The Enchiridion section seven

The Enchiridion By Epictetus

Translated by Elizabeth Carter

Consider when, on a voyage, your ship is anchored; if you go onshore to get water you may along the way amuse yourself with picking up a shellfish, or an onion. However, your thoughts and continual attention ought to be bent towards the ship, waiting for the captain to call on board; you must then immediately leave all these things, otherwise you will be thrown into the ship, bound neck and feet like a sheep.

Not all metaphors from 135 AD are going to be immediately obvious. Not many 21st Century people are used to thinking of waiting for a ship, or with amusing themselves with picking up a wild onion. So what is Epictetus getting at here?
He is pretty much saying what modern philosopher Richard Pryor said in character as Mudbone in one of his classic routines. "You didn’t ask to come to this m-----rf----r and you sure can’t choose how to leave. ‘Cause you don’t know when you’re gonna go. So don’t take this s--t serious. "

So Epictetus is making a point that we all die, we don't know when it will happen, so we may as well EXPECT the end to life, and to do our best to remain detached a bit from life. What we have in life is a temporary loan from the Universe, just like Life itself. If we mistake what we have on loan for our "rightful possessions" we will feel as though we have been robbed when we have to repay the loan.

Epictetus concludes this section thus:  

So it is with life. If, instead of an onion or a shellfish, you are given a wife or child, that is fine. But if the captain calls, you must run to the ship, leaving them, and regarding none of them. But if you are old, never go far from the ship: lest, when you are called, you should be unable to come in time. 

The closer we are to the end, the better it is to distance oneself from worldly attachments and obligations. As my grandfather said to me when he was in his late eighties, "I don't buy green bananas anymore." The great Stoic reminds us that to be happy, we have to choose to want what is realistic, not to set ourselves up for failure.

This is NOT pessimism. This way of realigning our own desires allows us to focus on what really matters, to make choices that can make a real impact on the lives of others instead of feeding into illusionary changes that impact nothing. OR... you can choose to spend your energy on yourself, or on nothing at all, but at least you are aware of what you are doing. Self awareness is the first step to being a philosopher.

Bill Hicks, another modern philosopher, closed one of his concerts with the following observation: “The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it's very brightly colored, and it's very loud, and it's fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, "Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?" And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, "Hey, don't worry; don't be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride." And we … kill those people. "Shut him up! I've got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real." It's just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok … But it doesn't matter, because it's just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It's only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here's what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”

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The Enchiridion Sections Five and Six

The Enchiridion By Epictetus

Translated by Elizabeth Carter

5. Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things. Death, for instance, is not terrible, else it would have appeared so to Socrates. But the terror consists in our notion of death that it is terrible. 

Instincts get in our way, in other words.  The primal reptile part  of the brain has some uses.  But letting that primitive part of you be in charge should be a conscious decision.  We humans fall into a trap of slipping easily into a panic, addicted to our own adrenaline and relying on anxiety and fear to get that fight or flight instinct going.  Instead, be fully human and use all of your brain, not just the primitive parts of it.  

Fear of death is a good example.  Our reptile brain instinctively wants to flee from danger and fears pain and death.  But pain is a part of being alive and death is how all life ends eventually.  Fear of pain and death and the resulting panic can often get in the way of avoiding what we were afraid of in the first place.  Also there are times we have to feel pain and face death to accomplish a goal.  The goal is what matters, not primitive instinct.

When therefore we are hindered, or disturbed, or grieved, let us never attribute it to others, but to ourselves; that is, to our own principles. An uninstructed person will lay the fault of his own bad condition upon others. Someone just starting instruction will lay the fault on himself. Some who is perfectly instructed will place blame neither on others nor on himself. 

Humans are very quick to reach for a blame-thrower to devastate the opposition.  Much of life is random fortune, with no particular person at fault.  Also most people aren't truly rational or in control of their own actions, and blaming them for the results of their actions is like being angry at the deer that leaped in front of your car on a dark night ruining your fender.  Blame doesn't solve the problem at hand, and assigning it gets in the way of solutions.

