3 life lessons from Marcus Aurelius’s meditations
Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 121- 180) was an ancient stoic philosopher who ruled the throne of Rome in A.D. 161. His personal writings, widely known as Meditations, are a great source for learning and embracing stoic philosophy. He had a profound understanding of human behavior. This article brings out three most stark life lessons which everyone should master to lead a valuable life.
There are numerous quotes, anecdotes, and insights that give directions on how one should lead one life in adversity.
Gregory Hays wonderfully captures the essences of writings from Marcus through the following lines:
“If you desire to master pain
Embrace the meditations and read them with care,
And in it find abundantly
Knowledge of things that are,
that have been, and those to come.
And know as well that joy and grief
are nothing more than empty smoke.”
The doctrine of three disciplines
Meditations help you answer metaphysical and ethical inferences. Marcus regularly emphasizes a central theme throughout his inscriptions of the meditations-the doctrine of three disciplines: The disciplines of perception, action, and will.
The discipline of perception dictates maintaining absolute objectivity of thought: seeing things dispassionately for what they are. This links with the idea of the Stoic theory of cognition which is the principle based on appropriate value judgments. In laymen's terms, it suggests that one must not designate things as “good” or “evil”. More often than not terrible things happening to us but are not the problem, but how we interpret and react to the aftermath should be controlled to avoid errors of perception.
The discipline of action reveals our relationship with other people and being considerate of the well-being of society. Marcus Aurelius says that “we were made not for ourselves but for others, and our nature should be fundamentally unselfish. In our relationships with others, we must work for their collective good, while treating them justly and fairly as individuals.” Thus imbibing this discipline of action allows us to act beyond ourselves and respect, love, and support other social beings.
The third discipline, the discipline of will governs our attitude to things that are not within our control, those that have been done to us (by others or by nature). We control our own actions and are responsible for them. If we act wrongly, then we have done serious harm to ourselves. By contrast, things outside our control have no ability to harm us. Acts of wrongdoing by a human agent (torture, theft, or other crimes) harm the agent, not the victim.
How to act in tough situations?
Marcus Aurelius says that one should never regard something they have done as good if it makes them betray a trust, or lose their sense of shame, or make them show hatred, suspicion, ill will, or hypocrisy, or a desire for things best behind close doors.
Essentially, all this comes down to one thing- “one must concentrate their whole self on only one thing: maintaining the right state of mind”. The source of most problems one faces is aggravated by the rampant thought process. Your ability to control your thoughts is imperative. For starters, treat your thought with respect. Analyze why you are thinking in a certain way. Protect your mind from false perceptions (which are inherently false to your nature, and that to all rational beings).
Marcus Aurelius gives an invaluable lesson on How to act:
“ Never act under compulsion, out of selfishness, and without forethought. Let the spirit in you represent who you are and who you want to be. Let everyone see your cheerfulness, without requiring other people’s help or serenity. Always standup straight- not straightened.”
Letting go of past
Most of the things which you ’re trying to achieve by taking the long route, you could have right now, this moment. If you’d only stop thwarting your own attempts. If you’d only let go of the past, entrust the future to Providence, and guide the present toward reverence and justice.
Reverence: so you’ll accept what you’re allotted. Nature intended it for you, and you for it.
Justice: so that you’ll speak the truth, frankly and without evasions, and act as you should, and as other people deserve.
Parting thoughts
The stoicism of the Meditations is a defensive philosophy depicting mind as an invulnerable fortress.
This recollection of personal entries from Marcus reminds us the philosophical paradox of death. His writings makes readernbelieve that all of us are equal and able to do things which they are meant to do. At the end no one is greater than the death itself.
