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This post is the first in an experimental Stoic Philosophy book club series on Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. See the [genesis post](https://stacker.news/items/417471) here. 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!
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# Introduction

My copy of [Meditations](https://www.amazon.com/Meditations-New-Translation-Marcus-Aurelius/dp/0812968255) included a really lengthy introduction section which was fascinating, but cost a delay in getting started with the discussion. It provided some personal background on both Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism, as well as some initial commentary on the work's style and recurrent ideas. Below is an outline of the points I found interesting and will try to remember as we go:

## Marcus Aurelius

* Marcus was a Roman, but the philosophical system was Greek. He wrote it in Greek.
* He was emperor of Rome (obvs). His two main concerns in life seemed to be philosophy and the court. He expressed legislative interest in freeing slaves and in the guardianship of orphan. It was a priority for him to have a good relationship with the Senate.
* His father died when he was very young and he was adopted by Antoninus, a childless senator at the arrangement of Hadrian the emperor.
* His reign took place during the time of early Christian cults. It was illegal to be Christian under penalty of death.
* His reign navigated a time in Rome during plague, and military struggles with Germanic tribes.
* There is a possibility that near the end of his life, he realized that his son, Commodus, didn't share his character (Gladiator movie plot).
* He was initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, a topic for another religious history post.
* This work was written as a personal diary of sorts, without a known intention to be shared publicly.

## Stoicism

* Philosophy was not a study or course in school like it is today, it was seen as a design for how to live with many schools competing and sharing ideas.
* The central idea of Stoicism is that the world is organized in a rational and coherent way. The term for this is *logos*. *Logos* operates in individuals as the reasoning function, but it also operates more broadly in the cosmos as the ordering principle of the Universe.
* *Logos* is also an actual physical substance, pneuma, which is like a vital "breath of life" animating humans and living beings. When the object inevitably dies, the pneuma is reabsorbed back into the cosmos as a whole. This process happens at all conceptions of relativity (ex. subatomic particles appearing and disappearing at each and every moment, human body growing and decaying during a lifetime, the birth and death of the Universe in fire).
* Stoics approved of participation in public life, which attracted the Romans as that was a cultural priority for them.
* Marcus seemed to be heavily influenced by Epictetus, a slave-turned-philosopher, and a doctrine of The Three Disciplines in his work:
    1. Perception: Objectivity of thought - see things for what they are without the coloring of interpretation or value judgments. Our duty is to control perception in order to protect the mind from erroneous beliefs.
    1. Action - Perform our best on the things that are given under our control by the greater cosmic order. Cooperate actively in the world with other people and with the Universe itself. Act justly by treating others as they deserve in accordance with cosmic order.
    1. Will - When events happen to us that are outside our control, we have a choice on how we relate to them. If we choose to interpret them as harmful, we suffer. Accept and acknowledge things happening beyond our control as good and natural by the order of the cosmic logos.

# Book 1: Debts and Lessons

To get to the comparatively short content of the actual book we're reading, I guess I'll say that I was both surprised and pleased by the structure. In listing off a bunch of people that are important to him and deep, insightful appreciations for what he's learned from them, he's obviously very reflective. To be honest, it feels like a bit of a challenge to write about it. Most of my experience was simply recognizing myself in his perceptions. Other times I recognized attributes that I know I struggle with, or haven't cultivated enough of. Here are some of my highlights:

