Philosophies for peace
In my mind, one of the best, most rewarding things you can do for yourself is to hold inner peace as the highest good. Society has nothing but constructed norms, from how to look, to how to dress and how to behave. The only time we feel insecure is when we allow society to construct our reality for us. As we look back through history and across cultures, it is astonishing to see what was held in highest regard. In the Victorian period, women are often painted as plump or chubby. Now women are portrayed to be white with blond hair and physically fit. In some societies it is a strange occurrence when someone does not drink alcohol, while in others it is strictly prohibited. Before society was created, what was most highly regarded was the ability to survive through any means possible. Society runs rampant with reification, causing us to forget the fact that true happiness comes from within. The void inside each and every one of us can never be filled by material goods. We construct our own realities.
In the midst of the Hellenistic age, philosophers were all searching for ataraxia. Ataraxia is a state of deep peace best translated to tranquility. Four main schools emerged; Stoicism, Cynicism, Skepticism, and Epicureanism. I will only be talking about the first three. While reading this information, pause from time to time and perform this thought experiment. Ask yourself “How could this idea bring greater peace to my life?”
Stoicism is a school of thought that stresses the importance of peace with your current circumstances. Its essence is very similar to Buddhism. Have the strength to accept what you cannot change, the courage to change what you can, and the wisdom to know the difference. The first major lesson of stoicism is to discern what we can and cannot control. We can control our opinions and actions. We cannot control anything else. For example, if you don’t like the color of your hair, either you can leave it as is and accept it or you can take action to change the color. If there is an asteroid heading for Earth, you find peace in the understanding that nothing you do can change the outcome. You learn to no longer identify with thoughts and emotions, which cloud your judgment, and instead act from a place of sound reason. By following these rules, your essential nature is uncovered and honored through your every action. One of the main Stoic philosophers was Epictetus and his living condition as an enslaved person serves as a testament to the effectiveness of stoicism. If he can find freedom as a slave, we too can find freedom.
Cynicism is a school of thought which claims all of society’s rules to be constructed, and as such are not to be held in high regard. There are stories of cynics such as Diogenes living in bathtubs on the streets of Rome and walking around naked, speaking his truth and nothing else. This is an extreme case but does well to show us the nature of Cynicism. Acting moderately on this school of thought in modern times would look something like this. Not wearing clothes just because someone said it was cool, but wearing what makes you happy. Not being reserved and polite when telling the truth would be the difficult but virturious thing to do. Constructing your reality in such a way that what you are, have, and do is the ideal. You believe that what you do is the best thing you can be doing so firmly that others will feel insecure because they are not doing what you are doing. I have curly hair, so under this model anyone without curly hair would desire curly hair.
People are attracted to other who have what they most desire. A common desire is the desire to find inner peace. If someone is at peace with themselves, others will mistake the spiritual and internal causes for material and external causes. Because the internal is difficult to detect, people attribute other’s sense of confidence or peace to their external circumstances. This is why marketing works so well. Associate a happy family with a certain fancy car and people will think the car is directly linked to happiness. NOT SO!!!
In the midst of the Hellenistic age, philosophers were all searching for ataraxia. Ataraxia is a state of deep peace best translated to tranquility. Four main schools emerged; Stoicism, Cynicism, Skepticism, and Epicureanism. I will only be talking about the first three. While reading this information, pause from time to time and perform this thought experiment. Ask yourself “How could this idea bring greater peace to my life?”
Stoicism is a school of thought that stresses the importance of peace with your current circumstances. Its essence is very similar to Buddhism. Have the strength to accept what you cannot change, the courage to change what you can, and the wisdom to know the difference. The first major lesson of stoicism is to discern what we can and cannot control. We can control our opinions and actions. We cannot control anything else. For example, if you don’t like the color of your hair, either you can leave it as is and accept it or you can take action to change the color. If there is an asteroid heading for Earth, you find peace in the understanding that nothing you do can change the outcome. You learn to no longer identify with thoughts and emotions, which cloud your judgment, and instead act from a place of sound reason. By following these rules, your essential nature is uncovered and honored through your every action. One of the main Stoic philosophers was Epictetus and his living condition as an enslaved person serves as a testament to the effectiveness of stoicism. If he can find freedom as a slave, we too can find freedom.
Cynicism is a school of thought which claims all of society’s rules to be constructed, and as such are not to be held in high regard. There are stories of cynics such as Diogenes living in bathtubs on the streets of Rome and walking around naked, speaking his truth and nothing else. This is an extreme case but does well to show us the nature of Cynicism. Acting moderately on this school of thought in modern times would look something like this. Not wearing clothes just because someone said it was cool, but wearing what makes you happy. Not being reserved and polite when telling the truth would be the difficult but virturious thing to do. Constructing your reality in such a way that what you are, have, and do is the ideal. You believe that what you do is the best thing you can be doing so firmly that others will feel insecure because they are not doing what you are doing. I have curly hair, so under this model anyone without curly hair would desire curly hair.
People are attracted to other who have what they most desire. A common desire is the desire to find inner peace. If someone is at peace with themselves, others will mistake the spiritual and internal causes for material and external causes. Because the internal is difficult to detect, people attribute other’s sense of confidence or peace to their external circumstances. This is why marketing works so well. Associate a happy family with a certain fancy car and people will think the car is directly linked to happiness. NOT SO!!!
The last school of thought is skepticism. The main idea of skepticism is to withhold judgement until you can be absolutely certain. Absolute certainty is impossible to reach, so there is always room to question and learn. In extreme cases, skeptic sages have been said to wander into busy streets oblivious to horses and carts because they just weren’t convinced it was real! Nothing is inharently good or bad. Long term, winning the lottery could be the worst thing to happen to you while getting cancer could be the best thing to happen to you. The only thing you can be certain of is change.
Mull over all of these schools of thought, follow the links provided below, and join me on the path to inner peace and total self acceptance.
References
1-Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (Stoicism): http://seinfeld.co/library/meditations.pdf
References
1-Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations (Stoicism): http://seinfeld.co/library/meditations.pdf
2-Epictetus’ Handbook (stoicism): https://www.homeworkmarket.com/sites/default/files/qx/16/06/16/04/epictetus-manual-on-virtues.pdf
3-Skepticism: https://ericgerlach.com/greekphilosophy13/
Comments
Post a Comment