The Furious Torrent - Unpublished Selections Explained, Med. VII.19

Meditation VII.19 - The Furious Torrent - Translated by George Long and rewritten by Russell McNeil

Through the universal substance as through a furious torrent all bodies are carried,⁽¹⁾ being by their nature united with and cooperating with the whole, as the parts of our body with one another.⁽²⁾ How many a Chrysippus,⁽³⁾ how many a Socrates,⁽⁴⁾ how many an Epictetus⁽⁵⁾ has time already swallowed up?⁽⁶⁾ And let the same thought occur to you with reference to every human and thing.⁽⁷⁾

Explanation

(1) The "universal substance" is the all pervasive and ever active energy of nature. Stoic physics posits both active and passive aspects. Both aspects are materialistic. The passive undergoes constant transformation as it changes form under the universal control of the active Law of nature, referred to elsewhere as the universal intelligence or simply Logos - in modern terminology these would be called the forces and fields of physics: substantive but substantially different from the "bodies" upon which these forces act. The only choice we have in life is to cooperate with this "furious torrent" or to be consumed by it.

(2) The Stoics clearly understood and anticipated the universality of natural law. The idea was not formulated mathematically until Newton expressed this idea in 1687 - in one narrow form - as the inverse square law of universal gravitation. This Stoic idea does however turn on the same thread. Every body in the universe is acted upon - and acts upon - every other body as if it were "united with and cooperating with the whole."

(3) Zeno of Citium (333-264 BCE) and Crysippus (c. 279 BCE–c. 206 BCE) were the earliest Stoics. Chrysippus excelled in logic, the theory of knowledge, ethics and physics.

(4) Socrates (c. 470 BCE - 399 BCE) died 70 years before the birth of the first Stoic but is nevertheless regarded by many Stoics as the first Stoic.

(5) Epictetus (60-120 CE) is - like Marcus Aurelius - a member of the mature or Roman school of Stoicism. Much of the thinking of Marcus is modeled on his work.

(6) These philosophers have passed on. In time the memory of their names, and even of their works is increasingly obscured.

(7) Such is the nature of the Law. Life is brief. Soon we will die. And soon too will the memory of who we were. The sentiment would seem despairing, if not for the serenity that comes from living rightly or "according to nature." We thus have a choice: to live a happy and meaningful life - by living according to nature - or to be consumed by this self same "furious torrent" - unfulfilled and unloved.

Russell McNeil, PhD, is the author of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained by Skylight Paths Publishing. The unpublished selections presented in this Blog are provided as supplemental material to the published selections which are annotated and explained in the book. The published selections are referenced in this Blog by page number and section.

The Bleak Horizon - Unpublished Selections Explained, Med. VII.21

Meditation VII.21 - The Bleak Horizon - Translated by George Long and rewritten by Russell McNeil

Near is your forgetfulness of all things; and near the forgetfulness of you by all.⁽¹⁾

Explanation

(1) Life is not only impossibly brief, whatever impressions life makes on our consciousness are erased at death. There is no life after death, and nothing about you endures. And soon too the impressions you have made in life will be erased from the pages of history. This bleak nihilistic message is not intended to provoke despair, as it certainly will if life were otherwise as meaningless as these phrases seem to convey. On the contrary. Life lived rightly will be filled with peace and joy - if we live with and within nature's design.

Russell McNeil, PhD, is the author of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained by Skylight Paths Publishing. The unpublished selections presented in this Blog are provided as supplemental material to the published selections which are annotated and explained in the book. The published selections are referenced in this Blog by page number and section.

Think Before you Act - Unpublished Selections Explained, Med. VII.37

Meditation VII.37 - Think Before you Act - Translated by George Long and rewritten by Russell McNeil

It is a base thing for the countenance to be obedient and to regulate and compose itself as the mind commands,⁽¹⁾ and for the mind not to be regulated and composed by itself.⁽²⁾

Explanation

(1) Marcus draws sharp distinctions between the mind and the body. Insofar as we are human beings the Stoic will always regard bodily demands with relative indifference. Our divine essence resides in the mind and the mind ought never be under the control of the body which is implicit here as being something "base." In this meditation Marcus alludes to an emotional sensation originating in the body. The mind processes the emotion and commands the body to respond to an emotional trigger with immediate and unmediated obedience. This will be the case for those whose lives are driven exclusively by the pursuit of pleasure or power and the avoidance of pain. This of course is how our animal nature works - but human beings are endowed with reason. And while there is nothing intrinsically wrong with our animal nature, our full nature requires mediation from the mind, the seat of reason.

(2) The meditation does not suggest that the mind should not command the body - of course it should. But for the Stoic those commands will be issued only if it is right to do so. But it is never right to react to a physical demand instinctively. We need to process every emotional demand in order to insure that our actions are never dishonest, or overtly driven by passion, or thoughtless, or done from anger, or cause harm to others. If any action - which is mirrored in the countenance - falls into any of these five categories, we are not responding as a human being should. To be fully human we need to act in a measured manner, that is by following the dictates of reason and the guidance of conscience. To react otherwise is to live contrary to our human nature. But to be Stoic we must always live according to nature - whatever the cost to our animal nature.

