really applicable for moderns?<br />In general terms, probably so. But, specifically, nowadays we<br />face far more variables!<br /><br />Depth Psychology has made some headway into the complexities<br />of our mind. There's also Cognitive Science and Consciousness<br />Studies that also point towards a more challenging situation when<br />it comes to personhood. To be honest, it's obvious we probably<br />face a more hefty self-encounter than the ancients. <br /><br />Nonetheless, "stability and control" remain essential. "Knowing<br />Thyself" involves self-acceptance. It's at this point where we reach<br />a kind of quiet, just knowing who we are. It's at this point that we<br />have garnered together all the different elements that compose <br />our personhood. If we can do this, then we have stabilized our<br />self. To use common parlance, we have "got it together" and then<br />it is a matter of "following our flow."<br /><br />As for control, well that's like being the helmsman of our soul. <br />Steering through the sea of Life involves constant encounter(s)<br />that engage the stability of our ship, so to speak. We now *know*<br />who we are, but we may not always know what Life might be<br />throwing at us in the next moment. And it's at this point where<br />we need take control of our self and remain stable. If we can do<br />this, I guess you could call us a successful person--and that <br />can translate into happiness.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-54340586522915879702007-08-26T14:40:00.000-07:002007-08-26T14:47:35.811-07:00(18) Duty"Do not act unwillingly, nor selfishly nor without self-examination,<br />nor with divergent motives. Let no affectation veneer your thinking...<br />Moreover let the God within be the guardian of a real man...You<br />should stand upright, not be held upright."<br />[Marcus Aurelius, MEDITATIONS, Alfred Knopf, Everyman's Library, <br />1946, p.14.]<br /><br />Comment: Marcus Aurelius was an Emperor of the Roman Empire,<br />wherein no man below him would be allowed to hold him upright.<br />At the top of his society, the ruler, his only true recourse was to rely<br />upon his own cognizance. That is not to say that he did not have<br />counselors, but in the end all his decisions and the actions that <br />ensued from such were ultimately traceable back to him.<br /><br />Marcus Aurelius was deemed a "good" emperor by historians,<br />albeit the list of most Roman Caesars before him would make<br />nearly any decent man look good. Still, Marcus had the good<br />fortune to have a good family and also an adoptive family that <br />tutored him in the craft of statesmanship. Included in this, he <br />embarked upon the study of Stoic philosophy--and became a <br />proponent of the Stoa.<br /><br />Now this isn't to say that Marcus Aurelius was a pious do-gooder. <br />He felt obliged to carry out his duty as Emperor. And this sometimes<br />meant standing in judgement, making harsh decisions, and also<br />waging war to protect his Empire from so-called barbarians. The<br />Stoic idea of doing one's duty is not necessarily as we might see<br />it today, especially from a religious perspective. Marcus Aurelius'<br />duty was to protect the Imperium from perceived destructive forces<br />from both within and without. <br /><br />Interestingly, at the other end of the social spectrum was a freed<br />Roman slave--Epictetus, who also became a leading Stoic during<br />the time of the Empire. He was a teacher of the Stoa, concentrating<br />on virtue and morality. <br /><br />Perhaps it would seem that Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius are <br />extreme examples of the Stoa. Curious, but both truly suffered.<br />The Emperor surely was melancholy, as it seeps through in his<br />Meditations. It could be he was not all that comfortable in his role.<br />As Emperor he had oft to make personally harsh decisions that <br />likely roiled in his mind. On the other hand Epictetus was mistreated<br />as a boy, actually crippled by a cruel master. But Fate ultimately<br />provided him a master who saw to his education and eventually <br />gave him his freedom.<br /><br />These two famous Stoics had different duties in life, and the only<br />thing they held in common was to follow their duty as they saw it.<br /><br />One's outlook on duty must somehow impact on their accomplishment<br />of such. "Duty" as the Stoa presents it is not necessarily full of a list<br />of "do's and dont's," such as you might find in religious prescriptions.<br />Rather, the Stoa only asked that one try to be virtuous and act <br />naturally towards one's duty. The Stoa saw few issues when it came<br />to serving one's State or Nation or even Empire. For the Stoics these<br />societal constructs were systems necessary for the benefit and<br />protection of humanity.<br /><br />Today we might be more inclined towards Epictetus' role and the <br />duty involved as a teacher. It perhaps seems more gentle. Still,<br />there are other duties, rough duties that are necessary in this world,<br />that seem less attractive. Fate thrusts us in these categories of duty.<br />The concern, always, is that we face our duty steadfastly, doing such<br />as virtuously as we can.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-24153302190053374242007-08-04T10:50:00.000-07:002007-08-04T19:39:59.576-07:00(17) The Will of Nature"Learn the will of nature. Study it, pay attention to it, and then<br />make it your own. The will of nature is revealed to us through<br />everyday experiences common to all people...Carry this<br />understanding over to matters of greater emotional import<br />and worldly consequence...Learn to accept events, even death,<br />with intelligence."<br />[Sharon Lebell , THE ART OF LIVING: EPICTETUS, a New <br />Interpretation of the Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and <br />Effectiveness, Harper, 1994, p.35.]<br /><br />Comment: Even if we are not familiar with Stoicism, much less<br />one of its leading proponents, Epictetus, most of us are familiar <br />with that old adage about "death and taxes." We can't escape<br />them, at least seemingly so.<br /><br />There are tax evaders, especially so at the higher income brackets.<br />Occasionally such evaders are brought to justice, but that's <br />probably mostly a small dip in a deep pan. As for death, well<br />at the physical level it seems a pretty sure thing. <br /><br />As for "events," well that depends on what we can or cannot<br />change. Epictetus hoped that we had the wisdom to understand<br />this. Some events are simply beyond our control--and we would<br />be better off to work through them and try to put them behind us,<br />if we can. <br /><br />However, what about those situations or events that we can<br />alter or control? I suspect a lot of these kind of events, if we so<br />choose, can actually be deterred, prevented. In our own day we<br />perhaps have better opportunities to do this. Technology can<br />serve as a preventative or as a warning system; i.e., nature's<br />storms for example. Forewarned, we can move out of the path<br />of a hurricane--if we choose to do so.<br /><br />We also can thwart medical disasters upon occasion. Our <br />health systems are focusing more and more on Preventative<br />Medicine. Today, too, we have Insurance whether it's for<br />fire or flood or accident or even to replace us, in that it provides<br />a certain financial security for family left behind. <br /><br />So it would seem we are becoming more savvy when it comes to<br />circumventing the "will of nature." We still need intelligently to<br />accept certain events that are simply unavoidable; but, we are<br />also more intelligently learning to negate some events as well.<br /><br />Nonetheless, we are only on the cusp of coping with nature. There's<br />no need to crow over our successes. Still, we have to consider that<br />we no longer have to assume a blank passive acceptance of events.<br />Such passiviity is now our enemy, if you will. If we are to make this<br />world a better place in which to live, we need come to grips with<br />seemingly impossible events. <br /><br />For example, even death may take a turn for us. We now discover<br />that there have been thousands upon thousands of Near Death<br />Experience (NDE) reports coming down to us through the centuries.<br />We no longer consider the NDE as an "old wives' tale," but rather<br />now we have psychologists and medical personnel actually <br />examining this reported death event. <br /><br />We still have to accept death on the physical level. A friend, a<br />family member, who has died is gone to us. Physically gone, but<br />maybe not spiritually. Do we really have to accept the "dead and<br />gone"? Many of us intuit that there is more to this phenomenon.<br />The challenge is *not* to be overwhelmed by death, but rather<br />cherish our hope and love for those seemingly lost. <br /><br />In the end, we are learning to cope with nature in more productive<br />ways. We are learning to forewarn, learning to protect ourselves<br />better. And no matter our adversities, we are learning not to stew<br />in them; but, rather, we are evolving better coping mechanisms.<br />By using our intelligence, employing our ingenuity, we no longer<br />are totally enslaved to the will of nature. Most importantly, perhaps<br />the next step in our relationship, we are carefully beginning to<br />*respect* nature, learning how to work with her, letting her teach us!Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-71546647618821697142007-07-03T10:05:00.000-07:002007-07-03T10:12:15.370-07:00(16) Reason's CousinsAs Virgil asked: "Is this the way to the heavens?" In turn, <br />the Stoic philosopher Seneca responded. "For this is what<br />philosophy has promised me--that she will make me God's<br />equal. That's the invitation and that's what I've come for..."