Stoic Buddhism, and so it goes

LISTEN. We're due for a report on eastern happiness today, in Happiness, as we continue with Epicurus's Art of Happiness and its elucidation of "the highest Epicurean ideals--serenity, detachment, unadulterated happiness, all summed up in the one word ataraxia." The Epicurean quest for happiness is also an imitatio Dei, and so a kind of religious quest too - but one that does not look to transcendent gods for guidance or deliverance. In that, it has something in common with Buddhism. And so of course has Stoicism.

It's noteworthy that the Dalai Lama also (co-) wrote a book called The Art of Happiness. The similarities between aspects of eastern philosophy and stoicism are striking. Marcus Aurelius had his daily pre-meditation -- “Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness..." etc. -- and so has the DL:

“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.”

The laws of nature and the path of enlightenment both counsel humane restraint and kindness in the face of hostility, and a recognition of the suffering that infuses every life. "For our life to be of value, I think we must develop basic good human qualities—warmth, kindness, compassion. Then our life becomes meaningful and more peaceful—happier.”

And, “Although you may not always be able to avoid difficult situations,you can modify the extent to which you can suffer by how you choose to respond to the situation.”

And His Holiness seems to be cribbing straight from Epictetus here: “We need to learn how to want what we have, NOT to have what we want, in order to get steady and stable Happiness.”

And above all, to be happy we've got to stop wasting *time. “Sometimes when I meet old friends, it reminds me how quickly time passes. And it makes me wonder if we've utilized our time properly or not. Proper utilization of time is so important. While we have this body, and especially this amazing human brain, I think every minute is something precious."

He may also have read Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater:

"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind."

I don't think Kurt was either a Buddhist or a Stoic, though he suffered more than his share of mental anguish and would doubtless have benefited from both. What he was, was a Humanist. We who read him have benefited from his having been that.

“We Humanists behave as well as we can, without any expectation of rewards or punishments in an Afterlife. We serve as best we can the only abstraction with which we have any real familiarity, which is our community.”

And we know, with Kurt: "Love may fail, but courtesy will prevail."

Andrei Codrescu told us he collects old typewriters. Kurt's had its own Twitter account, I saw it at his museum in Indianapolis.

* No time like now, indeed. So it goes. Slow down and enjoy it.