Greeks had the gifts of wisdom
Easing worries of the mind and calming a restless spirit can seem like an endless and challenging pursuit at times. But the Stoics had the right idea. The Hellenistic school of thought was founded about 300BC by a shipwrecked Greek man — Zeno of Citium in Cyprus — who turned to philosophy after suffering the loss of his material possessions and surviving ill-fortune.
Informed by the great writings of Socrates — whose body of work boils down to two key words: “know yourself” — and the philosophical dialogues of Crates of Athens — a cynic (the philosophy, not the person) who gave up his wealth to live a life of austerity — stoicism went on to become one of the most influential philosophies of the Greco-Roman world. Now, due to increasing complexity and high rates of stress, stoicism is having a resurgence.
After his tragic losses at sea, Zeno, the once wealthy merchant, found his fame on a soapbox under a colonnade in the Agora in Athens. He had observed that, for many people, the feeling of satisfaction remained elusive. Soaked in the pursuit of endless desire, or gasping to maintain a hold of what they already had, few had found the key to inner fulfilment. Informed by his experience of poverty, Zeno found it was obvious. By accepting the impermanence of all things, one can attain freedom from angst and misery.
Essentially, nothing lasts in perpetuity, and the desire for more, produces the unintended feeling of less — it’s one of life’s paradoxes. The word “stoic” has come to be associated with emotional suppression, or steely strength. This is not accurate. Stoics seek to transform emotion, and inner suffering, into soundness of mind and health of spirit. The stoic code incorporates three key principles: logic (employing reason), physics (following the laws of nature) and ethics (accessing the moral goodness of the soul). These tenets can serve us a great deal.
Perhaps one of the most useful quotes can be found in the writings of Epictetus, a devout stoic who maintained that philosophy is more than intellectual pursuit, it’s a way of life: “The more we value things outside our control, the less control we have.”
External validation is short-lived. What these wise words from Epictetus teach us is that true control, and ultimately, happiness, rests in our ability to let go. Peace is an internal pursuit, found in the inner plains of our personal experience, rather than in the outside world.We have a way of complicating things, as humans, and liberation can be discovered through simplicity — in letting go and going with the flow.
That is something the Buddhists know well, too. About 200 years before stoicism developed, Buddhism began to flourish in Asia. Many teachings concern the same unifying principles that greed causes suffering and enlightenment exists in balance, or through the “middle path” — living in the centre, between extremes.
A similar approach is found in Taoism, which arose about 100 years after Buddhism and before stoicism took off. Its cornerstone text, the Tao Te Ching, as translated by Jonathan Star points the way: “One who seeks his treasure in the outer world is cut off from his own roots.
“Without roots he becomes restless. Being restless, his mind is weak. And with a mind such as this he loses all command below heaven.” I’ll let you ponder that one. We owe a great deal to these deep thinkers, ancient scholars from the east and west, who have left us with such sagely advice. True happiness is found within.
This article was first published in The West Australian in Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in Agenda, 1 October 2022.