<br />[Seneca, LETTERS FROM A STOIC, Translator (Robin <br />Campbell), Penguin Books, 1969, p. 99.]<br /><br />The ancient Stoa taught that we are as a microcosm to the<br />Macrocosm. And the Macrocosm was that Vital Force, the<br />great Reason that stood as the Plenum of the Universe.<br />And it is within this context, I believe, that the early Stoics<br />were talking in these terms as an equal to God. <br /><br />*Reason* was the big outcropping discovery for the early<br />Greeks. It was a new human tool, very shiny and exciting.<br />Reason was that discovered capacity that seemingly made<br />the human rise above all the other life forms on the planet.<br />Albeit, however, even in this context only a few humans actually<br />were well honed in this new capacity wherein one could feel a <br />true son of God, or God's equal. The route towards living a <br />virtuous life under the aegis of Reason was that of philosophy. <br />And the Stoics felt that they had it right, were on the correct <br />course, if you will.<br /><br />In today's world, some of these kind of ideas seem rather naive.<br />Over the course of more than two millennia, Reason isn't <br />worshipped as it once was. Perhaps the European Enlightenment<br />was the sunset of Reason as the one and only important human<br />capacity. Perhaps putting too much emphasis on Logic dimmed<br />our worship of Reason. More likely the evolution of learning, the<br />compiling of an ever increasing knowledge-base, put Reason<br />into a less comfortable place.<br /><br />Today we look at ourselves, at our world, far more holistically.<br />We have come to understand that we humans are far more<br />diverse in our capacities, in our abilities, that now disallow<br />pigeon-holing ourselves into one specific category--Reason or<br />otherwise. Today modern psychologists realize that our mind<br />is altogether Emotion, Feeling, as well as Reason. And by <br />stressing just one category, there had been the tendency to<br />ignore these other useful capacities. What we modern humans<br />are learning is that holistically all our capacities must interplay<br />with one another, must work in tandem in order to be more<br />effective in this Game of Life.<br /><br />I still believe that sentient forms of be-ing in this world are as a<br />microcosm to the Macrocosm; because it is our hope that in<br />some not yet fully understandable way the Universe, itself, is<br />the epitome of Sentience. But, again, Sentience cannot be boxed<br />in, just as a sentient being should not. Evolving, unfolding in this<br />world, is not about just one capacity over all the others in which<br />we have been endowed. Instead, it would seem we are meant<br />to discover over and over more capacities as we evolve towards<br />a greater maturity.<br /><br />One of the major new fields rising in our own time is Consciousness<br />Studies. Scholars representing many disciplines are involved in<br />this new field. Indeed there are international forums sponsoring<br />this work more and more. Nowadays it is far from just Reason.<br />It is even beyond the more general categories of Emotion and<br />Feeling. Scientists now study Consciousness in relation to Quantum<br />Physics or within the more general context of the New Cosmology.<br />Scholars no longer are reticent about such human capacities as <br />telepathy or even subtle energies--hence we have Psi, Parapsychology.<br /><br />Thus it would seem Reason has its cousins, so to speak. Reason<br />need not be rejected as we place our other human capacities in<br />their rightful place. After all, if not for Reason we would never have<br />discovered or come to comprehend these other aspects of the human<br />mind. And Reason, too, has come to be tolerant, more open in its<br />estimation of these other human capacities. Reason has allowed<br />itself to become a pioneer wandering in mental fields of which the<br />ancient Stoic could not even imagine.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-2172397382504220632007-06-29T10:23:00.000-07:002007-06-29T10:30:14.326-07:00(15) An Effective Life"Practical reasoning...must be able to integrate all the <br />endeavors it assesses, either horizontally or vertically."<br />[Lawrence C. Becker, A NEW STOICISM, Princeton <br />University Press, 1998, p. 50.]<br /><br />In today's world the above is good advice, but the task<br />is a harder matter! As I read these simple lines, it would<br />seem they come right out of a survival manual. Throughout<br />life we are constantly bombarded with issues coming from<br />outside; whereas, inwardly, we are constantly initiating new<br />endeavors for our selves. <br /><br />Plainly put, our lives are complicated. Some of us pine for<br />a more simple life. Maybe a monastery? Doesn't happen. <br />I have been in monasteries where the regimen keeps one<br />involved from morning's rise to bedtime. Nonetheless, the<br />monastic life does involve a practical structure that (if followed)<br />can possibly enable a person to live a more effective life.<br /><br />And I think that Stoicism also attempted to lay out a means<br />of self-disicipline through its emphasis on a virtuous life and<br />the working through of such via "practical reasoning." <br /><br />The secret, I suspect, is about a realistic structuring of one's<br />life. It's not about some impractical, impossible lifestyle that<br />doesn't fit one's disposition nor one's circumstances. I think<br />it is more working through trying to understand one's disposition,<br />those proclivities that belong especially to our personal nature.<br /><br />First we need come to "know thyself." The Stoic route is not<br />necessarily communal. First and foremost the responsibility<br />for attaining an effective life is personal. Initially, in whatever <br />way, we need come to understand who we are! What makes <br />us tick. How we are packaged psychologically. What traits and <br />talents come naturally for us. This inner examination is a very, <br />very practical pursuit.<br /><br />Out of this inner important step we can come to structure, organize<br />our life--mainly because we have come to know who we are, <br />what we are capable of doing, and by what means with which <br />we are more comfortable in carrying out our endeavors.<br /><br />Outwardly we consistently face varied challenges that this world<br />throws before us. The worry is not to collapse under these <br />continuous challenges. And the hope is that we can rise above<br />(and actually gain and learn from) these challenges. The world <br />can indeed be a school, if it doesn't kill us! <br /><br />And perhaps the final aspect of a more effective life is about<br />integrating our inner knowledge with our outer abilities, so as<br />they work fluidly and naturally. Then we have half-a-chance!Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-30324260860877094172007-06-25T13:25:00.000-07:002007-06-25T13:42:51.522-07:00(14) Feeding our Mind"In spite of their emphasis on self-examination and internal<br />dialogues, Stoics do not do away with teachers. They freely<br />admit that both initially and at recurring moments of weakness,<br />one needs teachers to provide assistance, to pull one out of<br />the bog mire of mistaken priorities, and to undermine one's<br />deceptive self-complacency."<br />[Gretchen Reydams-Schils, THE ROMAN STOICS: SELF,<br />RESPONSIBILITY, AND AFFECTION, University of Chicago<br />Press, 2005, p. 18.]<br /><br />Comment: Whew! I should hope so! Self-sufficiency is an<br />admirable condition, but only if it is not based on ignorance.<br />A person, like just about any other life-form, has to grow always<br />into a greater sense of completeness. And if we don't, we are<br />not altogether our true self.<br /><br />To use the analogy of growth, of development, when it comes<br />to plants and animals, such growth is dependent upon many<br />variables. There's the proper climate, the conditions of the<br />habitat, relationship also. There's the main ingredients of<br />nourishment, food and water. And special fertilizers or <br />enhanced food--and even sometimes an artificial environment--<br />can advance the growth process. There's always room for<br />improvement.<br /><br />We humans endure under these very same conditions. But,<br />beyond the physical, we have attained to a higher mental<br />level. And our mind needs nourishment and special treatment<br />if we are to reach the fullness of our potential.<br /><br />Sadly, I once met a young man in his 20s who refused to<br />trust in nor even read books. His parents did see to it that he<br />graduated from high school, but after that level he simply<br />decided to stop growing mentally. Ten years later he is still<br />down in the pits of the labor force. I felt bad about this fellow,<br />because he was very adept and smart. But he was so adamant<br />against book learning. He never exposed himself to teachers<br />or authors who might have expanded his horizon.<br /><br />On the other hand, this young man was spiritually inclined.<br />He felt "different" from others, moving willy-nilly into magical<br />thinking, assuming that what came forth in his imagination was<br />pure knowledge. He needed no other "authority." He was his<br />own authority!<br /><br />One doesn't have to undergo the rigors of higher education,<br />but there would seem a need to try to self-educate one's self<br />if at all possible. There are libraries, and there's the Web that<br />nearly serves as the world's "Great Library of Alexandria." It's<br />incredible what is available to us in today's electronic world.<br />Closing our eyes, our mind, to this great knowledge-base of <br />information is nearly tantamount to being negligent towards<br />one's self. <br /><br />Beyond this, too, an educated mind is important for the <br />development of the Human Collective. We are constantly<br />pouring our minds into this Collective, through our work, through<br />our interactions, through our institutions. And for this Collective<br />to run effectively, it needs the proper fuel of information and<br />guidance. "Teachers" are not always those just in the schools,<br />but rather also reside in those corners where wisdom dwells. <br />Good guidance consistently remains desperately needed.