5\. From his first teacher, he learned "not to support this side of that in chariot-racing, this fighter or that figher in the games... and have no time for slanderers." To me this means to suspend a sense of judgement between two sides of an argument and not get swept away in drama.
6\. From Diogenes, in addition to the general statements of not wasting time on bullshit, the detail to "write dialogues as a student" seemed an encouragement to take more initiative and "learn by doing". Something I'm looking to cultivate more of.
7\. From Rusticus, I can identify a commentary on resentment when he is reminding to "behave in a conciliatory way when people who have angered or annoyed us want to make up".
8\. From Apollonius, I haven't thought so much before about the fine balance between losing self-respect or feeling ungrateful when receiving things from other people. I guess I would call this being "graceful"? I can definitely see times in the past where I've done both. It could be an art to both give and receive to/from other people. It's not sincere generosity to throw money at a friend or beggar arrogantly or contemptuously. Likewise, receiving with a wrong or imbalanced attitude makes a regret out of a gift. Very interesting...
9\. From Sextus, to "show intuitive sympathy for friends", I definitely can relate to situations where sympathy for others doesn't come naturally or organically. Feels to me like this quality isn't something you can "force" yourself to do, but one needs to become like that, where it's a natural reaction. Cultivating such qualities might take a long time and a lot of practice.
10\. From The Literary Critic Alexander, observing the behaviors he lists is a really beautiful way to capture the virtue of humility.
13\. From Catulus, again the topic of resentment -- perhaps it was a recurrent issue for him? It can be for me...
15\. From Maximus, I particularly like the phrase, "The sense he gave of *staying* on the path rather than being *kept* on it." Emits a feeling of dedication and commitment. Also a strong echo of the Stoic resolution to action where one is able, and that would be where to put your literal or metaphorical foot.
16\. From his adopted father, who "was qualified to govern both himself and them (the people)" echos the idea of an ordered cosmos where those who master themselves are qualified to grow their influence and take on more responsibility. Also, that he was able to delegate responsibility to experts is a quality I could learn more -- sometimes I find myself micromanaging out of a fear and need to relax and trust the Universe and others around me more. I particularly like the last sentence, "You could have said of him (as they say of Socrates) that he knew how to enjoy and abstain from things that most people find it hard to abstain from and all too easy to enjoy. Strength, perseverance, self-control in both areas: the mark of a soul in readiness -- indomitable." It is said elsewhere that a wise man appears to be a fool to the world around him, and he knows the world around him to be foolish... when one has wisdom the world is turned upside down. His depiction of this state is exciting and encouraging and feels like the soul is a rocket ready to blast off. LFG!!!
17\. The Gods. More on this later, but in particular, I appreciated his gratitude for "a father--who could keep me from being arrogant", which underscores the positive aspects of discipline and occasional harshness. Sometimes I wish I'd had a little more of that in childhood when seen in this context. Also, the fact that his children "weren't born stupid or physically deformed" seems like an observation to gloss over. But when you consider his wife had 13 children and many of them died young, I sense a man finding gratitude in what might have a painful category of life experience.

## Reflections

It quite a long and impressive list of appreciable attributes. I wonder how many of the lessons he learned from those people were because they embodied them, or because he saw how they behaved and learned what NOT to do?

On the *logos* and the cosmic order, I sort of worry there is a danger that one can fall into an arrogant trap of justifying asshole behavior because their position in society reflects the "order in nature". For example, I it's not ok for a corrupt politician to lie, steal and take advantage of others because the cosmic order has granted them that position. It's also not ok for the USA as a "world leader" to war, meddle and violate the sovereignty of other countries because of it's position. I think it's important to temper this cosmic world order principle with the reality that everything, including that order is changing and dying. And if those in power do not use it with wisdom, they are destined to lose it, as can be seen with both examples.

So far, the principles we're discussing syncretize nicely with my understanding of Buddhism and meditation in other traditions. In #8, from Apollonius, says "to pay attention to nothing, no matter how fleetingly, except the *logos*". This feels like a description of a state of meditation to me. Paying attention only to the present moment. More importantly, by recalling his appreciation, this whole Book 1 reads something like an exercise in a Buddhist meditation practice called Metta. This is where you send love, compassion and kindness to yourself, people in your life, to all beings and to the Universe as a whole. The fact that he ended up at The Gods made it feel like an process resulting in the expansion of consciousness.

My original idea for this post was to additionally, go through a similar process to Marcus and list out important people in my life and appreciable things I've learned from them. Maybe I still will. But it's been a long day of reading and writing to get this out in current form. Really looking forward to what the rest of the group has come up with and taking up discussion. In the future, I don't expect my posts to be this long, but I wanted to include the introduction and kick this project off well. Let's carry the discussion forward!
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# Participants

* @siggy47
* @cryotosensei
* @carlosfandango
* @Bitman

Stoic Book Club: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius #1 - Debts and Lessons

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