6. Don't be prideful with any excellence that is not your own. If a horse should be prideful and say, " I am handsome," it would be supportable. But when you are prideful, and say, " I have a handsome horse," know that you are proud of what is, in fact, only the good of the horse. What, then, is your own? Only your reaction to the appearances of things. Thus, when you behave conformably to nature in reaction to how things appear, you will be proud with reason; for you will take pride in some good of your own. 

Apply this to everything.  If you can't spread the blame, you can't steal the credit either.  Either way, it is a distraction from what you should be doing at the moment.  

Don't sit around blaming someone who "did wrong" twenty years ago as an excuse to do nothing BUT sit around and complain.  Don't sit around proud of your local sports team as an excuse to never do anything about your own fitness.  You are what you do.  So DO SOMETHING.  Mainly, become a stoic.

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The Enchiridion Sections Three and Four

The Enchiridion By Epictetus

Translated by Elizabeth Carter

3. With regard to whatever objects give you delight, are useful, or are deeply loved, remember to tell yourself of what general nature they are, beginning from the most insignificant things. If, for example, you are fond of a specific ceramic cup, remind yourself that it is only ceramic cups in general of which you are fond. Then, if it breaks, you will not be disturbed. 

This seems like an easy thing to achieve this point of view.  Simply don't attach too much value to trivial things that are easily replaced.  We have all seen people working themselves into a frenzy over a misplaced item that can be replaced at any dollar store.  I'm as guilty of this as anyone, though I will TELL myself it is really about the wasted dollar or the wasted gas and time spent going back to the dollar store.  

But in the long run, that time was never MINE to begin with.  It just came to me and went back wherever time goes.  The gas was going to be burned some time, the dollar was going to be spent sooner or later.  Why be disturbed?

If you kiss your child, or your wife, say that you only kiss things which are human, and thus you will not be disturbed if either of them dies. 

And HERE is where Stoic philosophy gets the reputation of being the philosophy for resilient survivors.  If you can reach this level of keeping loss in perspective, nothing life throws at you will ever disturb your calm.  But it has the same logic as being detached about trivial possessions.  In life, you can lose anything.  If you enjoy it while it is there, but accept that things get lost eventually, those losses won't upset your calm, won't cause you to suffer over things that can't be changed.

4. When you are going about any action, remind yourself what nature the action is. If you are going to bathe, picture to yourself the things which usually happen in the bath: some people splash the water, some push, some use abusive language, and others steal. Thus you will more safely go about this action if you say to yourself, "I will now go bathe, and keep my own mind in a state conformable to nature." And in the same manner with regard to every other action. For thus, if any hindrance arises in bathing, you will have it ready to say, "It was not only to bathe that I desired, but to keep my mind in a state conformable to nature; and I will not keep it if I am bothered at things that happen. 

Substitute "swimming in a public pool" for bathing in a Classical Greek bathhouse if it helps.  The general point is still "Life is what it is.  People are what they are.  The greater goal is to stay in tune with life as it happens to be, not life as we wish that it was."

For myself, I try to avoid saying things like "Why me?!?!" when life isn't completely convenient or just as I wish it was.  Instead I have taught myself to say aloud, "Of course!  Of course, why would it be otherwise?"

It confuses others who may expect cursing and wailing and gnashing of teeth.  It reminds me that there is no real reason to expect life to be other than just the way that it is.  Of course I still see where life could be improved. 

 Expecting life to be as it is doesn't mean never seeing ways life COULD be changed or the world rearranged.  But that is the difference between wishing for food to appear in your hand and going to make yourself a sandwich. 
 
You can still be a Stoic and look for solutions.  Just expect to have to put in some work to make the changes that you want in the world.  Also don't be surprised when the solutions don't last forever.  The world is as it is, not as we wish it was.

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The Enchiridion Section Two

The Enchiridion By Epictetus

Translated by Elizabeth Carter

Section Two

 Remember that following desire promises the attainment of that of which you are desirous; and aversion promises the avoiding that to which you are averse. However, he who fails to obtain the object of his desire is disappointed, and he who incurs the object of his aversion wretched. If, then, you confine your aversion to those objects only which are contrary to the natural use of your faculties, which you  have in your own control, you will never incur anything to which you are averse. But if you are averse to sickness, or death, or poverty, you will be wretched.

