if you don't know what stoicism is don't
worry I didn't used to have a clue
either even in my last philosophy video
I said this I find it kind of humorous
with the neverending self-help books
that exists that still tries to answer
this question today when it was answered
over 2,000 years ago by the ancient
Greek word eudaimonia I was talking
about happiness and what the best
practice to achieve it was the irony of
my statement is that a lot of self-help
book today are based on stoic practices
but I have been rebranded to fit the
modern world so even if you're not
familiar with stoicism there's still a
good chance that you practice it even
without knowing it for example things
like journaling meditating practice of
self-restraint are all in a way stoic
exercises even cognitive behavioral
therapy which some psychiatrists use to
treat their patients were developed out
of the ideas of stoicism the difference
is that CBT is used to help patients for
the time they need it while stoicism
goes beyond and is more of a way of life
so to explain what so is ISM is can
sometimes be tricky because it's a wide
subject with many great practices and
many great philosophers so let's begin
with its origins because to fully
understand and engage with ideas we need
to understand where they came from I
think that was so Cretaceous I love the
origin of stoicism its foundation comes
from its own name which in latin is
stoah i like iris tatl in plato who had
their famous grandeur in schools stoah
meant simply a painted porch this is
where the first teaching of stoicism
were held stoicism derives directly from
cynicism if you watch my last video in
Diogenes some sign up
I find it mind-boggling that a man
living inside a barrel affects our life
still to this day and how we live so
weeks recognize just like cynicism that
virtue is the only good the main
difference here is that instead of
neglecting anything that isn't according
to nature so it's recognized that some
things such as money for example are not
necessarily good or bad in themselves or
they can be used for good or bad too for
that matter Plato and Aristotle share
this view as well and they don't count
as Stoics so let's just get into the
nuances there are many great Stoics
epictetus being one of the most
recognized but there is no written
record of his practice but luckily for
us I think this is so cool
he had a fan that wasn't just anybody
but the Roman Emperor of that time
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus frequently quotes epictetus in
his famous written word meditation
Epictetus describe what the fundamentals
of psoases amaze which is actually very
simple it goes like this there are
things in life you can't control and
there are things that happen without our
control or beyond our control
according to Epictetus we should calmly
accept when things out of our control
happen but we as individuals can however
control our own actions through
self-discipline you probably done this
yourself at some point without the
self-discipline part when realizing that
something was out of your control
suddenly and abruptly what has
previously seemed terrible becomes
unimportant the idea of not letting
things out of your control change your
behavior is a simple practice that
anyone can immediately grasp but it's
much much harder to act upon achieving
virtue is not easy however the length
the Stoics went with this idea is often
heavily criticised misunderstood and
dismissed as being called an epithet 'ok
here's an example xenophobe when told
about the death of his child responded
simply and calmly with I knew my son was
immortal you can take the extreme of
this quote in any way you want but the
reality of the lesson is to simply not
fight against nature and let it consume
you focus on what you can't control
and let it be your virtue Marcus
Aurelius who is known as one of the five
good Roman emperors did not live an easy
life he dealt with chronic pain and his
ruling as Emperor would be fought
against to practice self-control every
morning Marcus would meditate he would
meditate over all the bad horrible
things and people that would oppose him
that day here's a quote from his
meditations when you wake up in the
morning tell yourself the people I deal
with today will be meddling ungrateful
arrogant dishonest jealous and surly
they are like this because they can't
tell good from evil but I have seen the
beauty of good and the ugliness of evil
and have recognized that the wrongdoer
has a nature related to my own not of
the same blood and birth but the same
mind and possessing a share of the
divine and so none of them can hurt me
no one can implicate me in ugliness nor
can I feel angry at my relative or hate
him we were born to work together like
thief hands and eyes like the two rows
of teeth upper and lower to obstruct
each other is unnatural to feel anger at
someone to turn your back on him these
are unnatural
despite cbt deriving from stoicism as
previous
mention sources emit self doesn't talk
much about depression services some
focus rather more on anger they look at
anger as Marcus describes as ugly and
irrational if you imagine an angry face
it's rarely a pretty one however it's an
emotion that is often today displayed in
media when a character in a film for
example acts in revenge he's often seen
carrying at the same bad lead that was
originally done to him but we still
recognize his action as somewhat Noble
and satisfying we even enjoy seeing
anger if it's justified
Marcus however received the word one day
that his close friend in general Ovidius
kasia's had betrayed him kasia's had
found out a rumor that Marcus was close
to death and possibly even dead
and so Casius took this as an
opportunity to declare himself as a new
Caesar a betrayal of this magnitude
would enrage and upset anyone if it
happened to us but well Marcus did
especially for the time being was
astounding he did nothing he didn't want
to cause panic among his people if the
word got out of the betrayal and
confusing of ruling he instead acted
rationally without anger and without
hatred and made the announcement that he
will march against Casius not to kill
him but to capture him when a friend
betrays us we have every right to get
angry but Marcus controlled this anger
even mentioned that he hoped Cassio's
would not kill himself in shame before
his arrival for Marcus coming would be a
great testimony of his virtue
Marcus managed to not just calm himself
but his people and while doing so he did
what needed to be done which was to
secure the Empire and he succeeded
Plato long before him said that
philosophers should be Kings
this act of Marcus was a true testimony
to that statement a famous story quote
once said it is not possible to live
well today unless you treat it as your
last death is always near in stoicism
markers meditated heavily on this theme
as well it might seem morbid but it
helps remind oneself to live in the
moment it helps you build virtue build
character and prepare yourself to be
ready to depart at any moment Marcus
would meditate every evening to remind
himself to be grateful for every day to
me this is the most powerful part of
Stoicism it's called memento mori
remember that you might have heard it
before I used to study a fair bit of
Buddhism and what struck a chord in me
was the idea of reincarnation if you
live a virtuous life you will be
rewarded in the next but if there's no
reincarnation then you still live the
virtuous life Marcus had the same
sentiment but for it way more eloquently
here's another quote from his
meditations live a good life if there
are gods and they are just then they
will not care how devout you have been
but will welcome you based on the
virtues you have lived by if there are
gods
but unjust then you should not want to
worship them if there are no gods then
you will be gone but when I've lived a
noble life that will live on in the
memories of the loved ones just like
Nietzsche said he was a why to live for
can bear almost any how if you have a
purpose you can live through any pain
and suffering the purpose for the stoic
is virtue and it turns any pain on its
head that's what makes so isn't so
powerful and timeless that is still
practiced today memento mori
do not let it frighten you or remind you
to live life with virtue memento mori
by practicing so is ISM there's no pain
and suffering in this world that you
can't endure memento mori
nothing can be taken from you for a
stoic only values virtue memento mori
any suffering and pain will be an
opportunity for you to display and
practice your virtue memento mori by
living life to the fullest
you are also ready to let go at any
moment to not meet death with fear or
anger or rather welcoming because some
things you just can't control will meant
amore remember that
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