Reese Ann E.

Endencia XI-Mendeleev
[Link] Von Alesna November 5,2019

Marcus Aurelius (26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was a respected

Roman Emperor (161–180 CE), a philosopher-king who was the last of Rome's so-called
Five Good Emperors. The Roman Empire was governed by absolute power, under the
guidance of wisdom and virtue. That’s what separates Marcus from the majority of past
and present world leaders. His death was regarded as the end of the Pax Romana and
the beginning of instability that led over time to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
His true love, however, was Stoicism, a moral philosophy dedicated to reason and self-
restraint. Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius is perhaps the best known Stoic leader in
history. Trained in Stoic philosophy, Marcus Aurelius stopped almost every night to
practice a series of spiritual exercises—reminders designed to make him humble,
patient, empathetic, generous, and strong in the face of whatever he was dealing with.
It is worth remembering that Marcus is one of history’s most exemplary leaders and one
worth emulating in our own lives. Marcus wrote about his own Stoic practice in his
journals. His philosophy can be found in a collection of personal writings known as the
Meditations. It is essentially the private thoughts of the most powerful man in the world,
admonishing himself on how to be more virtuous, more just, more immune to
temptation, wiser. It is the definitive text on self-discipline, personal ethics, humility,
self-actualization and strength. They have become one of the most influential philosophy
books in the history of the world. Meditations originally had no title and was written by
Marcus Aurelius for his own benefit, not for an audience. And it’s funny to think that his
writings may be as special as they are because they were never intended for us to be
read. Almost every other piece of literature is a kind of performance—it’s made for the
audience. Meditations isn’t. In fact, their original title (Ta eis heauton) roughly translates
as To Himself. It’s for this reason that Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations is a somewhat
inscrutable book—it was for personal clarity and not public benefit. It is a book of short
sayings, varying from a sentence or two, to a long paragraph. It’s not organized by
theme, but certain ideas keep popping up throughout, indicating that he thought them
the most important for him (and therefore us) to understand and incorporate into the
way we live.
His contribution the book of Meditations is important because it
contains actionable advice and its teachings were meant to be practiced and used. The
most important lesson to take away from Meditations is that our minds have great
power. We can choose how we perceive events and we can always choose to be
virtuous. If we practice, we can instantly erase any bad impressions from our mind. We
are completely in control of our thoughts and actions. People will always do awful (or at
least unpleasant) things and we are only responsible our own virtue. We can choose to
be good even when we are surrounded by wrong. When another harms us, we can react
with kindness, advising them of their errors if possible but being okay with it if they
ignore this advice. When another angers us, we must immediately consider their point of
view, remember that we have our own faults, and respond with positivity and
indifference to any supposed harm done to us. The deepest lesson in Meditations relates
to our mortality and the shortness of life. We shall soon be replaced, and we ought not
waste our lives being distressed. We should focus on doing good for the others with the
unknowable amount of time we have left to live. To make this a part of our lives we
must reflect regularly on the fact that we will die. This can result in some of the deepest
understandings available to humans, therefore death should be confronted no matter
how unpleasant it may be to think about. We should reflect on all the people that have
come before us, what is left of them now, and what will later be left of us. When Marcus
speaks of the certainty of death and how relatively soon it will come, he is not idly
philosophizing. He is recommending that this fact advise our decision-making and how
we view the events in our lives. Instead of theorizing about what we should do if either
there is a guiding intelligence in the universe, or if everything is just atoms, he
prescribes one viewpoint that typically follows Stoic thinking, and explains why both
possible truths would lead to the same best actions and beliefs. The character traits he
lists throughout this book include many examples worth following and ought to be paid
close attention to.
Even though he wrote Meditations around 2,000 years ago, his insights
still carry strong weight today. Here are some insights of his stoic philosophy that we
can apply to our own life and make it meaningful. Ignore what others are doing. It
means that our time is very limited, so why waste our precious energy worrying about
our neighbors? Why do we care what they are doing? What they are up to? And what
they think of us? We need to ignore everyone and focus on our task at hand. What is our
task? Whatever is our calling on earth – whether that means art, empowering others or
being a loving parent. Today with social media, we are addicted to what others are
doing. We waste our mental energy being envious of others and comparing ourselves to
them and hence feel frustrated that we aren’t as successful as our peers. In order to
stay focused and ignore what others are doing, you need to take a break from doing
anything that concerns others. Your Reality is made by your opinions. It means
there is no “objective” reality out there – we shape our own reality. We shape our own
perception of the world with our thoughts. No external “reality” exists outside of our
perceptions. The practical way you can apply this mode of thinking in your life is this:
see everything in a positive light. For example, let’s say that someone talks negatively
about you to your face. Rather than feeling frustrated, you can tell yourself: “I’m glad
that someone is talking negatively about me, it means that I am not boring and doing
something interesting.” Furthermore, when people insult us, try to harm us, or criticize
us – it isn’t the insult which hurt us. It is our interpretation of what they are saying
which hurts us. If we interpret others’ actions as irrelevant, how can we feel hurt?
Interpret every action that happens to you as positive. For example, if someone insults
you, think to yourself: “How can this insult make me a stronger person?” See every
opportunity as a growth opportunity. All in all, we can integrate some of these lessons in
our lives, to give us less suffering, stress, anxiety, and more strength to do your life’s
task – to serve the common good.