Buy Epictetus’ ‘Discourses and Selected Writings’

Click here to read ‘Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 1′

More stoic lessons from Epictetus to help you learn how to improve and remain happy in life.

On Progress

“The man who is making progress, having learned from the philosophers, that desire has good things for its object, and aversion bad things, and having also learned that peace of mind and serenity can only be attained by a man if he achieves what he desires and does not fall into what he wants to avoid – such a man has either rid himself of desire altogether or put it off to another time, and applies aversion only to things that are within the sphere of choice.  For if he should try to avoid anything that lies outside the sphere of choice, he knows that he will sometimes fall into it despite his aversion, and be unhappy.  Now if virtue promises happiness, an untroubled mind and serenity, then progress towards virtue is certainly progress towards each of these.  For whatever is the definitive end to which perfection of a thing leads, progress is always an approach towards it.

How does it happen, then, that when we agree that virtue is something of this kind, we yet seek progress, and show it off, in other things?  What does virtue achieve?

Peace of mind.”

~ The Discourses of Epictetus

Aim To Become An Authentic Stoic Philosopher And Apply What You Have Learned For An Undisturbed and Happy Mind

“Show me someone who is sick, and yet happy; in danger, and yet happy; dying, and yet happy; exiled, and yet happy; disgraced, and yet happy.  Show him to me, for, by the gods, I long to see a Stoic.  But (you will say) you have not one perfectly formed.  Show me, then, one who is in the process of formation, one who has set out in that direction…Let any of you show me the soul of a man who desires to be of one mind with god, and never to cast blame on god or man again, who wishes to fail in no desire, to fall into nothing that he wants to avoid, never to be angry, never to be envious, never to be jealous, who thus desires (why beat about the bush?) to become a god, instead of a man, and though he is in body, this corpse, is determined to achieve communion with Zeus.”

~ The Discourses of Epictetus

Click here to read ‘Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 3′

Related posts:

1. Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 1
2. Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 3
3. Apply the Philosophy of Socrates Towards Improving Your Soul and Mind
4. Use Stoic Philosophy to Achieve Total Joy and Untroubling Equanimity
5. Find Contentment in a Discontented World

Buy Epictetus’ ‘Discourses and Selected Writings’

I will be posting selected passages from Epictetus’ two books: ‘The Discourses’ and ‘The Handbook’; as he teaches us the wisdom of Stoicism that can be used as a self-help guide to living a good and happy life, as well as attaining a mind free of troubles.

I begin the series with two such passages of stoicism to help you attain a free and peaceful mind, as well as learning the virtues of contented living.

On What Is In Our Power, And What Is Not

“Some things are up to us and others are not.  Up to us (or in our power) are opinion, impulse, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever is our own action.  Not up to us (or not in our power) are body, property, reputation, office, and, in a word, whatever is not our action.  The things that are up to us are by nature free, unhindered and unimpeded; but those that are not up to us are weak, servile, subject to hindrance, and not our own.  Remember, then, that if you suppose what is naturally enslaved to be free, and what is not your own to be your own, you will be hampered, you will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will find fault with both gods and men.  But if you suppose only what is your own to be your own, and what is not your own not to be your own (as is indeed the case), no one will ever coerce you, no one will hinder you, you will find fault with no one, you will accuse no one, you will not do a single thing against your will, you will have no enemy, and no one will harm you because no harm can affect you.”

~ The Handbook of Epictetus

On Contentment

“The things that a man ought to study all day, so that unaffected by all that is not his own, whether friend or place or gymnasia or even, indeed, his own body, he remembers the law and has that constantly before his eyes. And what is the divine law? To preserve what is one’s own, not to claim what is another’s; to use what is given us, and not to desire what is not given us; and, when anything thing is taken away, to give it up readily and immediately, and to be thankful for the time you have been permitted the use of it, and not cry after it, like a child for its nurse and its mamma.”

