Hello,
And welcome to today's talk.
I'm Silas Day,
And thank you for joining me.
There's a small book,
Which I was given as a boy by my grandfather.
I thought it was a boring book at first,
But as I grew and kept returning to it,
Either out of curiosity or boredom,
I found it to be of the utmost wisdom and help in life.
This small book was the meditations of Marcus Aurelius,
The Roman Emperor,
Stoic,
And philosopher.
The book itself doesn't really have a narrative,
And isn't ordered properly in its original format,
It being the journal of Marcus Aurelius over a 19-year period.
The subjects of the book change rapidly,
And even repeat themselves at times as Emperor Aurelius was returning to them,
Or rehashing old ground.
Meditations shouldn't be read,
Just like much of the sutras and metaphysical literature,
As one would read a book on biology or physics,
But as the deeply personal inner musings,
Considerations,
And thoughts of a man who was trying to live a good and tranquil life,
All while having the entire weight of the Roman Empire and world on his shoulders.
Which,
If he could achieve,
Even a little,
With such a load to bear,
I think we,
Who are the ancestors of all these great teachers and men and women,
Can live good,
Honest,
And tranquil lives.
So often,
In meditation,
Spirituality,
And in the practice of living this human existence,
I feel that we in the West forget those characters who laid the foundation of our civilization due to the uncomfortable weight that carries on through history,
Even though there are countless masters,
Mystics,
And philosophers who can act as guides,
Just as people like Buddha,
Krishna,
Laozi,
And Dogen,
Along with many others,
Do.
It is almost that since they come from our own cultural ancestors,
We are almost less likely to sit down and actually learn them,
Or that their familiarity breeds within us a staleness or boredom of sorts.
So today I have decided to take some of the lines and parts of meditations of Marcus Aurelius and share them with you,
Combining them with the ideas I have come up with and the ideas found within the East,
Meeting them with the West,
Hoping that through their union you may hear or find a gem that you will carry with you and will help you along whatever path you are walking.
Within meditations,
Marcus Aurelius talks about encountering unkindness,
Rudeness,
Or ugliness.
He tells us,
Quote,
No matter what anyone says or does,
My task is to be good.
The noblest kind of retribution is not to become like your enemy,
End quote.
This kind of teaching is found all over.
Who can disagree?
If someone comes to you and mocks your practice of meditation,
Your interest in philosophy or your pursuit in this life,
If you can sit on the edge of your bed and honestly know that what you are doing is good and bettering yourself,
And if you are lucky others around you,
Then who cares what they say?
As well,
It is much better not to strike out against them in fervor and anger,
But to do good and support others in things which they feel are their passions,
Purpose,
And tasks throughout the day,
To build others up instead of putting them down,
To know that those who would put you down are deeply wounded,
And that you have a chance each day not to cut deeper but help to heal and better the world around you.
In Meditations,
Marcus Aurelius looks at,
Looking at and interpreting the world around us.
In Meditations,
He says,
Quote,
How easy it is to repel and to wipe away every impression which is troublesome or unsuitable,
And immediately to be all in tranquility.
As well,
He says,
Quote,
Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought,
For the human spirit is colored by such impressions.
End quote.
Do these words not ring and taste of such peculiar familiarity?
Do they not sound like they could have been uttered by the Buddha himself?
Now,
I don't think Buddha would have considered the idea of repelling and wiping away easy for everyone instantly,
But here,
How he describes it as wiping away every impression,
Is such a lovely way of looking at the state of mind we are wanting to get to in our meditation on the cushion,
Depending on the style of meditation we are practicing.
To take the backwards step and turn the light of wisdom inward.
To know that this world is one continuous impression layered on impression,
And that behind it lay a certain stillness and tranquility.
And the next phrase,
All the same.
In many ways,
One could say that Emperor Aurelius was channeling his inner Buddha,
Since it is almost an exact copy of all that we are is the result of what we have thought,
Which is the first line of the Dhammapada.
What we do most is what our life becomes.
I have found that in life,
The first step to becoming something is to turn the mind toward it,
And pretend to be it.
Playing the part of an actor,
Doing all the things,
Whatever it is that that thing would do,
Until you wake up and are it one day,
Whether it be a musician,
A bodybuilder,
Or a meditator.
In meditations,
Marcus Aurelius talks a lot about how your mind should sit superior to your body and its sensations,
Which,
While some schools of Eastern thought may disagree semantically on,
I think would agree with what he has to say on it.
Do not allow pain,
Drowsiness,
Fever,
Loss of appetite,
To alter your behavior.
When you are bothered by things like that,
Remind yourself,
I am giving into pain.
And he also says,
Within ten days you will appear a god,
Even to those to whom today you seem a beast or a baboon,
If you return to your principles and the worship of reason.
Be the master of your own mind.
Be the master of your own body.
The mind makes a terrible master,
And the body an even worse one.
But they both make lovely servants when we are able to yoke them and take hold of their reins.
So often we are driven by our instinctual and want for quick happiness.
But if we were to just hold true for ten days,
As he says,
We would be able to do the work of a month.
It is like this.
If you have two people,
One who dedicates thirty hours a week to something,
And another who has the discipline and drive to work sixty hours a week on something,
In two years the person who works sixty hours a week will be so far ahead of the other person that they will never catch up.
So see the suffering of your existence not as something which burdens your spirit and hampers your motivation,
But see it as an accelerant.
Know that life is fleeting and that we are once here and then gone forever,
Like snow on the desert sand,
And that we only get one chance at today,
And then today is forfeit into an infinite,
Unknown,
And unreachable past.
So what's the use complaining about the minor grievances of our existence?
Be happy,
Pursue the good and righteous,
And try to make the world at least a better place.
And finally,
For today,
Because I feel this might be getting a little long for an experiment in thought,
This quote has always been fun for me.
Stop talking about what the good man is like,
And just be one.
So I suppose I'll try to stop talking and wrap this up.
This is Silas Day.
If you liked my little examination and look at meditations,
Please say so.
I think that a well-rounded philosophy of mind and understanding of perspective from both Eastern and Western masters is of the utmost value.
If you liked this kind of thing,
Say so,
And I'll make some more like it,
And if this gets a lot of responses,
I may even make a full exoneration of Marcus Aurelius' meditations because I think it is an incredibly important text for those of us who are looking to live a well-rounded and valuable existence.
Thank you so much for listening today.
I enjoyed making this a ton,
And I hope you have a wonderful day.
