4 simple principles for a better life at the confluence of Stoicism & Vipassana
Common precepts in Western & Eastern philosophy that can guide us to a better life without invoking religion or god.
Everything, everywhere, all at once
In Physics, the concept of the Block Universe or Eternalism suggests that the past, present & future are all equally “real” and co-exist. However, in our lives, we tend to live in the present with the past having come & gone, and the future yet to come. This is the way we ordinarily experience time. Or so it goes.
But not so fast! The reason for our misery oftentimes usually comes down to the fact that we seem to simultaneously live in the past, present and future. This creates tremendous problems for us as we relive the past and anticipate the future while paying lip service to the present. This takes away from us ever experiencing the present in its pure, singularly focused, form. This is essentially the root of all that ails us.
What is the message then from Stoicism & Vipassana?
1. Pay particular attention to the present.
The past is history — no need to relive it again at the expense of the present. Likewise, the future is yet to come, let it come and live it fully once rather than living it once in anticipation at the expense of the present and all over again when it finally arrives and becomes the present. Live in the present with full attention to it. Accept what is, as it is, and not as you wish it to be.
2. Practice Equanimity
It is one of the Four Brahma-viharas, which are considered the sublime or divine abodes of the mind. Equanimity involves maintaining an inner calm and steadiness regardless of the external circumstances.
“Equanimity is the ability to remain balanced and composed in the face of difficult situations”
Equanimity is not indifference to what is happening but quite the opposite. It is the ability to welcome and observe what happens without regard to preference or clinging, without preference for the good and avoidance of the bad.
3. Pay attention to what you can control and do not waste time, energy, and effort on that which you cannot control.
The Stoics believed that we should align our actions and thoughts and accept what is outside our control. The Vipassana meditators also aim to live in harmony with the natural laws of impermanence, suffering, and non-self, and to cultivate detachment from craving and aversion.
The Stoics taught us that we should only concern ourselves with our own judgments, decisions, and actions, which are under our control, and not with externalities that depend on fate, chance, or other people. The Vipassana meditators also practiced mindfulness of their own sensations, thoughts, and emotions, and learned to observe them objectively without reacting to them.
4. Realize that everything is impermanent.
Good things as well as bad things will not last. Accept both without resistance, and with a sense of equanimity or balance.
“When we see deeply that all that is subject to arising is also subject to cessation, that whatever arises will also pass away, the mind becomes disenchanted. Becoming disenchanted, one becomes dispassionate. And through dispassion, the mind is liberated.”
Your own experience probably reminds you that when you eagerly anticipate the good and pleasant whether it be going on a wonderful trip or buying that new car of your dreams, once you have experienced it, it is gone and its over, or in the case of the car, its initial excitement wears away.
Likewise, when you are hit with an unpleasant or painful experience whether it is an injury or a bad diagnosis, it too passes way after its initial pain and gets absorbed as the new normal.
Therefore, both the Stoics and the Vipassana meditators tell us not to cling to any experience as they are all simply transitory and impermanent.
