Blog Archives

You Were Born Good (Day 304)

10/31/2019

Image by John Hain from Pixabay

The human being is born with an inclination toward virtue.”
Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 2.7.1-2

Anyone reading this blog still hung up on the whole “original sin” thing? Well, if you’re one of those folx, please allow me to offer you a liberating perspective:

“Original sin” is bullshit. It’s a lie, sold to others for the purposes of control. Once we know it’s bullshit, however, and we choose to still believe it… well, that’s a different problem entirely.

The rules and restrictions of culture and society are the elements that create selfishness and other-ing, as well as delude us into believing our nature is to be those things.

Most Buddhists call the concept of being born good “Buddha nature” and Chogyam Trungpa, Rinpoche, Tibetan meditation master and founder of Naropa University, called the same principle “basic goodness”.

Our practices of religion and philosophy must strip away the coverings that hide that principle from us. If what we’re practicing is making us more selfish, more distrustful, more fearful, and more miserly, we need to ask ourselves: are those the things I want to represent me?

Before we answer, remember: We were born GOOD.

(See y’all tomorrow - for November, and a whole month of exploring the principle of Acceptance, Stoically known as - Amor Fati)

Who Gets the Lion’s Share? (Day 303)

10/30/2019

Image by Michael Siebert from Pixabay

When times are darkest, we rely on practices within which we've invested, like philosophy and religion. We turn toward these practices to help us get through those seemingly-impossible circumstances.

But, what share of our time and resources goes into developing those relationships? Is it the lion's share?

We section off a considerable piece of our days for work-time, or meetings… but how much time do we schedule for making offerings, or for the studying of lore, or for taking an online class, or for reading the latest work from a respected scholar in your field?

The average person watches 4-5 hours of television during the week, and around twice that on the weekend (Wiki). How many would be willing to trade 20-25% of their TV time for time spent studying or practicing their mind and heart training traditions? How about 10%? That’s only about twenty to thirty minutes a day?

The lion’s share of our attention and spirit goes to fostering things upon which we cannot rely, and more often than not, for most folx, only a very small share of that attention and spirit goes toward things upon which, when the time is right (or wrong, as it were), they will need to rely.

I believe Seneca said it best when he said:

Aren’t you ashamed to reserve for yourself only the remnants of your life and to dedicate to wisdom only that time (that) can’t be directed to business?”
On the Brevity of Life, 3.5b

(See y'all tomorrow)

Character is Fate (Day 302)

10/29/2019

Each person acquires their own character, but their official roles are designated by chance. You should invite some to your table because they are deserving, others because they may come to deserve it.”
Seneca, Moral Letters, 47.15b

Who you were could help others know how you’ve handled your fate.

Who you appear to be helps to determine your fate in the moment.

Who you are helps to determine your lasting fate.

Your character is who you are.

Let it be one of Virtue and Kindness.

We were Made for Each Other (Day 301)

10/28/2019

You’ll more quickly find an earthly thing kept from the earth than you will
a person cut from other human beings.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.9.3

The reality of mutual interdependence (not to mention dependent causality) with one another (as well as all the denizens of our Cosmos, as best we can be) is as powerful and real as is, for example, the law of gravity. That’s what wise Marcus was getting at in today’s quote.

Mutual interdependence may come easy for some, but the naturally introspective, who can live more isolated lives than their extroverted counterparts, need the occasional philosophy-rooted reminder to connect with other people. I’m talkin’ about the living, present, heartbeat kind of people… otherwise we’ll grow hard and calloused toward our fellow human beings, our species-mates.

However, being an “I” on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator isn’t the only kind of marker for folx who need a reminder about the truth of mutual interconnectedness of all beings. Anyone, really, who is having difficulty in life, or struggling with their unique circumstances, needs to be reminded that they’re not isolated (like they likely believe themselves to be), and that there are others all around who care (because struggle is very disconnecting and disengaging).

It’s hard to practice and trust in the idea of Sympatheia, but remember… it’s like gravity. It simply IS. Saying that you doubt its existence would be akin to saying you don’t believe in this whole “gravity thing”.

(See y’all tomorrow)

We Reap What We Sow (Day 300)

10/27/2019

Image by kangbch from Pixabay

Crimes often return to their teacher.”
Seneca, Thyestes, 311

Sixty-five days left, y’all. If all has gone according to design, you, my readers, have been reaping the products of the seeds of contemplative, cosmotheogenic Stoicism. I know I have. This work has been, and for the next sixty-five days will continue to be some good in my life, in your lives, and gods be good, in the world.

That’s what I’ve been “putting out there” with this blog.

We receive back what we put into the world, right? If we plant the seeds of kindness, it's likely we’ll have a kindness harvest in the future. If we plant seeds of hurt and mistrust, our harvest will reflect those, too.

In each moment, we each have the opportunity to take a breath, and sow the seeds of Virtue, goodness, inclusivity, and generosity. After all, what kind of harvest will you want when harvest time comes?

