Daily Advice 11.16.2020

[readoldthings]

More from Epictetus:

Men are disturbed not by things, but by the views which they take of things. Thus death is nothing terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death, that it is terrible. When, therefore, we are hindered or disturbed, or grieved, let us never impute it to others, but to ourselves—that is, to our own views. It is the action of an uninstructed person to reproach others for his own misfortunes; of one entering upon instruction, to reproach himself; and one perfectly instructed, to reproach neither others nor himself.

  

As recently as a year ago, if you had told me about the events of 2020 I would have seen it as an imaginative parody of the modern American's cowardice and germophobia. But here we are. 

If we have any wisdom remaining in us, we will take a moment to listen to the voices of our ancestors, who faced a far harsher world than we with a level of grace and courage that we cannot begin to approach. Death is coming for all of us, without exception. 

Comments

[sdi]

A parable from Chuang Tzu:

Lady Li was the daughter of a border guard. When the duke of a neighboring state sacked her hometown and brought her to his palace, she wept until her robe was soaked. But as time went on and she experienced palace life, eating fine food and sharing the duke's bed, she came to love her new life and wondered why she ever wept.

In the same way, how do we know that loving life isn't a delusion? How do we know that, by hating death, we aren't like someone who wandered from home as a child and forgot the way back? What if the dead, like Lady Li, wonder why they ever longed for life?

And another, quite famous, parable from the Huai Nan Tzu:

Off in the countryside, near the border of the empire, there lived a farmer who was known for being a righteous man. One day, without warning, his only horse ran off into barbarian territory. His neighbors all pitied him for his loss, but he said, “How do you know that this isn’t a blessing?”

Several months later, while working his fields, the farmer found that his horse had wandered back to him, accompanied by a beautiful barbarian stallion. His neighbors all congratulated him for his good fortune, but he said, “How do you know that this isn’t a curse?”

The farmer’s family found itself a fine horse richer, and his son took to riding the stallion in the fields. One day, while doing so, he was thrown from the horse and broke his hip. The farmer’s neighbors all pitied him for his loss, but he said, “How do you know that this isn’t a blessing?”

A year later, the barbarians invaded the frontier, and every able-bodied young man was conscripted for the war effort, and nine-tenths of them died. Due to his injury, however, the farmer’s son was spared.

Thus can blessings become curses and curses become blessings; one cannot predict how events might be transformed.

It is a delight to me how closely the old Taoists and Stoics agree! I haven't studied the latter, but thanks to you I'm interested :)

[readoldthings]

Thank you for these. I've heard the second one in a number of different forms.

If you're interested in religious as well as philosophical Taoism you might find the neoplatonists worth exploring. There are ideas in Proclus, Iamblichus and Plotinus that dovetail neatly with ideas that I've also found in Quan Zhen literature.

[sdi]

Thank you for the tip, I've taken note!

[sdi]

Wow, you're right. These line up shockingly well.