Russell McNeil, PhD, is the author of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained by Skylight Paths Publishing. The unpublished selections presented in this Blog are provided as supplemental material to the published selections which are annotated and explained in the book. The published selections are referenced in this Blog by page number and section.

Controlling Addictions to Sex, Drugs, Alcohol, Money and Power - Unpublished Selections Explained, Med. VIII.04

Meditation VIII.04 - Controlling Addiction to Sex, Drugs, Alcohol, Money or Power - Translated by George Long and rewritten by Russell McNeil

Consider that men and women will do the same things nevertheless, even though you should burst.¹

Explanation

(1) This meditation reflects on a supremely frustrating aspect of human psychology - compulsive behavior. These behaviors often play out as addictions to sex, drugs, alcohol, money and power. But they also manifest in other ways as abusiveness, stinginess, and selfishness. The meditation is written from the perspective of those whose lives are affected by compulsive actions: the spouses of alcoholics, the parents of drug addicts, the victims of sexual abuse, the exploited workers of greedy corporations, or the victimized masses of political tyrants.

This meditation offers no formula for redress although other meditations do (see Meditation XI.11 in particular). The Stoic approach to compulsion is rather straightforward and has achieved significant success world-wide as the underlying modality in the various twelve-step addiction programs developed to treat alcohol, narcotic and sexual addictions.

The novel elements in those approaches are their reliance on and acceptance of the existence of a higher power (in Stoicism that is Logos) and a particular attitude that is not seen in alternative approaches to addiction. That attitude is captured in a strange Stoic prayer in which the addict is basically told to "accept" the addiction as part of his nature. The prayer is published in the book as Meditation IX.40. The Alcoholics Anonymous version of that prayer asks the addict "to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed." In other words the addict learns to accept the addiction as part of his nature but then turns control of his actions to the wisdom of a higher power and learns in this manner not to act on the addiction - and does so through a series of mental decisions - exercised continuously - one day at a time. As discussed elsewhere, in Stoicism that higher power is also in us at all times and is part of our basic humanity.

We can argue whether these approaches are really a cure. But that would require we define what a cure really is. The Stoic really says there is no cure as such. We are what we are. In a sense the Stoic recognizes that some behaviors may be "hard wired" and impossible to reprogram. We can however learn not to act on those behaviors that do harm to others. How? In Stoic terms Marcus asks us to simply set aside - if only for the moment that the compulsion occurs - the "opinion" that we really need the pleasure we pursue (be it sexual, alcohol, drugs, money or power). The objective in this approach is not to remove the compulsion - that will likely not happen. But, when we examine the opinion that we really need what we seek, there is a very good chance that we will intellectually recognize that the compulsion is indeed a "false opinion" - that is contrary to our best nature, and our best nature is the divine essence or higher power within us.

If we examine such situations from our real personal experiences, we too will probably realize that objectively we do not need those pleasures that appear compulsive to us. Such a shift in opinion is a shift toward reality. Addictions and compulsions are aberrations. We know that. Stoicism offers a mode of thinking that shows us the truth - that our addictions and compulsions really are false opinions. When we learn to take these mental holidays or "time outs" from addictive or compulsive attitudes, we can learn how to release ourselves from addictive or compulsive patterns. The compulsions will probably return and will do so repeatedly throughout our lives, but we will learn to harness them, control them, and to teach others how they too may do the same.

Russell McNeil, PhD, is the author of The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: Selections Annotated and Explained by Skylight Paths Publishing. The unpublished selections presented in this Blog are provided as supplemental material to the published selections which are annotated and explained in the book. The published selections are referenced in this Blog by page number and section.

James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)

You should not say it is not good. You should say you do not like it; and then, you know, you're perfectly safe.

Books from Alibris: James McNeill Whistler

John William Waterhouse (1849-1917)

English painter. Early in his career he painted Greek and Roman subjects, but in the 1880s he turned to literary themes, painted in a distinctive, dreamily romantic style. In approach he was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites, but his handling of paint is quite different from theirs--rich and sensuous. His work includes such classic Victorian anthology pieces as The Lady of Shalott (Tate Gallery, London, 1888) and Hylas and the Nymphs (City Art Gallery, Manchester, 1896). [Adapted from WebMuseum]

Books from Alibris: John William Waterhouse

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901)

In our time there are many artists who do something because it is new.. they see their value and their justification in this newness. They are deceiving themselves...novelty is seldom the essential. This has to do with one thing only.. making a subject better from its intrinsic nature.

