Meditations by Marcus Aurelius 10 out of 10

 Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

10 out of 10

This is a Magnum opus to read anytime, but it is especially suitable, nay, perfect for a world in lockdown, where people fear the economic, financial Doomsday which will have replaced the Covid 19, once the virus will die away – which is itself problematic, given that experts warn about comebacks and indeed, now that tyrannical china seems to have contained it (although the real numbers would never be known) visitors are now importing it back from other places and The Economist and others  warn that if Africa is not helped, there will be an apocalypse there and the virus will have landed back to other shores from there, at a later date

Alhamdulillah, now you have the solutions for this crisis and almost everything else in the magnificent Meditations, and you could access freely online, since the copyright has expired for this and other divine works by Epictetus, Enchiridion - http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/06/enchiridion-by-epictetus-stunning.html - and The Manual - http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/03/note-on-manual-by-epictetus.html - Stoicism, The Philosophy of Calmness by George Muntau - http://realini.blogspot.com/2017/10/stoicism-philosophy-of-calmness-by.html   or A Guide to The Good Life http://realini.blogspot.com/2016/08/a-guide-to-good-life-by-william-irvine.html

On some levels, it feels like the sublime emperor Marcus Aurelius has anticipated the famous Categorical Imperative, in that he teaches us to act and think always as if we could be asked what is inside us and we should always be able to expose our thoughts, pure and kind as they always must be…not that stoicism suggest that we should worry about what the others say or do, on the contrary, the secret of Eudaimonia – a permanent bliss in an attempt to allegory – is to find refuge, Joy inside ourselves, where there is the only space that offers invincibility…if we can do nothing about the insults, wrongdoing of the rest of the world, we are in perfect control of what we think and how we decide to act…

Which is exactly what we need during this pandemic, stoic ideas that can make us see that worrying does not help – well, it is paramount to protect ourselves and our families, the community at large – and constant moaning and lamentation would not change a thing in the progress, better said regress (Insha’Allah) of the virus, but it would result in a negativity, a depression that is contagious and furthermore, scientific studies show that our immune system is affected by tension, negative thoughts which could easily become ‘self-fulfilling prophecies’ in that, if we keep in a state of terror and somehow we c=get contaminated, we would n=be much less able to cope with it, given that we have weakened our body.

Evidently, the attitude of the Most Stupid and Dangerous Man on earth, who has denied the virus, is recorded as he says there will be zero cases soon, this is a hoax created by his political rivals and ‘it will soon miraculously go away’, is not stoic or optimistic, it is just plain calamitous and irresponsible- the only slightly comforting thought in all the charade of that Absolute Joker is that the members of his cult, those who identify with him and who are indeed so well represented by this Projection of their own vileness, abjection will be among the worst affected, because they worship this Priest of Doom and they listen to his idiotic affirmations…the hoax and all the paraphernalia of a Con Man that has fooled the multitudes to this potion of absurd power.

There could be no more striking contrast as the one between pompous, arrogant, narcissistic Very Stable Genius leading the ‘most advanced democracy’ and the roman Emperor, who was the absolute monarch of the whole known world, but lived a modest life, respecting people, showing incredible Understanding and Tolerance, promoting and showing Restraint, Gratitude for his parents, wife and all he knows and the rest of the world, practicing Wisdom and rejecting pleasure – this is one of the few points where he is exaggerating, for though we should not adopt a lifestyle of exclusive indulgence, positive psychology promotes formulas like the one authored by Martin Seligman, PERMA, in which P is for Positive Emotions.

The philosophy shared by the majestic Marcus Aurelius could not be more adequate for our and any other age, for there is also a misunderstanding that appears to be almost universally adopted, that which pertains that Stoicism means something like self-abuse, a belief for the masochistic perverts, who like to be tortured and therefore this is more like a deviation and not a lifestyle, not for this century anyway…it is a complete nonsense, and though there are some points where we need to adapt and accept pleasure, which the emperor disdained to some extent, and see that Meditation, Reason, acceptance of the limitations of the others are fundamental…indeed, the Stoics explain that we will be abused, insulted by various earthlings, but we need to look at their limitations – some are mentally disturbed and this is one way to look and trump and sometimes say…poor man – the circumstances which are often overwhelming and thus send many in a freefall…we have so many acts that we feel repentant for

Harmony with nature, which is one recurring mantra in the Meditations could not be more relevant in an époque when humanity has done so much to compromise its own future, or that of the coming generations, where we can only hope that leaders like Greta Thunberg will get the upper hand and not the offspring of dynasties like the one that occupies the White House now, silly daughter, ghastly son-in-law and all.

One area where I have a disagreement with the illustrious, majestic Stoic is the acceptance of Divinity, the will of the Gods as supreme, for this reader is an atheist, though the idea that we need to accept much, or perhaps all that happens seems reasonable enough and the brilliant ‘there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so’ which Shakespeare has written, but Marcus Aurelius had promoted centuries before looks like "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." Known as the Serenity Prayer, which in The Meditations would be the idea that it is not what happens around us, but how we treat those events in our own mind…

Gentleness, kindness are among the virtues that are highlighted in this marvelous book, transformational, life changing, inspirational, which has so much foresight in that it anticipates discoveries that confirm what the emperor and other stoics have written in their masterpieces, for we have this training this constant attitude of peace, serenity, we have the chance to become truly serene – just like in Seinfeld, with George’s father and his ‘Serenity Now! – whereas if we keep the negative, angry, lamenting attitude, studies have shown that we create ‘Paths in Hell’ and then we are conditioned, we fall into angry mood usually, when challenged…