5 Stoic & Zen Practices That I Consider In
By Leo Babauta
I imagine find highly effective practices for transformation wherever we are able to discover them. And the Stoic philosophers Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca are enormous inspirations for me.
I’ve discovered there to be an enormous overlap between Stoicism and Zen Buddhism, even when there are additionally some key variations. The overlap between Zen & Stoicism are issues I share beneath, and they’re highly effective practices.
1. What We Management
One of many fundamental Stoic ideas is to concentrate on what you possibly can management, and let go of what you possibly can’t. And most of life is what we are able to’t management: different folks’s opinions and actions, the climate, world occasions for essentially the most half, accidents, loss. Too usually we let these issues have an effect on our happiness, even when we are able to’t do something about them.
Take into consideration how usually you get annoyed or pressured by one thing you possibly can’t management. What in case you declared that that was none of your enterprise — your enterprise as a substitute is specializing in doing all of your greatest within the current second.
Zen additionally focuses on doing all of your greatest within the current second, from a spot of compassion. I discover this focus to be easy, highly effective, and liberating.
2. Reminder of Demise
The Stoics would remind themselves that they have been going to die, regularly. Buddhists do that too — one department of Buddhists will meditate in a graveyard for this objective, one thing that I do as properly.
Life is brief and treasured, and we take it as a right. We have to remind ourselves of this usually, in order that we are able to benefit from every day, and every second.
3. Loving What Is
The Stoics didn’t use the time period “amor fati” (that was Nietzsche) however Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus undoubtedly espoused the concept that we must always embrace what is definitely occurring quite than what we want issues can be.
Epictetus: “Don’t search to have occasions occur as you want, however want them to occur as they do occur, and all can be properly with you.”
It is a Zen thought as properly, to embrace actuality as it’s, and the methods we undergo are based mostly on wanting issues to be completely different.
What in case you may be taught to like every second, precisely as it’s? To do that, you need to discover the wonder in life because it occurs. Begin with the simple moments (a quiet morning, a pleasant cup of tea, seeing the face of somebody you like) after which slowly work in direction of tougher ones (somebody is being unfavorable, you might have a troublesome job earlier than you). Depart the toughest issues as a sophisticated problem for later (demise, sickness, conflict).
4. Ponder Misfortune
Seneca had a observe known as “premeditatio malorum,” or considering adversity upfront, the place you’d visualize all of the dangerous issues that may occur to you, as a rehearsal.
For instance, in case you’re about to make a journey, you may think all of the issues that might go fallacious — you forgot your passport, you misplaced your baggage, you bought robbed, you bought misplaced, you bought sick. Really visualize all of these items occurring. And picture that they aren’t traumatic, however impartial — there’s no drawback. Perhaps you truly cherished the expertise!
Then, if any of them truly did occur … you then’re ready. Nothing can occur to you that’s worse than what you’ve already skilled within the contemplation! You’ve already gone by all of it.
On this approach, we now have ready ourselves, like placing ourselves into ice chilly water to arrange for swimming within the Atlantic.
The Zen custom is extra about present-moment meditation … however in a approach, once we meditate, we face every thing that comes up for us within the current second (boredom, distraction, discomfort, frustration, and so on.) and so when the identical issues (inevitably) come up for us later, we’ve already confronted them.
5. A Larger Perspective
There’s a approach I like to visualise taking a “God’s-eye view” of humanity — trying down on all of humankind, like we’re the dimensions of ants.
This type of greater perspective jogs my memory that:
- My issues are literally small, even when they appear huge; and
- We’re all interconnected, even when it feels we’re alone.
This makes my life simpler.
The Stoics known as this the “greater view.” In Zen, we observe reminding ourselves of our interconnectedness. It’s the “fact” of actuality (versus having a separate self) that helps us to really feel related and compassionate.
These practices assist me tremendously in my life. They’re liberating and motivating on the similar time. And so they take observe — a lifetime’s price.
