Posts by Pacatus

I came upon this, regarding the trap of certainty:

“Epicurus also saw that man’s natural fear of the unknown is seized upon as a tool by false priests, professors, and politicians who demand obedience through the call for ‘certainty.’ The call for ‘certainty’ in human action is a false standard which can never be met, and the real evil of those who call for it is that they are aware of the trap which they lay for the unthinking. The only remedy for this abomination is for men to acknowledge that their knowledge and their lives are limited to the scope to the bounds established by Nature.”

– Cassius Amicus, Ante Oculos: Epicurus and the Evidence-Based Life (emphasis in the original)

I had this e-book long ago, but, it seems, never finished it (mea culpa! – I’ll blame my ADD).

Cassius

I want to add that “philosophy” can be a “red-flag” word too, in the modern (seemingly pervasive) academic sense that it strictly involves intellectual pursuit – rather than as a therapeutic way of life, as the Hellenistic philosophers (especially Epicureans) understood it. And a (over-) reliance on intellection seems to inform things like CBT, as embraced by modern Stoics.

Since other languages sometimes seem to get me out of everyday and ingrained definitions, maybe the Spanish “via vida” is a good substitute (for me) for “faith.” "Es mi via vida."

Yes. I hasten to add that for me neither “belief” nor “faith” are interchangeable with being 100% certain (let alone the absurdity of some Christians who, generally quoting St. Paul, claim that faith itself either a) is knowledge, or b) is itself actually evidence that guarantees knowledge).

Yes, faith is still a “red flag” word (my wife grimaced a bit when I used it ), and there are likely better ones …

Quote from Kalosyni

The Golden Rule: Treat others the way you would want to be treated

The Platinum Rule: Treat others as they would want you to treat them

These always remind me of the conversation between the masochist and the sadist, to wit (pun intended) –

Masochist: “Beat me, torture, make me feel pain!”

Sadist: “No.”

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On a more serious note, I always liked this quote from the Catholic theologian Urs Von Balthsar, as a caution against willy-nilly applying simple rules:

“When it comes to shaping one’s personal behavior, all the rules of morality, as precise as they may be, remain abstract in the face of the infinite complexity of the concrete.”

—Hans Urs von Balthasar, “Presence and Thought: An Essay on the Religious Philosophy of Gregory of Nyssa” (from the Foreword).

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I will add that there is another version of the Golden Rule, attributed to Rabbi Hillel: “What you do not like done to yourself, don’t do to other.” (The same Balthasarian caution applies.)

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but –

Last night we watched a lovely documentary on Netflix called “From Stress to Happiness.” The main guide is a Buddhist monk (though the Benedictine brother David-Steindl-Rast, now aged 96, also makes an appearance).

As I watched, I found myself reinterpreting into Epicurean terms – and concluded that their message (though very good) would be even clearer and better grounded from an Epicurean perspective (and without Buddhist commitment to such things as “samsara” – which, though not emphasized, naturally crept in).

Also, I thought that an expansive understanding of Epicurean friendship can cover most of the ground of Buddhist compassion and loving-kindness – even if an attitude of friendliness is not reciprocated (and self-protection, especially by withdrawal, is called for), that attitude (like an “attitude of gratitude” even in the face of travail) is still more conducive to our own happiness.

Also, for the first time, I really started to think of Epicureanism as a “faith” – without supernaturalism or strict religious insistence on “right doctrinal belief” no matter what (to be a “True Epicurean™”?). A reality-based faith that evolves well into our modern world (e.g. modern theories of physics, neurobiology and more developed understandings of deductive/inductive logic). A faith, rather than just an intellect-based philosophy as a good guide to life. A faith as an evolving way of life – in which I will always be a beginner (with my own fits and starts).

[All of which is to say that maybe I finally absorbed (beyond just intellectual assent) some of what Epicurus’ was actually trying to say – and has been said on here.]

Anyway, I just wanted to share my initial, unsorted thoughts on seeing the film.

Quote from Kalosyni

Oh this is great for a meal prayer!

And that gets me thinking about what might I like to compose for a meal prayer.

Thank you so much. Yes, I think these things need to be individualized because we will all feel it a bit differently.