~ The Discourses of Epictetus

Click here to read ‘Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 2′

Related posts:

1. Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 2
2. Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 3
3. Apply the Philosophy of Socrates Towards Improving Your Soul and Mind
4. Use Stoic Philosophy to Achieve Total Joy and Untroubling Equanimity
5. Find Contentment in a Discontented World

In an earlier post entitled ‘The Simple Way of Living Towards Peace of Mind’, I shared my own thoughts on living with simplicity, something which walks hand in hand with contentedness on a merry journey towards peace of mind.

So let us call up a wise Chinese Sage of ancient times to start this lesson with a contentment quote or two,

“Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

~ Lao Tzu

We are forever discontented in mind because of the need to complicate our lives with striving for external pleasures and vanities.  We are like spoilt children who are given a large amount of toys to play with – we then eventually become bored with them, disposing of them one at a time until we become restless, and then want a particular toy another child has so to temporarily fill the unhappy void of discontentment.

Let us now look at the things that we strive for in life, and which can lead to discontentment:

• power
• money
• possessions
• status

How much power does one want?  Enough power so that one can have control over another?  What should be more important is gaining the power to control ourselves, which may help to eliminate our discontentment.

“He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still”

~ Lao Tzu

As for money and possessions; as long as you live within your means and can provide for you and your family the necessities to live, what more does one need?  We should not let external material things affect our mood and happiness.  We should find joy in the things we have in our lives such as our health, family, friends, and peace of mind.

“He who is contented is rich”

~ Lao Tzu

We should now look at what can cause discontentment to inflict the mind:

• comparing yourself with others
• boredom
• greed
• feeling of inadequateness
• insecurity

Why oh why can we not be happy with what we currently have rather than allow our minds to project the need for ever more greater delights if we can somehow get our impatient hands on them in the future.  Our acquisitive minds search out and compare our supposed delights with what others have, and then it creates false judgments that everything someone else has is somehow greater than what we already possess.  We then use precious time to plot ways of attaining this new delight so that we can keep afloat on top of this sea of pretension.

Because of our ignorance, we are unaware that we are making our lives more difficult and complicated by us accumulating these false dreams of status.  The discontentment we feel inside is actually a chasm that is so deep that it can never be filled with more money, possessions, higher position and the like.  But we think we can escape falling into the depths of nothingness by continuously striving for the next pleasure, then the next, and forever more.  This in the end can bring total misery to a person, and the following syndrome describes perfectly the vicious circle one is trapped in,

“The more that one has, the more one wants.”

What we fail to see is that we already possess everything that is needed in life – and that is our minds.  Nothing should be judged greater or more important than a mind that is free and filled with wisdom.  A wisdom which will destroy the illusion of discontentment and will instead bring you contentment and joy with the things you have in life.  Wisdom will help you to perceive the ridiculousness of putting such a high value on man-made things, and will point you towards the simple things in life such as what nature demonstrates.

“He who knows that enough is enough will always have enough.”

~ Lao Tzu

You should strive for inward growth which will provide you with contentment and total fulfillment, and will give you the insight of not wanting to attain external growth that can bring with it an extra burden for you to carry and, of course, discontentedness.

Learn to look within yourself and your conduct rather than looking at others in comparison or measure.  Comparison is a mental virus which produces the symptoms of discontentment and feelings of inadequateness that can fuel the need for one to pursue, no matter how superficial, what someone else has, even if it goes against their nature.

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.”

~ Lao Tzu

Concentrate on yourself, live simply and be thankful for what you have – especially in regards the life you were given.

Related posts:

1. Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 2
2. Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 1
3. The Simple Way of Living Towards Peace of Mind
4. Beat Stress by Embracing Simplicity

Why is it so difficult to live simply?  Wouldn’t it save us a lot of time and effort if we took the simple course of action rather than choosing a more complex one?

What does living simply mean?  Well to begin with, one must have the clarity of mind to live simply.  Life can become more difficult than it already is once we start to complicate matters by accumulating convoluted knowledge which can obscure clarity and make us disorganised.