<br /><br />As for any well-formed person, after they are well-grounded in<br />inherited knowledge, after they have attended good counsel,<br />it is at this point that they can more effectively mine their soul.<br />Additionally, an enhanced mind can better bring forth the fruits<br />of its contemplation.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-17047469062694436592007-06-18T14:12:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:42:14.286-07:00(13) Common Basis of Religious Truths?"Another Stoic influence of considerable importance in the<br />tradition of Christian Humanism was the view that all religions<br />have a common basis of truths concerning God..."<br />[Encyclopedia Britannica, "Philosophical Schools and <br />Doctrine," p. 608.]<br /><br />Comment: If I remember correctly, ancient Stoics considered<br />various religions as representing different "faces" of God.<br />As for a common basis of truth, I am not so sure when it<br />comes to the various expressions of Religion. However,<br />one might guess around this issue.<br /><br />I have recently read an interesting book by a famous church<br />leader, pondering whether the basis of Religion might really<br />revolve around our age-old need to survive in this world.<br />Various religions do exhibit a certain placating, whether via<br />ritual or prayer, that would seem to be forms of asking God<br />to protect us, to help us out. Also,there are certain kinds of <br />religious measures we need undergo that would make us more <br />acceptable--and safe!<br /><br />Maybe not all, but certainly most religions also circulate <br />around one of our most basic human needs: that deep<br />ontological question about Meaning. Who are we in this<br />world, and what is the world all about? <br /><br />Stoicism, itself, declares that we humans are as a microcosm<br />to the Macrocosm. This is a philosophical premise that surely<br />can serve our sense of spirituality. Perhaps some religions<br />borrow from this premise. Christ talked about the "Vine and the<br />Branches," if you will. And St. Paul devised an interesting term,<br />the "Body of Christ" in which various members would work to<br />build-up the Church by the action of their various talents and <br />abilities. This "Body of Christ" could be seen as a sort of mystical<br />macrocosmic entity wherein microcosmic members would<br />contribute to its evolution.<br /><br />Beyond this, in more recent religious thinking, there's finally a<br />return to the idea of the Ground of Being, no matter the labels.<br />The theologian Paul Tillich wrote of the *Urgrund,* this great<br />Ground of Being in which we all reside. Pierre Teilhard de <br />Chardin, a Jesuit theologian and paleontologist, provided a<br />unique evolutionary view via his *Christogenesis.* He saw<br />cosmogenesis in terms of the Omega Point, a moving forward<br />and converging of humanity around the common center of a <br />Cosmic Christ. Again, in this there's the flavor of the microcosmos<br />in relation to the Macrocosmos.<br /><br />I, myself, am theologically trained. Still, as I have hopefully<br />continued to mature, I look beyond a religion that may have<br />once been necessary for our survival. Sometimes this kind of<br />religion becomes a "concretion," a kind of box that reverts towards<br />literalist and magical thinking. Rather, I look more towards a sense<br />of Meaning that gives value to our existence. Personally I am<br />inclined toward a sense of evolving sentience in this universe,<br />where our minds are ever becoming more great and intense<br />"consciousness points" that are part and parcel of the Macrocosmos!<br /><br />Nonetheless, as for a common basis of truths concerning God,<br />well it would seem to me that we are dealing simply with the <br />natural unfolding of increasing consciousness. And it's not a level<br />trajectory either! Still there are jumps from one plateau of religious<br />understanding to the next. Yet, not everybody jumps at the same<br />time! It is not an even evolution when it comes to religious thought<br />and expression.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-4007933988912662502007-06-07T16:23:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:42:45.831-07:00(12) Fence and Field"In Stoic circles philosophy was compared to a fruitful field<br />surrounded by the fence of logic. The fence was designed<br />to ward off the attacks of the sceptic by showing that knowledge<br />of reality is possible. The soil of the field stood for physics, a<br />subject which the philosopher was expected to cultivate in<br />order to gain an understanding of the nature of the world.<br />The crop was the type of conduct expected from the Stoic wise<br />man in whom reason ruled and emotion was suppressed."<br />[J.V. Luce, AN INTRODUCTION TO GREEK PHILOSOPHY,<br />Thames & Hudson, 1992, pp. 132-133.]<br /><br />Unto this very day philosophers--and the field of Philosophy--<br />carry forth their "proofs" when it comes to understanding the<br />nature of the universe and the considerations of right conduct.<br /><br />When it comes to logic, according to the dictionary it is a<br />"reasoning conducted or assessed according to strict principles<br />of validity." Though we humans try, logic is easier said than done.<br />Perhaps it was easier in the Greco-Roman world of the ancient<br />Stoics, but in our contemporary world "validity" is like a fine mist<br />that can dissipate rapidly. Our modern knowledge base simply<br />is too overwhelming to assume a totally correct position or even <br />principle. We now realize that we live in a world that is becoming <br />ever more and more mysterious! Plain and simple, we really <br />don't know as much as we thought we did. So logic is fine and <br />good and still necessary for the benefit of reasoning, but we can <br />no longer hold it as being infallible. <br /><br />Of course this leads us into physics, trying to understand the<br />"nature of the universe." These past several centuries have<br />truly been breakthrough centuries in this respect. Physics <br />exploded upon the scene after a long hiatus during the Middle<br />Ages. And it was surely a very different kind of physics than<br />that of the Ancient World. Modern-day physics may employ<br />logic to a certain extent; but mainly it is based on *observation,*<br />oft predicated on advanced technology. And what we have found<br />upon occasion surpasses logic, taking us by surprise even more<br />than we might want to admit. Particle Physics has discovered a<br />grainy strange world upon which we actually stand. Modern<br />physicists talk about mysterious mind-matter links, as they call<br />ours an "Observer-Participant Universe."<br /><br />So today's Stoics might be more circumspect about getting an<br />ironclad grip on the universe, or even depending totally on a<br />declared infallible logic. Nevertheless, the Stoa's emphasis on<br />"virtuous conduct" based on reason and responsibility surely<br />still is commendable. <br /><br />However, suppressing "emotions" may have been a losing<br />proposition right from the very beginning. Historically, even the<br />ancient Stoics backed off somewhat from this proposition. Their<br />reliance on *apatheia* (never to be mistaken as apathy) might<br />make better sense when it addresses those negative passions<br />that can make us sick, sad, and disturbed. These kind of passions,<br />too, can hurt and even kill. If humanity is to flourish, negative<br />passions need to be understood, controlled, and if possible,<br />re-configured into something more acceptable. <br /><br />As for good emotions, good feelings, well I suppose they are a<br />category that enhances our sense of well-being. They act upon<br />us positively, and they can interact positively in our relationships.<br />So following the "logic" of this, a modern Stoic likely would have<br />to re-think fairly seriously about the suppression of emotions.<br />More than likely a smart Stoic, today, would be looking at this<br />issue from the perspective of Depth Psychology--not physics,<br />yet a mental science that has opened up a wide avenue of<br />understanding when it comes to the human "psyche."<br /><br />All in all, today's Stoic surely can stand on the foundation of those<br />early Stoics; yet, in light of our more extensive modern knowledge<br />base, contemporary Stoics need adjust their perspective accordingly.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-30147316513651594942007-06-04T14:34:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:43:15.828-07:00(11) A Common Climate"Stoicism expounded a new outlook on personal dignity and <br />on the nature of law, together with a new conception of the state, <br />as reflecting world order and as leading men of all origins and <br />classes to personal fulfillment. It may be said that this philosophy<br />not only presented a moral alternative to Christianity, but also<br />that it helped develop a climate in which Christian teaching <br />could take hold more firmly. Many of its doctrines were trans-<br />posed into Christian thought by the Fathers of the Church <br />and have become important aspects of modern civilization <br />and thought. "<br />[New Catholic Encyclopedia, "Stoicism," p. 719.]<br />(Also,see the "Assimilation" post in this website)<br /><br />Comment: Considering that these seemingly "modern" ideas<br />were around more than twenty centuries ago, one surely has to <br />count Stoicism as a real breakthrough in human consciousness!