“Make the best of what is in our power.
Take the rest as it occurs.”
His name means "Newly
acquired." In Greek, it is Epictetus (Epic-tea-tus). A casual way to
translate the word might be "Slave." That is what Epictetus was, the
property of his wealthy master Epaphroditus in present day Turkey. Born around
50 A.D., his real name is unknown.
Little is known about his life. He
had few possessions. He had no wife and no children, although when he was
elderly he adopted a child. When Epictetus was about 35, his master freed him.
He then moved to Rome where he taught philosophy and later to Greece. He became
so well-known and respected that the Emperor Hadrian sought his counsel. He
lived to be about 80, quite a long life for those times.
He owed his erudition to his owner who
was decent enough to allow him to be educated. Epictetus used this opportunity
to become a master of a Greek school of thought which today we call Stoic
philosophy. None of his writings survived. One of his students wrote down his
observations and published them under the title "Enchiridion"
(Guidebook).
“Only
Within Ourselves”
Although we think of a 'stoic' as
someone who endures pain without emotion or worse has no feelings, that is not
what it means to be a Stoic at all. The best way to sum up Stoicism might be
the first lines of the Serenity Prayer: "God grant me the serenity to
accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and
wisdom to know the difference."
Here is how Epictetus put it: "We
have no power over external things. The good we should earnestly pursue is
found only within ourselves....Don't demand that events should happen as you would like them to. If you are content to allow them to come to pass as they do, your life will be serene."
One fact is key to understanding Epictetus
and his teachings—He was lame, a cripple. Some accounts say he was born that
way. Other histories report he had rheumatism.
The early Christian theologian
Origen tells a different tale. He wrote that Epictetus was tortured by his
master. No matter how hard he twisted Epictetus' leg, he remained silent,
refusing to cry in pain. He warned Ephaphroditus that his leg was about to break.
Then it did. "There," said Epictetus, "Didn't I tell you it
would break?"
Another man might have given in to
hopelessness. To be lame in the ancient world would have been a death sentence
for many or a short and miserable life spent in the gutter begging.
Good
Habits and Beliefs
Not Epictetus. He adapted his mind
to his circumstances—and that may be the quintessence of his teachings.
Virtue—the accumulation of good habits and beliefs (moral excellence)—is all one
needs to be happy. Happiness, Epictetus believed, is not found in striving for
wealth, glory, possessions, or gluttony of any form.
"Sickness impedes the body, not the will," he taught. "Lameness impedes the leg, not the will. Tell yourself this concerning all that comes to pass. If you do, you will find such things get in the way of other things, not to your self...
"Remember—you are an actor in a play, one that its author, not you, has written. If your role is brief so be it. If your role is great, so be it. If it pleases the author that you play the role of a poor man, a cripple, a king, or a commoner, play that part gracefully."
"Sickness impedes the body, not the will," he taught. "Lameness impedes the leg, not the will. Tell yourself this concerning all that comes to pass. If you do, you will find such things get in the way of other things, not to your self...
"Remember—you are an actor in a play, one that its author, not you, has written. If your role is brief so be it. If your role is great, so be it. If it pleases the author that you play the role of a poor man, a cripple, a king, or a commoner, play that part gracefully."
No comments:
Post a Comment