Stoicism: A Hellenistic philosophy
An Introduction to Stoicism
We come into this world hungry, vulnerable, and befuddled. We try to eliminate these feelings as we go through life by trying to control the conditions of the world around us. We strive to accomplish and obtain things, such as achieving higher status, acquiring wealth or fame, gaining power, and so on. We live with the persistent hope that one day we will have enough control over our lives to be free of our emptiness, vulnerability, and confusion. And find ultimate happiness and security somewhere other than ourselves. This optimistic view of the future may appear reasonable, but it may be what keeps us trapped in our problems.
The ancient philosophy of Stoicism helps us to better understand and deal with our seemingly insatiable desire for ultimate control and happiness outside of ourselves. Stoicism is a philosophy that originated in Ancient Greece and spread to Ancient Rome. Stoicism is a particularly unique philosophy in terms of how well it has withstood the test of time over thousands of years. Stoic philosophy’s teachings and wisdom seem to be as relevant, if not more so, today than ever before.
Stoicism’s importance and implications in the modern era
Stoicism has gained popularity in recent years. It was used and encouraged by Nelson Mandela and has been written about by current, popular authors such as Tim Ferris, Robert Greene, and Ryan Holiday, to name a few. It has a sizable online community. Stoicism’s enduring appeal is not without reason. Stoic principles can help us find calm, presence, and resilience in a world of growing chaos, anxiety, and insatiable desire for more. Stoicism holds that we exist in a reality that is unconcerned about our perceptions of it. We can’t ask it nicely to remove the chaos, suffering, hardship, and uncertainty, and we can’t force ourselves onto it either. Nonetheless, stoicism suggests that this does not imply that we are powerless victims of the world. Stoicism, on the other hand, asserts that there are two domains of life: the external, which are things outside of our mind that we cannot influence, and the internal, which are our mental reactions and interpretations of the external that we can control.
When we continue to believe that things outside of ourselves or in the future will give us a type of ultimate bliss, we exchange every moment of our lives for a moment that does not exist. We become reliant on things outside of ourselves that we cannot control. We are continuously on a treadmill of needing more. We can and should engage our nature to develop and chase bigger, quicker, better, and more exciting things; however, we must be intentional in our aspirations to ensure that we are not squandering our time and wasting our life experiences. Whatever work we undertake, we will waste it if we believe that anything beyond the task itself would bring a better experience than the sense of focus and present in the task itself.
There is nothing wrong with striving after and gaining wealth, fame, or power, but in the minds of the Stoics, these things are just to be enjoyed if they come to pass, not to be relied on for happiness. Because if one is reliant on them, their happiness and peace of mind are more likely to be inconsistent, taken for granted, or never reached at all. According to Stoicism, a truly successful person is someone who can function without the things he or she
normally desires or relies on for comfort. There is no value in wealth, materialistic abundance, celebrity, or power if the individual who possesses them has not yet learned to live effectively without them.
A brief account of Stoic Philosophers
Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor, and prominent Stoic philosopher was the most powerful person in the world at the time. He had access to everything he could want, but he adds, “Almost nothing material is required for a happy life for he who has comprehended existence.” Marcus Aurelius lived with little interest in self-indulgence in things outside of himself while having access to the world. To cultivate this fortitude, a typical practice in stoicism is to temporarily deprive oneself of the things they normally rely on for comfort to demonstrate to oneself how strong they truly are without the things they believe they require.
Seneca, a Roman senator and one of the most prominent Stoic philosophers, writes in Letters from a Stoic, “unless we have begun to go without them, we fail to appreciate how needless many things are.” We’ve been using them because we had them rather than because we needed them.” It is our persistent anticipation that something outside of ourselves or in the future is required for a worthwhile experience in life that contributes to our failure to find a worthwhile experience in life in the first place. Seneca explains how to effectively manage one’s time and extract valuable experience in Letters from a Stoic. Seneca comments on time, “I advise you…to keep what is yours; and you cannot begin too early.” For, as our forefathers believed, when you reach the dregs of the cask, it is too late to spare. The amount remaining at the bottom is modest, and the quality is dreadful.” It is now that we must find time and happiness, for if we do not focus on the lens through which we view life right now, everything we see from this moment forward will remain out of focus. The ability to find happiness regardless of what happens around us, according to the stoic, is developed via character and viewpoint. We must recognize that nothing is intrinsically good or bad; only our judgments and interpretations of things can be good or terrible. “The intelligent man is neither lifted by wealth nor put down by hardship; for he has always strived to rely primarily on himself, and to derive all joy from himself,” Seneca writes. In other words, we must endeavor to shape our viewpoint to best serve our ability to maintain enjoyment and wonder in the face of life’s ups and downs.
Stoicism contends that we are simply a speck in the grand scheme of things and that everything that happens to us is relevant and necessary to everything beyond us. In this regard, we must aim for acceptance and indifference to everything that occurs, instead of focusing our attention on managing our emotions to what occurs. With this, we can begin to break away from the craziness of the world and find contentment and presence within ourselves.
Stoicism is not a simple practice by any means, and it is argued that living a truly stoic lifestyle is unattainable. No one is likely to be free of desires or negative reactions to the environment around them. Stoicism, on the other hand, provides us with a target of wisdom to aim for. When things appear to be at their worst, aim for happiness and calm. In an age where confusion and fear abound on our screens.Where cultural demands to live in particular ways and achieve specific goals consume us 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Where we spend a lot of time comparing ourselves to others and seeking their acceptance. Our sense of happiness and peace is increasingly threatened, and perhaps it is only through stoicism that we can try to keep it. We appear to dash, if not a sprint, through life from birth. Racing out of every moment, dissatisfied with what life is, and always looking to the future for what life could be if we just got something more or different. Our cultures barrage us with reinforcement of this idea, persuading us that it is our obligation to attain, purchase, own, and live ideal, untouched lives. This fallacy, on the other hand, frenzies us with anxiety, which we are then taught by culture that we can get rid of if we just do a few more things, get a little more money, be a little more popular, and purchase a little more goods; creating an unending feedback loop of unsatisfied hunger. We give up our lives if we give in to this. We renounce ourselves. “We should not, like sheep, follow the herd of creatures in front of us, making our way where others go, not where we ought to go,” Seneca writes.
Conclusion
From a sufficient distance, the “stuff” we often find ourselves chasing in life reveals itself to be rather petty and meaningless, according to the Stoics. We have little, if any, influence over what happens to us, how people perceive and treat us, or what happens as a result of what we do, and none of it matters in the bigger picture. Consequently, we must define our pleasure not by what we own or achieve, not by how others perceive us, not by some larger picture of life, but by how we think and see ourselves and live our own lives in accordance with what we deem virtuous and relevant