<br />This "new outlook" cropped forth in the midst of elitism, when<br />only the aristocracy might vote, where slavery seemed a <br />cultural necessity, and gender persecution of women had <br />been the norm for generations infinitum.<br /><br />True, too, that Stoicism provided a receptive climate for Early<br />Christianity. This particular religion put a *personal face* on<br />the pantheism--or as some now think, panentheism--of the <br />Stoa. The ancient Gentiles of the Greco-Roman world were at <br />least vaguely familiar with these philosophical currents that made <br />it easier to convert them to the new religion of Christianity. <br />Scholars oft speculate that St. Paul of Tarsus may have been <br />familiar with the tenets of Stoicism. A major Stoa was located <br />in his city. And when one reads a good portion of his Epistles, <br />there's a universality there and even themes that suggest he was <br />borrowing from Stoic thought. It makes sense, considering the <br />Gentile audience he was aiming to convert.<br /><br />Additionally, this process that moves from the Ancient Stoa to <br />Early Christianity can be viewed from another perspective. It's<br />about a CONTINUUM of Thought (or Information), if you will. <br />It's not only about the considerations of Deity, about the Logos<br />and the Pneuma, unto Christ as the "Incarnation of the Logos," <br />about the Holy Spirit, but it is also about consolidating and <br />working towards a world order: i.e., the Body of Christ, in which <br />all served its purpose, employing their respective talents and <br />abilities. The Stoa's "City of Zeus" became Early Christianity's <br />"City of God."<br /><br />Alas, peering out into the world of our own day, it would seem<br />that much of the hopeful thought of both the Ancient Stoa and<br />Early Christianity has evaporated. Christianity slipped into a<br />medieval mode, becoming more and more authoritarian, later<br />more and more fragmented as various groups grasped for <br />reform. As for the Stoa, well it graduated for a long time into one<br />of those lost philosophies where only a few scholars here and<br />there took interest. As majestic as Stoicism was as a philosophy,<br />it never made it down to the grass-roots of Humanity. And<br />Christianity lost its high horizons and fell to earth, now swaddled <br />in the parochialism of the grass-roots, oft swayed by those<br />authoritarians who play their own power politics in this once<br />hopeful religion.<br /><br />Still, there's a common climate that exists between the Stoa and<br />what may eventually become a future, universally-oriented <br />Spirituality that seems to be arising here and there, in the world,<br />in our own time. The central themes of Stoicism can hold true<br />morally and even in terms of the idea of a Universal Ground of<br />Being, based not only on contemporary theological concepts but<br />also on some aspects of modern science theory.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-46517982225424409682007-06-01T16:14:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:44:15.753-07:00(10) Flawed FateAn encyclopedic account notes that "Zeno defined the end at<br />which man should aim as 'life in accordance with nature,' and<br />by 'nature' he meant not only man's instincts which lead him<br />to choose' the primarily natural,' i.e. life, health, etc., but also<br />the whole nature of the universe, which is identical with God.<br />Every event in the whole universe is necessary, providential<br />and due to the divine will. Since man cannot wholly foresee <br />the future, he is bound sometimes to choose what his own<br />nature suggests but what fate will prevent his attaining."<br /><br />Comment: The above stated thought is unfortunately flawed.<br />There's no doubt that humans have a mind of their own, and<br />that more than occasionally they choose what is not good<br />for their own sake and even for the Greater Good. However,<br />Fate would oft seem remiss when it comes to disallowing<br />wrong decisions and actions.<br /><br />We only have to look at Human History. It is full of horrific<br />acts. We only have to look at Natural Events. They, too,<br />can bring forth catastrophe. <br /><br />The ancient Stoic believed that we somehow need "grin and<br />bear it," if you will. But is this idea a misnomer? Partly, in<br />that Stoic philosophers often wrote treatises that pretty much<br />were *avoidance manuals.* They focused on virtuous living.<br />By doing so, humans would learn to make the right decisions,<br />would learn to do the right thing.<br /><br />There's certainly merit in the virtuous life--a life that includes<br />all the wise avenues and approaches we humans have devised <br />over our long history. Still, no one--not even the wisest of <br />Stoics--has ever attained what is deemed a "Sage" status.<br />Even within the context of the virtuous life there's struggle <br />and failure.<br /><br />And in today's modern world, we face awesome struggle <br />and failure. Wrong decisions can lead to terrible tragedies.<br />And wicked decisions can lead to horror. The Stoics realized<br />that there were those who lived an un-virtuous life, and they<br />responded with a sense of moral condemnation. But in our<br />own time, condemnation without action will not cut it. We<br />cannot afford to leave it at that, so to speak.<br /><br />As for equating God with the universe, well there are pantheists<br />and panentheists. Yet trouble arises when God seemingly<br />does allow Evil. Our long-held concepts of an All-Good God<br />become fragile in the face of Despair and Death and Dissolution.<br />Long after the Stoics our theologians try to cope with the Theodicy<br />Problem, boiled down to "why does God allow bad things to<br />happen to good people?"<br /><br />On the other hand, one might see some merit in "living according<br />to nature" when we work to try to understand ourselves--i.e, our <br />specially formed proclivities, our disposition. When we better<br />understand our self, we can learn to go with the flow of who we<br />are. Using psychological lingo, learning to cooperate with our<br />particular archetypal construct is better than trying to cope with<br />stereotypical expectations that simply do not fit who we are.<br /><br />It would be commendable, too, to try better to understand <br />how our universe works. Albeit, we humans are still "babes in<br />the woods" when it come to this intention. Still, if we could learn<br />to cooperate more with our natural surrounding, our environment,<br />we might learn to live in harmony with our planet. We might<br />learn, also, that our universe is a Gigantic System in which exist<br />systems upon systems infinitum. We might even discover<br />that ours is also a relational universe, i.e. Deep Ecology. It's<br />all connected!<br /><br />Still, in today's world--as much as we can work to become more<br />wise, as much as we might learn about the workings of our<br />natural ecology, both individually unto universally, there's really<br />no guarantee when it comes to our fate. This goes against Stoic<br />principles, I suppose. Nonetheless, other Stoic tenets do talk of <br />virtue, of bravery, of justice, of moderation that boils down to <br />*intelligent living.* These tenets are helpful and can certainly<br />be applied to make ours a better world in which to live.<br /><br />We just have to grow into them.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-66463160859199788002007-05-30T14:04:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:44:56.825-07:00(9) Inborn IdeasAs put in Stoic teaching..."inborn ideas are part of the soul's <br />inheritance from that universal reason of which the soul is <br />a fragment."<br />[Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Stoics," p. 861.]<br /><br />Comment: We humans have ideas popping into our minds<br />nearly non-stop. That's part of the human condition. On the<br />other hand, we more than often don't concentrate enough<br />on most of these ideas. Often, too, a lot of the ideas that<br />meet our minds seem fragmented, not altogether, not concise.<br /><br />There's also the environment in which these ideas form.<br />Our minds vary. Some are well-honed, others impoverished,<br />and most are likely preoccupied with our everyday living and<br />occasionally with the immediate issues of survival. So--inborn <br />ideas are not always planted in fertile ground.<br /><br />When such precious ideas do match with a complimentary<br />environment, it's then that sometimes the idea grows from<br />immediate comprehension unto a profitable thought unto,<br />maybe, an actuality. <br /><br />There are some today, both in theology and in science, who<br />theorize that ours is both an inner/outer universe. Like ourselves,<br />the universe possesses both a "without" and a "within." Some<br />of these theorists ponder that perhaps innate ideas are a product<br />of an implicate order that somehow thrusts these ideas outward<br />into the explicate order of the universe. <br /><br />Again, theorizing, but such scholars feel that it is very important<br />that we connect more and more, better and better, with these<br />inborn ideas. They are coming from "within" and need to be <br />met in the "without."<br /><br />If these theories are anywhere near being correct, what would <br />be the significance of this process? We could employ a religious<br />perspective, presuming that these ideas are coming from God.<br />But harkening more to the idea of a Universal Reason, perhaps<br />inborn ideas are simply part of the natural process--in which the<br />ideas have always been in existence in the Macrocosm and <br />slip forth into microcosmic forms when they have reached an<br />evolutionary point wherein they can receive and perhaps cope<br />with these ideas. Perhaps inborn ideas are meant to be the<br />building-blocks of cosmic development?Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-54096680430201450632007-05-29T14:10:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:45:39.838-07:00(8) Seed unto Code"The basic concept of Stoic physics is logos, a Greek word<br />meaning 'reasoned speech.' In Stoicism it describes divine<br />power, pervading all things, also referred to as a breath, <br />which infers *pneuma,* or a seed...It permeates animate<br />and inanimate matter. It is mind, nature, and disposition."<br />[Encyclopedia Americana, "Stoicism," p. 734.]<br /><br />Comment: "Seed" is a familiar archaic term that we refer to<br />when we observe growth in something. There's an underlying<br />assumption that within a seed can be found the information<br />that determines the finished product, whether a weed, a <br />flower, a tree, an animal, or a human being.<br /><br />In modern times we may tend more to think in terms of<br />"code." We are all familiar with the subject of DNA. We<br />know about genome projects. And we have discovered<br />that DNA, itself, is code. And all of life is permeated with<br />this code that wraps around itself in a myriad of ways and<br />produces the magnificent diversity of life we find on this<br />planet.<br /><br />As for our minds, our nature, our dispositions--are they, too,<br />a response to code? Currently there are bio-medical studies<br />about the hard-wiring of the human brain, with some scientists<br />inferring that we are even hard-wired when it comes to morality,<br />our ability to want to be ethical. Conversely, sometimes there's<br />a loose or missing wire, hence psychopaths. <br /><br />From another perspective, particularly that of Depth Psychology,<br />there are "archetypal" aspects that determine who we are, how<br />we are put together in terms of mind, nature, and disposition.<br /><br />In the past archetypal psychologists have seen psychical<br />currents that not only determine who we--as individuals--are,<br />but also how such impacts upon the Collective Mind of our<br />various cultural systems. Some make out these archetypal<br />forces in nearly mystical terms. But what if archetypes are <br />actually just another form of code? We have actually labeled <br />those primary archetypes that have been identified, usually <br />again employing fundamental but mystical terms. Why? <br />Mainly because our myths and ensuing symbolism that<br />surround these archetypes have in the past been seen from <br />a mythical or spiritual perspective.<br /><br />But in today's world, just maybe we might want to re-approach<br />these archetypal forces of the mind as code! James Hillman,<br />a famous depth psychologist, has begun to do this. See his<br />book, THE SOUL'S CODE: IN SEARCH OF CHARACTER AND<br />CALLING, that sees *code* standing behind the analogy of<br />the seed or the archetype.<br /><br />So--it would seem that the ancient cosmology of the Stoa<br />could be linked with a Cosmic Intelligence, i.e. the Reason,<br />or the Laws of the Universe, that stand behind the coding of<br />the cosmos and everything in it. Yet another question arises:<br />is everything already determined?<br /><br />Determinism vis-a-vis the Freedom of Choice has been a <br />debate probably since the dawn of consciousness. Perhaps <br />this situation need be seen half-way. There's coding that holds <br />the potential for a particular form, a particular completeness, <br />but there's no guarantee that the seed will unfold appropriately.<br />In flowers, plants, and trees the climate is always a variable. <br />And adaptation is also a variable, both for flora and fauna. <br />Conditions play upon the coding, if you will. <br /><br />Than again, there's mind! Is it a human quality that somehow<br />goes beyond the hard-wiring of the brain? Or is mind simply<br />subservient to the brain. That's a hard question that no one has<br />yet managed to answer with any degree of certitude. Still, we<br />humans certainly do display the Freedom of Choice--more than<br />often wrong choices, alas! Even the Stoics got into this issue,<br />when it came to the Virtuous Life. We have concerned ourselves<br />over this issue nearly forever.<br /><br />Lest we forget, Stoic physics did refer to the "pneuma," a Spirit,<br />a Breath, a permeating Force that stands behind the Intelligence<br />(or Reason or Law(s) of this Universe. If we humans are likened<br />to be a microcosm to the Macrocosm, well it can be inferred that<br />we, too, possess our own pneuma (or spirit, or soul) that stands <br />behind all that we are and will become. We may be coded,<br />hard-wired, but more than often we seem also to have the ability<br />to choose what we make of ourselves--and, eventually, of our<br />world.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-47465193746835238102007-05-23T16:31:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:46:26.269-07:00(7) Cosmology of the Ancient StoaThe word "cosmology" is defined as the science of the origin<br />and development of the universe. In modern times we think<br />of the Big Bang, of Particle Physics, and AstroPhysics--all<br />assisted by cutting-edge technology--when we consider <br />the origin of the universe. However, more than two millennia<br />back in time, the ancient Greek philosophers were not privy<br />to the theoretics and the technology so familiar to us today.<br /><br />Stoics nonetheless inherited a cosmic tradition, handed down<br />by Greek mythology. For example, "the analogy between<br />living beings and parts of the cosmos [was] extremely ancient<br />in Greece and antedates all written records." Indeed, the<br />analogy between microcosm and macrocosm can be traced<br />back as far as the sixth century b.c.e.<br />[David E. Hahm, THE ORIGINS OF STOIC COSMOLOGY,<br />Ohio State University Press, 1977, p.63.]<br /><br />Ancient Greek physics consisted of air, fire, water, and earth.<br />Consequently, Stoic philosophers forged their cosmology<br />within this context. Also, early on in Greek philosophy<br />"the idea became popular that the cosmos as a whole is a<br />single living being."<br />[Ibid, p. 63.]<br /><br />Even more specifically, early Stoic philosophers stressed <br />a cosmic-biological character when it came to the universe.<br />For example, the early Stoics believed that the cosmos<br />originated out of the "fire of the conflagration." And as Zeno<br />reportedly put, the fire is "as it were a seed of the future <br />cosmos, possessing the *Logoi* (Reason) of all things."<br /><br />Eventually this primeval fire changes into water. Out of this<br />comes the concept that body and soul are as two distinct <br />entities. As Hahm put: "Clearly the water is body and fire <br />is soul."<br /><br />Continuing with biological terms, the Stoics refer to seed<br />in terms of sperm, which was wet, watery. As put, "as the<br />seed is embraced in the seminal fluid, so also this (i.e. god),<br />being a *spermatikos logos* of the cosmos is left behind--<br />making the matter adapted to himself for the genesis of the<br />next things..."<br />[Ibid, p. 60.]<br /><br />In time Stoic physics moved into more sophisticated terms<br />when it came to discussing the cosmos. They considered<br />*Pneuma* (Spirit) as an all-pervasive intelligent force that<br />mixes with "shapeless and passive matter" and "imbues it<br />with all its qualities."<br />[S. Sambursky, PHYSICS OF THE STOICS, MacMillan<br />Company, 1959, p. 18.]<br /><br />The Stoics also referred to *heimarmene*, an orderly succession<br />of cause and effect. To quote: "Heimarmene is the natural <br />order of the Whole by which from eternity one thing follows<br />another...[and] embodied in the definition of heimarmene<br />follows its meaning as *Logos* (Eternal Reason), as the divine <br />order and law, by which the cosmos is administered."<br />[Ibid, p. 58.]<br /><br />Essentially this idea of Eternal Reason--the *Logos*--is about<br />an intelligently designed Fire that structures matter in accordance<br />with it's plan. Hence, out of a "shapeless and passive matter'<br />the Stoics endowed the cosmos with Intelligence and Reason<br />via the workings of the Fire of the Spirit, the *Pneuma.*<br /><br />In due course the Stoics addressed the existence of human<br />beings in this Living Cosmos. They considered Man as a<br />microcosm to the macrocosm. Referring back to the Pneuma, <br />the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus considered that "the cosmos<br />is permeated and given life by the Pneuma, the same...makes a<br />man a living, organic whole." Hence, the Stoic emphasis on<br />the microcosm vis-a-vis the macrocosm!<br />[Hahm, THE ORIGINS OF STOIC COSMOLOGY, p. 163,Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-1532608675957453962007-05-18T18:57:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:47:31.792-07:00(6) Cleanthes "Hymn to Zeus"Most glorious of the immortals, invoked by many names, <br />ever all-powerful, Zeus, the First Cause of Nature, who <br />rules all things with Law, Hail! It is right for mortals to call <br />upon you, since from you we have our being, we whose <br />lot it is to be God's image, we alone of all mortal creatures <br />that live and move upon the earth. Accordingly, I will praise <br />you with my hymn and ever sing of your might. The whole <br />universe, spinning around the earth, goes wherever you<br />lead it and is willingly guided by you. So great is the servant <br />which you hold in your invincible hands, your eternal, <br />two-edged, lightning-forked thunderbolt. By its strokes <br />all the works of nature came to be established, and with it <br />you guide the universal Word of Reason which moves <br />through all creation, mingling with the great sun and the <br />small stars. O God, without you nothing comes to be on <br />earth, neither in the region of the heavenly poles, nor in <br />the sea, except what evil men do in their folly. But you know <br />how to make extraordinary things suitable, and how to bring <br />order forth from chaos; and even that which is unlovely is <br />lovely to you. For thus you have joined all things, the good <br />with the bad, into one, so that the eternal Word of all came <br />to be one. This Word, however, evil mortals flee, poor <br />wretches; though they are desirous of good things for their <br />possession, they neither see nor listen to God's universal <br />Law; and yet, if they obey it intelligently, they would have <br />the good life. But they are senselessly driven to one evil <br />after another: some are eager for fame, no matter how <br />godlessly it is acquired; others are set on making money <br />without any orderly principles in their lives; and others are <br />bent on ease and on the pleasures and delights of the body. They do these foolish things, time and again, and are swept <br />along, eagerly defeating all they really wish for. O Zeus, <br />giver of all, shrouded in dark clouds and holding the vivid<br />bright lightning, rescue men from painful ignorance. Scatter <br />that ignorance far from their hearts and deign to rule all <br />things in justice so that, honored in this way, we may render <br />honor to you in return, and sing your deeds unceasingly, <br />as befits mortals; for there is no greater glory for men or for <br />gods than to justly praise the universal Word of Reason.Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-32484514851780444882007-04-26T13:33:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:48:22.449-07:00(5) AssimilationThis encyclopedic item addresses the linkage between ancient <br />Stoic and Christian thought.<br />-------------------------------------<br />"The assimilation of Stoic elements by the Church Fathers was <br />generally better understood by the 4th century c.e. Stoic influence <br />can be seen, for example, in the relation between reason and the<br />passions in the works of St. Ambrose...and of Marcus Minucius Felix, <br />a Christian Apologist. Each took a wealth of ideas from Stoic <br />morality as Cicero had interpreted it in De Officiis. In general, <br />whereas the emerging Christian morality affirmed its originality, <br />it also assimilated much of the pagan literature, the more congenial <br />elements of which were essentially Stoic.<br /><br />"Earlier, in the 3rd century, Quintus Tertullian, often called the <br />father of Latin Christian literature, seems to have been versed in <br />Stoic philosophy; e.g., in his theory of the agreement between the<br />supernatural and the human soul, in his use of the Stoic tenet that <br />from a truth there follow truths, and in his employment of the idea of <br />universal consent...Tertullian showed a fundamental grasp and <br />appreciation of such themes as the word 'logos' and the relation <br />of body to soul.<br /><br />"Also, St. Cyprian, bishop of Carthage in the 3rd century revealed <br />the currency of Stoic views: e.g., in his Ad Demetrianum, a <br />denunciation of an enemy to Christianity, in which Cyprian <br />castigates the ill treatment of slaves, who no less than their masters, <br />are formed of the same matter and endowed with the same soul and <br />live according to the same law. The beliefs in the brotherhood<br />of man and in the world as a great city, commonly found in early <br />Christian literature, were current Stoic themes."<br />[Encyclopedia Britannica, Philosophical Schools and Doctrines, p. 607.]<br />---------------------------------------<br /><br />"Stoicism influenced Christianity in many respects. Christians <br />converted from Stoicism expressed their ideas in Stoic terms. Thus <br />the term 'logos' found in the first verse of St. John's Gospel where<br />it is translated as 'Word'...[And, also,] the Stoics had emphasized the <br />essential similarity of all men and the moral responsibility of each man <br />to provide for the basic need of other men. They had insisted on<br />simplicity and frugality and on the independence of the individual <br />in the face of evil and hostile society. All these teachings were in <br />harmony with Christianity. It is not surprising, therefore, to find traces <br />of Stoic philosophy in Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen,<br />Lactantius, St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, and other Christian writers."<br />[Encyclopedia Americana, Stoicism, p. 736.]<br />-------------------------------------<br /><br />"Much controversy has arrisen as to the origin of the terms 'the Word' <br />and 'the Holy Spirit' in Christian theology, and here we can only note <br />that both terms were in familiar use in the Stoic school at the same <br />epoch. They cannot, however, be claimed as distinctively Stoic. <br />But the way of thinking according to which God is at the same time <br />one and many belongs to the very core of Stoicism. Therefore, <br />whilst the doctrine of the Trinity is somewhat dimly adumbrated by<br />St. Paul, it has long ago been noted that its principle finds full <br />expression in the earlier writings of Seneca.<br /><br />"From the 3rd century onwards Stoicism was rapidly absorbed in <br />Christianity...[Indeed] Stoic converts brought with them their scientific <br />methods and even their school text-books; the De Officiis and the <br />Discourses of Epictetus became for all practical purposes Christian <br />manuals. It is greatly to be desired that modern theologians should <br />be equipped with a better knowledge of the philosophy which more <br />than any other was a nursing-mother to the Church."<br />[Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stoics, p. 864.]<br />-------------------------------------<br /><br />"Stoicism expounded a new outlook on personal dignity and on <br />the nature of law, together with a new conception of the state as <br />reflecting world order and as leading men of all origins and classes<br />to personal fulfillment. It may be said that this philosophy not only <br />presented a moral alternative to Christianity, but also that it helped <br />develop a climate in which Christian teaching could take<br />hold more firmly. Many of its doctrines were transposed into <br />Christian thought by the Fathers of the Church...<br /><br />"Early Patristic Thought. In the patristic era the influence of this <br />philosophy was pronounced unto about 230 c.e., and became <br />sporadic thereafter. In bk. 2 of his Paidagogos, Clement of <br />Alexandria made at least 15 textual borrowings from Musonius. <br />In the same work he sometimes used the text of Epictetus. Seneca <br />provided lines for St. Cyprian and Minucius Felix, but the effect of<br />Stoicism is clearly noticeable in the thesis they elaborated.<br /><br />"Man. The anthropology of all the Fathers had Stoic elements, <br />although none omitted the presence of a supernatural reality in man. <br />Almost all divided the human composite into body and soul in Stoic <br />fashion, and Tertullian saw in it a 'mixture' of two elements. The soul <br />itself was considered corporeal by Iranaeus and Tertullian, the latter <br />supporting his position with the Stoic principle: nihi si non corpus. <br />The psychology of Clement of Alexandria had a materialistic bent, <br />especially that in the Excerpta ex Theodoto. Finally Tatian and <br />Irenaeus noted in the soul an element shared with universal life <br />and thus reattached man to the cosmos.<br /><br />"Ethics was frequently related to Stoicism in its terminology and <br />in certain of its themes: indifference (Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, <br />Tatian, Minucius Felix, Tertullian, and with some variations, Clement<br />of Alexandria); apatheia and intellectualism (Justin, Athenagoras, <br />Irenaeus and especially Clement of Alexandria); conformity to the <br />'logos,' and to nature (Clement of Alexandria); natural law (Justin, <br />the Apostolic Constitutions, Clement of Alexandria, and particularly <br />Tertullian); equality of man and cosmopolitanism (particularly <br />Tertullian, Cyprian, and Minucius Felix); the model of the wise<br />man (Tatian and Clement of Alexandria, for whom the wise man <br />became the gnostic); and all the of the themes of the diatribe.<br /><br />"There was less Stoic influence on matters relating to God. Some <br />Fathers emphasized God's rational nature (Athenagoras, Minucius <br />Felix, and Tertullian), others His material nature (Tertullian). Almost <br />all, and especially Clement of Alexandria, noted His impassibility. <br />All proved His existence rationally, taking the order of the universe <br />as their point of departure. Their theories of the 'logos-pneuma' also <br />exhibited a Stoic aspect, and this apart from the terminology used: <br />e.g., God's corporeal nature (Tertullian and the Excerpta ex Theodoto) <br />and His cyclic unfolding in the Incarnation (the paschal homily<br />attributed to Hippolytus). One may even detect an animistic concept <br />of the world in Tatian and Theoplhilus of Antioch, and secondarily <br />in Tertullian, Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Novatian, and Clement of Alexandria, <br />but for all these thinkers the pneuma of the world, instead of being God, <br />because of some ill-defined intermediate. Finally, Minucius Felix and <br />Clement of Alexandria made the 'logos' the law and order of the world. <br />In all this God was viewed more as present in the universe than as <br />function in his redemptive work.<br /><br />"The World. Despite their theses about the initial creation, the Fathers <br />sometimes saw the world as undergoing a cyclic evolution. They <br />unanimously praised its beauty, order, and harmony, from Pope <br />St. Clement I of Rome all the way to Clement of Alexandria, who <br />was filled with wonder at the cosmos. The imperfection of detail in <br />the universe contributes to the perfection of the All (Tertullian<br />and Clement of Alexandria) which perfection results from the <br />complementarity of opposites (Irenaeus, Tertullian, Novatian, <br />and Clement of Alexandria).