I'm going to be doing a bit of philosophical meandering. But it will be in addition to what I already blog about, so just ignore these entries if it be your wont. I'll give you fair warning by using the name Epictetus, and a number.
I not saying my reaction to these philosophical thoughts are going to be deep or mind-blowing, but I believe thinking about them just might help make me a little more patient and understanding of other people.
I've been reading an entry in the morning, and the same entry just before bed, and I've been trying to consciously maintain them through the day. I think writing about them will help.
The numbering is mine.
Epictetus. A Manual for Living. (Interpretation by Sharon Lebell.)
I think it's pronounced Epic (as in an epic movie) tea-tus.
"Know What You Can Control and What You Can't."
"...some things are within our control, and some things are not."
"...things within our power are naturally at our disposal, free from any restraint or hindrance..."
This idea really appeals to me. It doesn't require anyone else; nor tools, nor money, nor a situation. My own "aspirations, opinions, desires," are always there and I can always access them.
I just like the self-sufficiency and completeness of this idea. It is always with me. I can work on this now. I can carry this idea with me -- in traffic, with customers, with bills, with friends and family. My attitude toward these things are the only thing I can control -- but at the same time, I can control them as much as I am capable. It's up to me.
"...those things out of your control are weak, dependent, or determined by the whims and actions of others."
I think, perhaps, some of the things Epictetus counts as beyond our control, like wealth and status, were probably more under our control today than when he was born -- but, then again, I know what he's saying. Certainly, others opinions of us are not under our control.
So much frustration in wanting other people to act differently.
More on that tomorrow.
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9 comments:
I may be getting ahead of myself here -- there are lots of crossover in the Epictetus aphorisms -- but the Calvinist in me would like to believe that doing the 'right' thing would be rewarded with wealth and status.
But, of course, that isn't borne out by the logic, the facts, or history.
Rather, I think he would say wealth and status DON'T MATTER.
Only what is inside you matters --
Also, though I'll be talking about this tomorrow -- the goal of not trying to control what you can't control isn't necessarily to make me more patient and non-judgmental of other people -- and making THEM happier thereby, but that realizing I can't change them will make me less frustrated and angry, and by happenstance also make me more patient, if you catch the difference.
Go to your toilet room. Flush often and as much as you wish. This is one of the few things still in your control in modern day ameriKKKa.
Take off the lid and watch the water. Indulge yourself in all that you can control. Go run the water in your garden like a mad man. This is freedom. Rationing will come, but that be tomorrow. Today your a free man to waste as you wish.
Have you ever dabbled in Taoism? It has some elements in common with Stoicism, but it always seemed to me a much more cheerful philosophy. Stoicism says, "Struggle with problems and suffer the pains of life nobly." Taoism says, "Relax and enjoy the ride."
I think I'm too much of a Calvinist for that. But I don't think Stoicism is as dour as that.
Happiness comes from making right choices, which are within you to make.
I like that. (And as I mentioned once, fits like a glove with the "Reality Therapy" that helped me recover from my black dog days.)
"I think I'm too much of a Calvinist for that."
You're definitely a Calvinist, all right. But "relax and enjoy the ride" is a gross oversimplification of Taoist philosophy. It's actually a pretty demanding discipline. Relaxing and enjoying is easy; it's learning to do it that's tough. We want to be in control of things, and we also want life to conform to our notions of what's right.
"Happiness comes from making right choices, which are within you to make."
It would be nice if it were that easy, but many things are beyond our control. Who chooses to get cancer or have his wife and children killed by a drunken driver? And even when we try our damnedest to make the right choices we often fail, through lack of information and/or the shortcomings of our own reasoning powers.
The core idea of Taoism as I understand it (and nobody really understands it) is that the Tao (the way of things) requires pleasure to be balanced with pain, joy with sorrow, life with death, etc. Accept and embrace this natural order and you can achieve, if not happiness, at least harmony and a measure of contentment.
"Take off the lid and watch the water. Indulge yourself in all that you can control."
For extra fun you can make little toilet paper "boats" and try to sink them by peeing on them.
Much of Taoism is not that happy hbm. Maybe where its practiced.
From those same people we say ..."if you want to be happy a day take a nap, a week kill your pig, a year get married, and for life enjoy your work".
I think dunc is-was just on a guilt complex, he very much needs a nap. Not sure if happiness is his grief. I will say on his defense that a 'small biz' owner is always a powerless feeling.
I think dunc enjoys his 'work', thus he's a happy man. Calvinism surely is a BIG bore, but that said all comes to those he keep their nose to the grindstone. Too often Taoists simply find a temple where they can find a place to sleep and others to feed them.
There are happy in the east and the west, that said most of course are not, and the lot of man in general is always the same. Having a sense of control of your life is always a source of contentment.
I think the hardest thing about dunc's life is this notion of waiting for folks to come into the store, now that he has no power over. Certainly in the toilet room, or at home he has 'real power'.
I don't really think he's talking about happiness, that's never really been a obsession with dunc, this finding 'happiness' I think he's rather 'content'.
All religion in my mind is merely a path for men that can't make their own decisions. Baby Jeebus spent much of his 'missing 30 years' in the East, thus everything is really same-same.
"Right Thing" I doubt, pretty much throughout history 'might makes right', thus the US empire and its killing fields. Certainly there is no butcher such as the butcher's of the West.
In my mind the BIGGEST SLAVE to dunc's mind is his obsession with TV, the rotten corpse of the western butcher.
Having spent years living in China at Taoist Temples I can speak of 'taosim', but I think much is usually said, and its generally ok to say anything you wish :)
Unlike say christianity, where you would be disembowled for heresy if you declared on open-mind on most subject matter.
To me there is ONLY one differentiation between EAST&WEST and that was put forth long ago by PASCAL, that the major diff between EAST&WEST man is that the east man can be content in an empty room. Certainly dunc, is/was incapable of emptiness, which is the 100% basis of Taoism, as all comes from NOTHING.
When at work dunc is surrounded by clutter, and at home bombarded by TV, he's no Taoist HBM, dunc is 100% USA-MAN-APE. :)
But GREEK PHILOSOPHY is good, especially when your young.
On this subject physically the DIFF is that West man sits and the east man squat's, and thus the west has horrible problems with the colon and such.
Yes sailing ships of toilet paper in your own private bathroom, one of the last true ameriKKKan freedoms. :)
"Much of Taoism is not that happy hbm. Maybe where its practiced."
We need to distinguish between Taoist philosophy and the religion of Taoism. Huge difference.
"Certainly dunc, is/was incapable of emptiness"
Well, so are all except a very, very few, especially in the West. Getting empty is hard work.
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