This post is the fifth in an experimental Stoic Philosophy book club series on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Participants expressing interest are tagged at the end of the post, let us know if you're new and would like to join and be tagged!
Prior posts for context:
- Book 4
- Book 3: In Carnuntum
- Book 2: On the River Gran, Among the Quadi
- Book 1: Debts and Lessons
- Geneisis Post
Thanks to those of you who participated in the comments last week. I'm continuing the experiment of forwarding sats to "members" who added to the discussion in the previous week. Let me know if you would like to join.
Book 5
Summary and Highlights
Not gonna lie, it's been a challenge to motivate myself to get going on this, so I'll lead off with Marcus' initial quote for Book 5 in #1,
At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself, "I have to go to work -- as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I'm going to do what I was born for -- the things I was brought into the world to do?"
You don't love yourself enough. Or you'd love your nature too, and what it demands of you.
The nature he is referring to is the nature of being human. The challenge to rise out of bed and face the day is not just getting to work with a 9-5 occupation, but facing all the trials and tribulations of a fully human experience, and that is our real "work".
- To shrug it all off and wipe it clean -- every annoyance and distraction -- and reach utter stillness. Child's play.
This quote is certainly motivating, but what sticks out to me here is the sharp contrast against my understanding of the general worldview of Eastern spirituality. To risk a gross generalization, the West has more emphasis on the individual and exploring the boundary between what we have agency over versus what we don't, while the East holds a larger perspective. The Western man is king of his domain wielding his will with wisdom, while the Eastern man contemplates his existence as a grain of cosmic dust, knowing all things pass away. That Eastern approach can sometimes make taking action feel meaningless, so reading Meditations to rebalance myself with some more initiative is one of my intentions.
- No one could ever accuse you of being quick-witted... Practice the virtues you can show: honesty, gravity, endurance, austerity, resignation, abstinence, patience, sincerity, moderation, seriousness, high-mindedness.
As well as the sage advice of leaning into our strengths instead of dwelling in our weaknesses, I find this passage interesting it's unique window into Marcus' understanding of himself. I assume the list of virtues reflects how he sees his own strengths. This was a diary, remember.
- Some people, when they do someone a favor, are always looking for a chance to call it in. and some aren't, but they're still aware of it -- still regard it as a debt. But others don't even do that. They're like a vine that produces grapes without looking for anything in return... We should be like that. Acting almost unconsciously. Yes. Except conscious of it.
Marcus is observing people who constantly help others here, and in it, he is revealing a take on human nature. He is positing that human nature is collaborative and cooperative. I confess, I resonate with the second group often -- keeping an internal ledger in my head at times. Sometime I feel guilty about that. However, when we can get out of our own way, perhaps generosity flows naturally. To me, this is part of a theme exploring human nature emerging in Book 5.
- Say this: "Nature prescribed illness for him." Or blindness. Or the loss of a limb. Or whatever. There "prescribed" means something like "ordered, so as to further his recovery." And so too here. What happens to each of us is ordered. It furthers our destiny.
No nature would do that -- bring something about that wasn't beneficial to what it governed.
The whole passage is a banger and worth the full read. It really reflects the Stoic reverence of the logos, or ordering principle. It carries an obvious dis-identification with the physical body. What may be harmful for the body is experiential medicine for the soul. Marcus' clear and revelatory exposition carries an inspiring sense of devotion.
He carries on,
Celebrate behaving like a human... Not showing off your obedience to the logos, but resting in it.
Again, we have this Western embrace of the human condition, but instead of casting "utter stillness" as "child's play" like in #2, Marcus seems to be coming to a greater sense of balance when he uses the word "resting". Maybe I'm reading too much into the minutia?
- Nothing pertains to human beings except what defines us as human. No other things can be demanded of us.
Well, isn't this comforting. Just as I finished kicking myself for not getting out of bed, lacking initiative and underachieving for my age, Marcus reins it back in a little with a reminder to accept my human limitations. With both this quote and the one prior to it in #15, I sense a subtle shift in his writing to be discussed later.
- The thoughts you think determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts... Things gravitate toward what they were intended for. What things gravitate toward is their goal.
This section is worth the full read as well, and is a logical exposition step-by-step leading through a theory objectified something like: thoughts -> mind -> goal -> good -> unselfishness -> consciousness -> logos. I read this that goodness and virtue are natural qualities of humanity and in our evolutionary path, we are gravitating toward embodying them. Human life is still a messy process, and evolving to know and embody what is good is necessarily bound up with errors, mistakes and pain. But success and the final goal is inevitable. Something echoed in Buddhist meditation retreats as well.
- Nothing happens to anyone that he can't endure.
This is a deep conviction I've developed over the last 10 years or so, and it's a conviction that gets increasingly tested, and increasingly proven correct. I have this tendency to want to treat many aspects of life with a scientific certainty -- to wrap things up into a nice final package, complete a task conclusively, "to be done with it". I think this principle is suggesting something similar to what Jesus may have meant when he said, "to whom much is given, much will be required." Once we get comfortable in life, achieving a degree of balance and mastery over our domain, we are given more -- and that can look like more blessings, more responsibility, or more challenging circumstances. If we see all experiences of life as opportunities to grow, medicine for the soul as Marcus suggests, that desire for completion becomes an unreality represented by Death. I'll end with this quote, although there is a lot more to Book 5.
Reflection
Overall, Book 5 carried an interesting investigation of human nature for me. Marcus is both exploring what it is to be human, and embracing what that means. As with some of the prior books, and in the spirit of a diary, I see a sort of progression in his writing and understanding. There seems to be a bigger sense of polarity and intensity near the beginning. Then the length, excitement and inspiration found in #8 suggest he's had an epiphany or revelation in thought. And his later comments feel like they are balancing and harmonizing, integrating a new perspective. In general, Marcus is discovering philosophically a divine nature of humanity, embracing it further and trusting it for both guidance and a sense of meaning. It feels like the philosophical direction to Know Thyself leads to a philosophical revelation of Love for Thyself. Something many of us can use more of.
Now I'm happy that I got out of bed and finally finished up this post.
Participants
Thank you everyone who has been reading Meditations, and participated in the discussions. Feel free let me know if you don't want to be on the tag list anymore :)
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Please signal interest in the comments if you'd like to be tagged.