<br /><br />"For these writers, as for the Stoics, the world was at the disposal <br />of man and was explained in anthropomorphic terms with a <br />disconcerting optimism. Finally, the universe itself constituted <br />a great All (Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Novatian), one 'vast body' <br />(Tatian and Tertullian)...and the meeting of body and spirit <br />(in anthropology, the Incarnation, grace,and the matter of the <br />Sacraments presented no difficulty for any of them.<br /><br />"Finally, everything was conceived in a spatio-temporal framework, <br />even man, who was seen as subject to a uniform law of the cosmos. <br />This law was seen variously as a 'sympathy' among all<br />spirits (Athenagoras and Clement of Alexandria), an essential <br />connection (Tertullian and particularly Minucius Felix), and a <br />combined effort united in harmony (Novatian).<br /><br />"A brief account does not permit the necessary references or <br />useful precisions, but the fact is that a Stoic current ran through <br />Christian thought before 250."<br />[New Catholic Encyclopedia, Stoicism, pp. 719-720.]Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-46959745230246504142007-04-23T11:15:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:49:18.502-07:00(4) Ancient Voices, Modern Thoughts"Heraclitus: God, he called the Logos, Reason, Intelligence, a <br />Whole made up of the sum total of all opposites, constantly in <br />motion, birthing, living, dying, and being born again. The <br />Heraclitean universe is a place where all parts are related to <br />the whole, and its symbol is fire, a rarefied fire that permeates,<br />consumes, destroys, creates, and lights the cosmos as one <br />single organism of life His cosmology and ours describe a <br />universe that is a unified, organic view of the cosmos."<br />[With permission, from Erik Wiegardt's, THE PATH OF THE <br />SAGE: AN INTRODUCTION TO STOIC PHILOSOPHY, <br />Wordsmith Press, 1996, pp. 11-12.]<br /><br />"Zeno taught a unified system of philosophy in three parts: <br />ethics, physics, and logic. He established principles...based <br />not just on what he said they should be but on an understanding <br />of man's relation to the universe (physics) that followed from a <br />careful and accurate method of reasoning and rhetoric (logic) to <br />confirm the truth of these principles." [p. 15.]<br /><br />"Posidonius of Rhodes: ...the Stoic doctrine of the interdependence <br />of all parts of the whole...our intelligence was more closely akin to <br />the intelligence that ruled nature, and that our reason was our<br />special link to the Logos." [p. 17.]<br /><br />"In the Roman Empire: The Stoa...was the only philosophy <br />addressed to all, regardless of sex, race, or social class." [p. 19.]<br /><br />"The Roman gods were largely viewed with skepticism, and <br />religious activities were limited to formal ceremonies carried out <br />by State officials that held little meaning to an individual's daily life.<br />The Stoa, on the other hand, showed the right way to live each day, <br />provided counsel for the hard decisions that had to be made, and <br />promised a direct and personal identity with the God of all <br />Creation, of nature and reason." [p. 20.]<br /><br />"The Stoa and Christianity: Stoic doctrine was gradually <br />absorbed into Western intellectual history with the help of <br />Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, St. Jerome, John Cassian, <br />St. Augustine, Peter Abelard, Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, <br />and Meister Eckhart, to name a few...Stoicism was permanently <br />impressed into the traditions laid down by the Christian thinkers <br />of the early Middle Ages...By the time of the Renaissance, <br />Stoic philosophy became even more central to Western <br />thought...And the ethics of the Stoa predominated and inspired <br />Renaissance philosophies and essayists in their creation of <br />the new humanism of that era that is still a powerful force in the<br />world today." [p. 25.]<br /><br />"Classical Stoic physics, although entirely theoretical, more <br />closely resembled modern physics than any other early science. <br />Even so, much of it is dated." [p. 29.]<br /><br />"Stoic physical theory [is] the first to propose that physical laws <br />on earth were the same everywhere, even though they didn't have <br />the experimental proof or the language of modern mathematicians."<br />[p. 31.]<br /><br />"The Logos: A force endowed with reason, continuous in space <br />and time, pervading, defining, and uniting the cosmos. A world soul."<br />[p.33.]<br /><br />"The first and Ultimate Principle of Stoic physics is that the Logos <br />and Matter are one of a continuum. The Logos is the active principle <br />and Matter is passive, not dead, and each is contained in the other. <br />We see the cosmos as a single, living organism shining in the <br />emptiness of the void, and that which makes it alive pervades, <br />defines, and unites each part of the whole. The Logos, God, the <br />Natural Order is one whole made up of interrelated parts, and such <br />a One is by our reckoning self-contained and self-sustaining." [p. 33.]<br /><br />"Question: Did the cosmos, the Logos, have a self-reflective<br />awareness *before* the development of noetic consciousness <br />here and elsewhere in the universe; or, is its consciousness only <br />now awakening to itself?" [p. 44.]<br /><br />"Stoics believe we are *all* sons and daughters of God. And our <br />consciousness, our reflective awareness, our reason that we use <br />is our evidence for this relationship. Is the Logos more than<br />that, something higher and greater than reason? What we do <br />know is that we have the kind of consciousness that recognizes <br />the Natural Order, and from our recognition comes our own<br />designs and creations, technological manifestations of our <br />understanding..." [p.47.]<br /><br />"The sub-atomic world is a web of relations unifying the whole...<br />we acquire a clearer vision of reality as it is. Knowing our world, <br />its seasons and cycles and laws, is how we can best determine <br />our actions and expectations. We are not exempt from natural <br />laws. We are in it, and it is in us." [p. 54.]<br /><br />"The Mystical Position: What the whole does, we do. What the <br />whole is, we are. The fate of all is our fate, and the appearance <br />of separate individuals is an illusion of the ego, part of the game<br />nature plays with itself...Actually, the Stoa isn't that far away from <br />the mystical position. We are the Logos. Remember, our <br />cosmologist was Heraclitus--the mystical genius..." [p. 60.]<br /><br />"For you free will enthusiasts, don't despair. There is a solution, <br />a way of viewing the situation--a solution, a way of viewing the <br />situation...a solution that can be summed up in a single world, an<br />idea that was reformulated from the Stoa by the Christian scholar <br />monk, John Cassian. ATTITUDE!" Cassian...taught that all virtues <br />and all vices arise from one source: our inner attitude directing<br />the choices we make. Therefore, all virtues are one and all vices <br />are one because they all come from one source: ATTITUDE." [p. 60.]<br /><br />"The Stoa never encourages indifference. Value...is a term <br />the Stoics invented to describe those things preferred but not in<br />and of themselves a good. Values are neither good or bad <br />because a Stoic rises above both prosperity and adversity...the <br />larger view...these external things happen, they come and go, <br />and that the only certain refuge is inside, in the *attitude* he <br />has taken to them." [p. 65.]<br /><br />"Evil: There is no evil in nature; evil only comes from human <br />vice; vice comes from only one source, the passions; the passions <br />we identify as pleasure, pain, fear, and desire to avoid becoming<br />slaves to these passions...if we find we can't regulate it, moderate <br />it to our own benefit..." [p. 66.]<br /><br />"Apatheia: Don't forget our motto: live according to nature--which <br />includes the obvious fact that we have feelings, given to us by <br />nature, and to deny them is like asking a human being to be a <br />tree...we have emotions, we feel, but we make a distinction <br />between the positive and negative among them. It is in a state <br />of apatheia that one is freed from enslavement to the passions <br />allowing the Stoic to follow his reason, to focus and cultivate <br />positive emotions, feelings of benevolence, prudence, friendship, <br />sympathy, and everyone's favorite, joy..." [p. 68.]<br /><br />"The Imaginal Realm: Traditionally the Stoa was divided into <br />three areas of study: physics, logic, and ethics. Today a more <br />complete understanding must divide it into four: history, physics,<br />ethics, and metaphysics...The laws of physics, of course, are an <br />attempt to understand the laws of nature. To know the laws of <br />nature guides us in our efforts to live well in this world...And, <br />finally, we can't help but wonder if there isn't something more. <br />Our pending confrontation with death, our mortality,is one <br />compelling reason for many of us to search further and deeper <br />into the cosmos to know what sages know in their serenity."<br />[pp. 71-72.]<br /><br />"Where do we go from here, we who are the flowering of noetic <br />consciousness in the universe, we who are the mirror of cosmic <br />awareness? Is there another level to which we may aspire and<br />self-evolve? What is the next level of consciousness and how <br />do we get there? [Just maybe we need to] come to know the <br />mystical experience as a routine part of our education." [p. 94.]Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-78858282042519963072007-04-22T10:10:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:50:29.766-07:00(3) Salient PointsThe spiritual outlook of the Ancient Stoa dates back <br />some 2300 years. Here's an abbreviated encyclopedic <br />account of such:<br /><br />•The reason of things--that which accounts for <br />them--is no longer some external end to which they <br />are tending; it is something acting within them, "a <br />spirit deeply infused," germinating and developing as <br />from a seed in the heart of each separate thing that <br />exists. By its prompting the thing grows, develops <br />and decays, while this "germinal reason," the element <br />of quality in the thing, remains constant through <br />all its changes.<br /><br />•God is Fire (divine energy) and Logos (reason) <br />diffused throughout the cosmos. The Law of Nature <br />(physical law) is his material presence in the universe. <br />As Cosmic Reason (logos) he is ipso facto Providence, <br />ordaining all things, and as Fate, imposing upon man <br />a physical determinism that allows for freedom merely <br />as man's inner acceptance of cosmic necessity.<br /><br />•Fire is like a seed having in itself the reason of all <br />things and the causes of what was, is, and shall be. <br />It is the vital principle from which all plants and animals <br />spring. At any stage of development God remains as <br />a living force, molding and dominating passive matter <br />in view of further progress.<br /><br />•Soul is the inherent property of God, a mode of <br />life activity.<br /><br />•The Soul of the world fills and penetrates it; the <br />soul of man pervades the body, informing and guiding <br />it, stamping man with his essential natural character.<br /><br />•Inborn ideas are part of the soul's inheritance from <br />that Universal Reason of which the soul is a fragment.<br /><br />•Each human soul is a fragment of the universal divine <br />force, yet not completely sundered from its parent-stock.<br /><br />•An immanent active God fills every corner of the <br />universe and is the cause of everything that happens. <br />It is man's duty to live harmoniously with the Law of <br />the Universe and to accept all that comes to him as the <br />doing of God.<br /><br />•In the rational creatures--man and the gods--<br />Pneuma (Spirit) is manifested in a high degree of <br />purity and intensity as an emanation from the <br />World-Soul.<br /><br />•What God is for the world that the soul is for man. <br />The cosmos must be conceived as a single whole, <br />its variety being referred to as varying stages of <br />condensation in the Pneuma. So, too, the human <br />soul must possess absolute simplicity, its varying <br />functions being conditioned by the degrees or species <br />of its tension.<br /><br />•The nature of man is the universal on a small scale, <br />or a "microcosm." Each human soul is a fragment of <br />the universal divine force, yet not completely sundered <br />from the parent-stock. "We are thy offspring." We are <br />all his family.<br /><br />•The relation of the Soul of the Universe to God is quite <br />clear; it is an inherent property,a mode of His activity, <br />an effluence or emanation. A Stoic might consistently <br />maintain that World-Soul, Providence, Destiny and <br />Germinal Reason are not merely synonyms, for they <br />express different aspects of God, different relations of <br />God to things.<br /><br />•There are gradations of soul, by which a hierarchy of <br />rank is established among living beings. Virtue for man <br />is to maintain his rank as a son of God; vice is to fall to <br />the level of the animals or the plants.<br /><br />•Sooner or later souls (upon death) are merged in the <br />Soul of the Universe. (Although it was a moot point <br />whether all souls survive--some Stoics believed that <br />only the souls of the wise and good alone survived.)<br /><br />•Virtue is self-knowledge: the quality of a spirit in <br />perfect harmony with itself.<br /><br />•A truly wise man was therefore to live as much as <br />possible in conformity with nature--meaning within <br />the confines of his natural in-born disposition and <br />the Laws of the Universe.<br /><br />•The end of action is therefore a harmonious <br />consistent life according to nature.<br /><br />•Cosmopolitan citizenship.<br /><br />•No longer any difference between Greek and Barbarian,<br />male and female, bond and free.<br /><br />•The wise man is free--the unwise are slaves.<br /><br />•God is best worshipped in the shrine of the heart by <br />the desire to know and obey Him.<br /><br />•Concession to popular beliefs: traditional religious <br />beliefs/practices are a means of communication <br />between God and Man.<br /><br />•Traditional Religions: "And it is always appropriate to <br />make libations and sacrifices and give firstfruits according <br />to the customs of one's forefathers, in a manner that is <br />pure and neither slovenly nor careless, nor indeed cheaply <br />nor beyond one's means." [Epictetus]<br /><br />•True Religion is the recognition by men of his relation to <br />deity, and its essential features are not ceremony and <br />sacrifice, but prayer, self-examination and praise.<br /><br />•Goal of man is to live in agreement with world design: <br />the cosmic citizen. As a cosmic citizen, man has a loyalty <br />and obligation to all things in that city (the world, the <br />cosmos)--man's essential worth, universal brotherhood.<br /><br />•Logic is to be used as an instrument--not as an end in <br />itself. Human happiness is to be treated as a product of <br />nature. And the wise man serves as a model.<br /><br />•Usual objects of desire (such as wealth and honors) are <br />not necessary to a virtuous life--these things are morally <br />indifferent, possessing relative values.<br /><br />•Man knows that he is part of the universe. He should <br />realize that the apparent interests of the part must remain <br />subordinate to the interests of the whole.<br /><br />•Every event in the whole universe is necessary, <br />providential and due to the divine will. Man can choose <br />what his own nature suggests, and acknowledge that <br />which Fate will prevent his attaining.<br /><br />•Actions should be the product of knowledge--not <br />of guesswork.<br /><br />•Wickedness is closely associated with mistaken <br />judgments.<br /><br />•Belief in Providence was joined to a belief in <br />divination and prophetic dreams.<br /><br />•Moderation induces decent behavior.<br /><br />•The only thing in our own control is our will; we can <br />exercise that so as neither to desire nor fear the things<br />of the world, which are assigned by God.<br /><br />•The Stoic wise man was independent of the society <br />in which he lived. Yet a man could become more <br />virtuous only by exercising his virtue in his relations <br />with other men, and the exercise of virtue was to be<br />found in areas demanding responsibility. Thus it was <br />necessary for him to earn his living and take part <br />in public life.<br /><br />•The highest philosophy is to recognize that Reason <br />and Will are one.<br /><br />[Gleaned from the following encyclopedias: Britannica,<br /> Americana, Philosophy, New Catholic and others.]Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4788257176903589811.post-80073167376625952472007-04-20T13:23:00.000-07:002007-06-20T10:51:45.128-07:00(2) The Living Stoa"The Stoa is a living philosophy. What that means is <br />that Stoic philosophy is more than just great thoughts<br />organized into a complete and coherent vision of reality. <br />It is first and foremost a philosophy to live by, a practical <br />application of ancient wisdom, a way of life, and a guide <br />to the choices one makes in this life.<br /><br />"It also means something more. The Stoa is alive. The <br />reason it is alive after nearly 2300 years is because it is <br />universally adaptable and available to all people, men and <br />women of every color, class, and culture. And something <br />else: it evolves. As the human race learns and grows, so <br />does the Stoa. It evolves because of the strength and <br />conviction of the Stoics themselves. Stoics have a tradition <br />of independent thought, and we like it that way. We of the <br />Stoic school, as Seneca said, do not follow a tyrant. This <br />is not to say that what we are left with is a hodgepodge of<br />assorted ideas collected here and there. This is not the <br />Stoa. It's inner core of orthodoxy moves very slowly, <br />glacially, expanding and refining with the ages. Its <br />foundation is secure because it is built upon the <br />unassailable power of a single idea: Live according <br />to nature.<br /><br />"That's the Stoic motto. Zeno of Citium said it first, and <br />he's the founder and father of our school, but he wasn't <br />working alone. He was following a path already begun by <br />two of the greatest thinkers in history, Heraclitus and <br />Socrates. These two men, one a mystic cosmologist and <br />the other a moral philosopher who lived and died by his <br />ideals, may rightly be called the Grandfathers of the Stoa.<br /><br />"But Stoicism actually began with the teachings of Zeno <br />at the central market of Athens about 300 BCE. Zeno <br />regularly met with students on the north side of the <br />market at a stoa, a covered colonnade, called the <br />Painted Stoa, renowned for its spectacular murals. <br />In time, Zeno and his students became known as the <br />men of the Stoa, or Stoics. Here he taught a moral system <br />based upon nature: the guide to human happiness, he <br />said, is clearly evident in the processes and cycles of <br />nature. Upon these teachings the school was founded,<br />continuing through the Roman Stoa, the Christian Stoa, <br />and into the present period."<br />[ Quoted with permission from Erik Wiegardt's CYBERSTOA.]Beatrix Murrellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11311101719106506471noreply@blogger.com