One of the secrets to happiness is to want what you have, and not want what you don’t have.  Aesop had a fable with a similar moral to the story.

The Dog and the Shadow

A Dog, crossing a bridge over a stream with a piece of flesh in his mouth, saw his own shadow in the water and took it for that of another Dog, with a piece of meat double his own in size. He immediately let go of his own, and fiercely attacked the other Dog to get his larger piece from him. He thus lost both: that which he grasped at in the water, because it was a shadow; and his own, because the stream swept it away.

In both, we are reminded that wanting what we already have is best.  The more reasonable your expectations, the more likely they are to be met.  If you expect the unlikely or impossible, then you are assured to be disappointed most of the time.

  

Remove aversion, then, from all things that are not in our control, and transfer it to things contrary to the nature of what is in our control. But, for the present, totally suppress desire: for, if you desire any of the things which are not in your own control, you must necessarily be disappointed; and of those which are, and which it would be laudable to desire, nothing is yet in your possession. Use only the appropriate actions of pursuit and avoidance; and even these lightly, and with gentleness and reservation.

In the 21^st Century, covetousness and greed are pretty much encouraged.  Advertising and pop culture DEPEND upon it.  We have to make a conscious effort to break our conditioning to want more more MORE.  Stoicism is not exactly an economic stimulus program, but it will have the bonus of reducing your impulse shopping.

Epictetus says to suppress desire.  I have worked with addicts in recovery, and it’s very easy to SAY to suppress a desire, much harder to do it.  Don’t worry, Epictetus has some advice on how to do that.


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The Enchiridion, Section One

Much of this study guide will be taken from classical Greek Philosophy, with my own thoughts and observations mixed in.  The classical texts will be in italics to give the thoughts of our elders more emphasis than my own attempts to clarify and expand on the original work.  If my words are still being seriously considered in two thousand years maybe then they will deserve extra emphasis.

I will start with The Enchiridion by Epictetus, because it was originally intended as a very brief handbook for those just learning to become philosophers.  It is usually rendered in 52 short sections and I will follow suit.  There are many translations. I’m fond of the one Elizabeth Carter in 1758 as she did very well in making the translation flow well to modern ears when read aloud, and I will be using her translation of both The Enchiridion and The Discourses of Epictetus later on in the Stoic Study Guide.

The Enchiridion

By Epictetus

Translated by Elizabeth Carter

Section One

Some things are in our control and others not. Things in our control are opinion, pursuit, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever are our own actions. Things not in our control are body, property, reputation, command, and, in one word, whatever are not our own actions.

This section is the key to understanding the concepts that follow.  By separating what people are concerned with into “things controlled by our own desires” and “things controlled by the world outside our self” Epictetus tells his audience what are things to value and what to discard.  We can control our own opinions, what goals we chase after, what we choose to want and choose to try to avoid.  All of these are the contents of our own mind.

What are the things outside of our control?  The list Epictetus gives us encompasses everything that exists independently of our own thoughts.  Our body can be injured or destroyed by others; our health can be taken from us by a thousand kinds of misfortune.  Property, from the greatest fortune of the wealthiest person to the contents of the pockets of a beggar can still be lost.  What others believe about us and the ability to convince others to do as we say can be lost immediately, and often the damage is irreparable. All the things that are not directly the results of our own thoughts, are therefore out of our direct absolute control.

The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered; but those not in our control are weak, slavish, restrained, belonging to others. Remember, then, that if you suppose that things which are slavish by nature are also free, and that what belongs to others is your own, then you will be hindered. You will lament, you will be disturbed, and you will find fault both with gods and men. But if you suppose that only to be your own which is your own, and what belongs to others such as it really is, then no one will ever compel you or restrain you. Further, you will find fault with no one or accuse no one. You will do nothing against your will. No one will hurt you, you will have no enemies, and you not be harmed.  