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

~ Confucius

I have always attributed simplicity to wisdom as it provides you with the easiest and quickest route towards achieving your goals in life.  We sometimes can assume that any obstacle that stands in the way of our personal growth is an impregnable force which will require a complex solution to surmount.  But we must learn to look beyond the surface and select the tools of simplicity to break down the walls of this seemingly impossible illusion.

“To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but to so love wisdom as to live according to its dictates a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity and trust.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

How do we see things simply?  Emptying the mind is a start.  It is just the same as emptying a room filled with clutter so that you can develop the clarity to see individual things more easily.  Along with this clarity comes a more organised way of thinking.

This organisation can be used to tackle issues in life one at a time which makes things easier to deal with as opposed to haphazardly trying to juggle everything at the same time.  Whilst juggling with your hands full you’re more liable to drop something and cause irreparable damage in regards future difficulties for yourself.

“Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

~ Albert Einstein

“Eliminate physical clutter. More importantly, eliminate spiritual clutter.”

~ D.H. Mondfleur

Having a simple life also helps with many things that affect us personally, such as stress and anxiety.  Wouldn’t you like to lift the self-imposed weight of unnecessary troubles off your shoulders by not entering the arena of the world’s complexities?  These things that give us difficulties have no need to enter the mind and you have the choice not to get involved with them in your life.  So why not emancipate yourself from the shackles of complexity and take the easy road now to avoid an anxiety ridden journey later on.

Here is some more wise advice towards you living a simple and stress free life:

• avoid getting involved in other peoples disputes
• avoid having too many possessions that you cherish

You don’t need me to tell you what the consequences can be if things turn for the worst in a dispute, especially if it turns in your direction.  So keep yourself to yourself and you will not be at fault.

As for possessions, wouldn’t it ease your mind of anxiety if you had nothing to lose to begin with?  The old wise saying is very relevant here, “you can’t take it with you.”  So let’s leave the collecting of baggage to the squirrels, because the only possession we need in life is a simple mind free from worry or stress.

“Everything we possess that is not necessary for life or happiness becomes a burden, and scarcely a day passes that we do not add to it.”

~ Robert Brault

The accumulation of knowledge and pedantic tendencies are a serious hindrance to perceiving life simply, as we think the more complicated a thing is, the more intelligent one must be to be able to fathom and express this knowledge to others.  Along with this show of vanity and conceitedness, is the need to be overzealous with detail.

Life is too short, so if one wants to waste their time trying to look clever by complicating matters and looking at every minute detail in everything they do then let them.  This again serves to obscure the mind, whereas a little drop of simplicity and humility is, I feel, the wiser and intelligent way to live.  So if anyone asks me an intelligent question I will respond in the same simple manner as Mark Twain,

“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly. I said, “I don’t know.””

Observe and learn from nature’s workings.  It is of the highest intelligence and is as close to perfection when compared to anything you can find on Earth – but despite all that, it still performs with such simple functionality and works beautifully if left untouched.  The only time when nature  goes wrong is when Man with their complex ideas chooses to intervene with his ambitions of becoming God.

“Nature is what we know – Yet have not art to say – So impotent our wisdom is To her simplicity”

~ Emily Dickinson

We are part of nature so why not become wise to the simple fact that simplicity in life is the way to a simply heavenly existence.  So let us spend our time and effort improving our minds towards peace and wisdom – and to suspend the need for complexities and befuddlement in life.

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

Wise ways towards living a simple life:

• Stop accumulating useless complex knowledge, unnecessary possessions, and other material goods – there is more to gain in life by having less – contentment and peace of mind are a couple of the good things that can be gained
• Deal with things one at a time
• Emptying your mind helps develop clarity, common sense and insight
• Always try to find a simple solution to every problem
• Never assume anything to be complicated at first sight
• Be organised and humble
• Mind your own business
• Learn the art of listening and silence

Related posts:

1. Find Contentment in a Discontented World
2. Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 2
3. Stoic Advice from Epictetus on the Art of Living – Part 1