Plant Virtue, harvest Virtue. Plant kindness, harvest kindness.

(See y’all tomorrow)

Three Parts, One Aim (Day 299)

10/26/2019

Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay

The best and the greatest number of authors have asserted that philosophy consists of three part: the moral, the natural, and the rational. The first puts the soul in order. The second thoroughly examines the natural order of things. The third inquires into the proper meaning of words, and their arrangements and proofs which keep falsehoods from creeping in to displace truth.”
Seneca, Moral Letters, 89.9

Seneca lays out the three parts of philosophy: the moral, natural, and rational.

Even though there are three moving parts to the philosophy-engine, it has but one goal, one purpose…

… to help the adherent live the good life, rooted in reality, ruled by the rational mind.

Life is about living with virtue, and finding every empty space that calls out to be filled with kindness.

Three parts… one aim.

(See y’all tomorrow)

Two Tasks (Day 298)

10/25/2019

Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay

What, then, makes a person free from hindrance and self-determining? For wealth doesn’t, neither does high-office, state, or kingdom - rather, something else must be found… in the case of living, it is the knowledge of how to live.”
Epictetus, Discourses, 4.1.62-64

We have two core purposes in life: be a good person, and pursue a fulfilling vocation that speaks to our hearts. Shit, that’s easy. Only got two things to do on the ol’ life-checklist.

Just kidding… life is complex, difficult, and challenging at every turn. Even if that weren’t the case, how would one go about DOING those two things, anyway?

Well, shit… that’s easy, too:

Avoid distractions. Say no to destructive emotions. Don’t yield to outside pressure. Do only what’s within your power and influence. Don’t squander the limited time we’ve got in the MiddleRealm. Treat others as we’d like to be treated. Finally, remember that every moment we live, we have an opportunity to practice all the above do’s and don'ts.

Going through life while awake takes a lot more effort than sleepwalking through it.

No… it’s not easy, but few things so rich in reward are.

(See y’all tomorrow)

The Fountain of Goodness (Day 297)

10/24/2019

Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay

Dig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.59

When looking for the good in the world, the good in our days, and the good in our lives, we could always hope that some appears…

… but, hope, as we know, is for suckers.

Our job is to FIND the good in our lives…

… and it’s the act of finding that helps to inform the good we find.

(See y’all tomorrow)

Show the Qualities You Were Made For (Day 296)

10/23/2019

People aren’t in awe of your sharp mind? So be it. But you have many other qualities you can’t claim to have been deprived of at birth. Display then those qualities in your own power: honesty, dignity, endurance, chastity, contentment, frugality, kindness, freedom, persistence, avoiding gossip, and magnanimity.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.5

When things don’t go our way, it’s easy to engage in blaming our circumstances, longing for what others have, wishing we were something we were not. Why weren’t we born taller, smaller, broader, thinner, etc, etc, etc… Why weren’t we born in a different state, time, country, etc, etc, etc…

What’s the point of that behavior? Does it make us feel better? If so, so what. What “you” are we “making” feel one way or another? When we’re making choices that make *you* “feel” better, unless otherwise engaged in self-care, is doing nothing but strengthening our egos.

If we change the focus to things that we DO have in our strengths-bag, we can choose to enter with our strengths and not our perceived deficits, we can choose to be happy, chaste, thrifty, persistent, courageous, virtuous… we can choose to be however we wish to be.

We’re made for these things, we’re made for virtue… why not choose virtue?

It takes work to continually choose virtue, so why not show off the qualities that have taken us a great amount of work to build?

(See y’all tomorrow)

It’s Easy to Get Better, but Better at What? (Day 295)

10/22/2019

So someone’s good at taking down an opponent, but that doesn’t make them more community-minded, or modest, or well-prepared for any circumstance, or more tolerant of the faults of others.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.52

In martial arts, no matter the style, there’s a long held belief: practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

What we practice matters. If we practice without precision, we’ll have no precision, etc. etc…

If we want to get better at anything, we have to practice that thing. However, things we’re not mindful of also get woven into our habituations. We have to be mindful of what we’re taking in to ourselves, otherwise, what is it that we’re getting better at?

Just because we're good at one thing, doesn't mean we're good at all things.

(See y’all tomorrow)

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About the Blog

Awakening the desire to explore Stoicism, and how it relates to his existing beliefs, Rev. William committed to working through the text, The Daily Stoic, a year-long journey to awaken the Stoic mind.
How things are structured can be found in the first post.

About the Author

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Rev. William attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where in 2007 he graduated with a degree in Religious Studies, minoring in Psychology. Currently residing in Longmont, CO, he is one of the Priests and founder of Mountain Ancestors Grove. He spends his time playing mandolin (and some guitar), writing, engaging in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education, community service, and sharing a larger vision of how a polytheist perspective can lead to greater human understanding, acceptance, and gods be good, peace.

A Year of Contemplation