Epictetus was a slave from childhood into young adulthood.  He was lame as an adult. History records that one of his legs had been deliberately broken by one of his masters as a child.  While he was a slave, he was able to study the Stoic school of philosophy under a well-known teacher in Rome.    He gained his freedom roughly around the time Emperor Nero died in 68 AD, how this happened has been lost to history.  He left Rome for Greece, founded a school and taught until he died in 135 AD at somewhere around 80 years old.  This may be why his philosophy has found resonance with solders, prisoners and captives over the centuries.  When you don’t control anything else, you still control the contents of your mind. 

Aiming therefore at such great things, remember that you must not allow yourself to be carried, even with a slight tendency, towards the attainment of lesser things. Instead, you must entirely quit some things and for the present postpone the rest. But if you would both have these great things, along with power and riches, then you will not gain even the latter, because you aim at the former too: but you will absolutely fail of the former, by which alone happiness and freedom are achieved.

Here Epictetus speaks to those who hope to achieve more that the absolute bare minimum in life to survive.  He reminds us that property, status and health are temporary at best, but actual contentment is far more important.  By focusing on what truly matters and avoiding the distractions of what is outside our control we may achieve contentment.  By trying to be in control of our mind and material success at the same time, you will certainly never achieve the state of being a true Stoic.

Work, therefore to be able to say to every harsh appearance, "You are but an appearance, and not absolutely the thing you appear to be." And then examine it by those rules which you have, and first, and chiefly, by this: whether it concerns the things which are in our own control, or those which are not; and, if it concerns anything not in our control, be prepared to say that it is nothing to you.

I was taught this concept by way of modern medicine in times of war and disaster, long before ever heard of the Classical Stoic philosophy.  It was explained to me that in these situations, medical personnel divide the wounded into three categories. 

In the first category there are casualties that probably won’t get better no matter how much help they get.  They get put to one side and kept as comfortable as possible until they die.  Then secondly, there are the casualties that would probably recover even if they didn’t receive any immediate attention, and they get put to another side and kept comfortable until everyone has time to deal with their minor injuries.  The third category is made up of the casualties that can only be saved only if immediate action is taken.  Those in this category get immediate care and attention.  This is called triage, from the French verb trier, meaning to separate, sift or select, as the practice was developed by the French in the Napoleonic Wars. 

Epictetus is essentially saying to learn to apply triage to our lives, and focus immediate care and attention only on the things in our actual control, namely our own mental and physical actions.  The rest of his handbook for beginning philosophers will be about how to learn to apply triage to daily life. 

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Introduction to the Guide

Welcome to the Stoic Study Guide, the home for this self-taught freelance philosopher to share what I think I know about life.  If you find it of value, you're welcome.  If you don't gain anything from what I have to say, at least you know what DOESN'T help you in life and can move on to other philosophies in life.

Everyone has to believe in something.  These are my beliefs, and my beliefs don't require anyone else to agree.  But even if you disagree, it will get you thinking about what matters to YOU.  That is important.  If you don't think about what you believe, then someone else probably picked your beliefs for you.  It is up to you, but giving others power over how you think and feel about life is giving up a lot of freedom and power.

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?

The short answer is that anything that isn’t a law of nature is someone’s opinion.  As one of my favorite novelists put it, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.”  ( Philip K. Dick, I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon)  Philosophy covers the beliefs, values and moral choices that people add onto the universe.Humans form beliefs, like “Human life has value” and “Lying is bad.”  Then we bog down into specifics over which lives have MORE value and are all lies equally bad.  Since these beliefs cause conflict with some people and unity with others, the beliefs we choose in life align us with one or another of infinite  opposing groups.  For details in a semi-serious way, CLICK HERE.

Also the beliefs we choose to have shape how we feel.  If we believe that life should always be easy and any inconvenience is horrible and intolerable, then life will almost always feel horrible and intolerable.  If we believe that everyone we ever meet in life must treat us 100% fairly and give us their full attention and approval or they are no good sons of bitches, then we will feel that we world is full of no good sons of bitches.  If we believe we have to be perfect 100% of the time or we are worthless unlovable people, then we will feel worthless and unloved most of the time.    As you can see, the beliefs we choose to follow dictate how we feel about everything that happens to us.  That is what the Stoic philosophy can be distilled down to.

If you hate how you feel most of the time, then it’s time you really examine your philosophy of life.

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