Books from Alibris: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

James Tissot (1836-1902)

French draughtsman and painter, b. at Nantes, 15 Oct., 1836; d. at Buillon, Department of Doubs, 3 Aug., 1902. He studied at Paris at the Academy of Fine Arts and in the ateliers of Ingres and Flandrin. During this period of his career he became well acquainted with the darker side of the moral and political life of the city. The first paintings that he exhibited at the salon attracted great attention, especially the one picturing the meeting of Faust and Gretchen, now in the Luxemburg Museum. When the Commune came into power Tissot fled to England for fear of coming into conflict with the Government on account of the political intrigues of his brother. In England he gained a reputation as a portrait and genre painter. Tissot, however, was more of an illustrator than a painter, as is shown in the brilliant series of watercolours, La femme a Paris, in which in careful, correct work done with much dash he lashed the follies of modern Parisian life. Later he issued a similar series of aquarelles on high life in London. The picture of the former of these series entitled La femme qui chante dan l'eglise obliged him to go repeatedly to church during the service, and this suggested to him the conception of the picture, Christ Appears to console two Unfortunates in a Ruin. With this last-mentioned work a new epoch began in the life of the painter and, in the course of time, of the man. The figure of Christ had so attracted him that he was never afterwards able to put it out of his mind. He went to Palestine where he spent a year in the most careful geographical and ethnographic studies. After this he spent ten years in preparing the large number of aquarelles that compose his Life of Christ. The absolutely modern conception of this work shows a complete break with the past. The work was entitled La vie de notre Seigneur Jesus- Christ, 865 compositions d'apres les quatres evangiles, avec des notes et des dessins explicativs, par James Tissot (Tours, 1896). The price was high, 5000 francs for the edition on Japanese paper, and 1500 francs for that on vellum. A cheaper popular edition in English was issued later. Tissot also designed a series of illustrations for the Old Testament, which, however, are not as fine as the earlier ones. The aquarelles on the New Testament have been called "a revolution in religious art". - Malaspina Biography

Books from Alibris: James Tissot

Alfred Sisley (1839-1899)

The motif must always be set down in a simple way, easily grasped and understood by the beholder. By the elimination of superfluous detail, the spectator should be led along the road that the artist indicates to him, and from the first be made to notice what the artist has felt.

Books from Alibris: Alfred Sisley

John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)

Every time I paint a portrait I lose a friend.

Books from Alibris: John Singer Sargent

Henri Julien Felix Rousseau (1844-1910)

Nothing makes me so happy as to observe nature and to paint what I see.

Books from Alibris: Henri Rousseau

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882)

My Sister's Sleep (1848)

For my part, I but hid my face, / And held my breath, and spoke no word: / There was none spoken; but I heard / The silence for a little space. / Our mother bowed herself and wept: / And both my arms fell, and I said, / 'God knows I knew that she was dead.' / And there, all white, my sister slept.

Books from Alibris: Dante Gabriel Rossetti

Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

In painting, as in the other arts, there's not a single process, no matter how insignificant, which can be reasonably made into a formula. You come to nature with your theories, and she knocks them all flat.

Books from Alibris: Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Odilon Redon (1840-1916)

My drawings inspire and are not to be defined. They determine nothing. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous world of the undetermined. They are a kind of metaphor.


Books from Alibris: Odilon Redon

Camille Pissarro (1830-1903)

Work at the same time on sky, water, branches, ground, keeping everything going on an equal basis... Don't be afraid of putting on colour... Paint generously and unhesitatingly, for it is best not to lose the first impression.

Books from Alibris: Camille Pissarro

Ludovic Piette (1826-1878)

A landscape-painter, who was a pupil of Couture before attending the Academie Suisse, where he became friendly with Pissarro and started to follow the tendancies of Impressionism. He participated in the third and fourth Impressionist exhibitions during a period when his works were almost indistinguishable from those of Pissarro, who often stayed with him in his house of Montfoucault in Brittany, and where Pissarro painted a number of landscapes. Around 1870 Piette painted a picture in gouache of Pissarro at work, which later belonged to Camille, the painter's son; now lost, it is known only through a photograph. - Malaspina Biography

Books from Alibris: Ludovic Piette

Lilla Cabot Perry (1848-1933)

The genuine artist has the impulse to communicate to others one’s own consciousness of the innate beauty that lies in emotion.

Books from Alibris: Lilla Cabot Perry

Berthe Morisot (1841-1895)

It is important to express oneself... provided the feelings are real and are taken from your own experience.

Books from Alibris: Berthe Morisot

Gustave Moreau (1826-1898)

When I want to render these fine nuances, I do not find them in the subject, but in the nature of women in real life who seek unhealthy emotions and are too stupid even to understand the horror in the most appalling situations.

Books from Alibris: Gustave Moreau

Jean Francois Millet (1814-1875)

Art will never come except from some small disregarded corner where an isolated and inspired man is studying the mysteries of nature.

Books from Alibris: Jean Francois Millet