And I really like your prayer/meditation for self-guidance.

At my wife’s request, we started using my attempt at a Tetrapharmicon Prayer/Meditation as a kind of “saying grace” at dinner. I realized that my overburdening wordplay made it quite cumbersome. So I simplified and generalized (still guilty of stretching the wordplay a bit: aiming at rhyme as a mnemonic aid, even if the rhymes have an archaic feel; and quasi-meter – not quite tetrameter, but each eight-syllable line ends with an iamb).

Instead of an “amen” I appended the Spanish “¡Pura Vida! ¡Salud!” as a kind of exclamation of good cheer. My wife and I usually toast, especially before a meal, with “Salud!” – and “Pura Vida!” (Pure Life!) is a popular phrase in Costa Rica, where it is used for everything from “Hello” to a response to the question “How are you doing?” to a cheer (we first were made aware of by the Costa Rican soccer fans some years ago while watching the World Cup on TV, who cheered with it and displayed it on banners).

It’s not quite the Tetrapharmicon, except by implication. I also try to use it in the morning to start the day.

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An Epicurean Prayer Meditation

Unaffrighted by gods or fates,

a happy soul travail abates.

Easy fare makes bountiful fest,

and gratitude a Garden blest.

~ ~ ~

¡Pura Vida! ¡Salud!

Quote from Charles

An Epicurean society is political in the sense of caring for the well-being and health of their country. Its citizens would not be ignorant or secluded from the world around them, on the contrary, they would have knowledge of the various figures and events around them. Epicurus was well read on Plato and his contemporaries; he could not have rejected them and devised the system of the garden had he chosen to completely and utterly withdraw into isolation.

The same applies to civic government and culture. The only difference is that our activism is within the interest of the garden and the safeguarding of our pleasure, not partisan issues that ebb and flow with each week and month. I think focusing on the desires in the scope of a political society is a bit tunnel visioned. What matters more is the culture that surrounds an Epicurean, and whether their pursuance of pleasure is admonished, encouraged, or ignored. The doctrines concerning justice and no absolute pleasure are the remedy to this. That's the key to flexibility and ultimately the answer of politics within the philosophy.

Yes. I think this is spot on, and provides an Epicurean grounding for social activity and political participation. Thank you.

Welcome!

I just got the Kindle edition. It will take me awhile to read it all, I’m sure, with my piecemeal-patchwork, easily redirected brain.

I already like her style, using modern images/memes to relate to the ancients – e.g. Seneca comparing Epicurus to “a drag-queen at a festival.” (Probably there were drag queens back then, but comedy drag shows are certainly in the contemporary culture wars.)

The Silent Lamp

– A free rendering from a Greek poem by Philodemus

The loyal nightstand lamp keeps silent:
confidante of intimate affairs
we dare not speak of, even in the dark.

But intoxicate her wick with perfumed oil,
Philaenis, inflame the room with light –
and leave us alone behind locked door.

For Eros desires no living witness
other than herself, Xantho – as in our bed
we explore Aphrodite’s ecstatic lore.

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From Epigram 5.4 of The Greek Anthology cited above. In addition to that translation, I also consulted Nisbet’s translation from “Epigrams from the Greek Anthology: a new translation by Gideon Nesbit” (Oxford World Classics, 2020); here is his translation:

The silent lamp, complicit partner in

The things we mustn’t speak of carelessly:

Philaenis, make it drunk with drops of oil.

Then take your leave: for Love alone desires

No living witness; close the jointed door.

And you, dear Xantho—but the lover’s bed

Well knows what Aphrodite has in store.

Tetrapharmakos Meditation Prayer

Unaffrighted by carefree gods,

untroubled by unfeeling death –

humble pleasures proffer delight,

tranquility becalms travail.

~ ~ ~

By spirit of your Garden blest,

each today be bountiful fest.

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Another pass (stimulated by Don’s – but not a competition! 😊).

Cast in a rough [mixed] tetrameter. I chose “unaffrighted” rather than “unafraid” to avoid any Stoic connotations. “Bountiful fest”: following on “humble pleasures,” trying to convey the notion of “enough is a feast” (one of my wife’s favorite sayings).

But you've stimulated me back to the TetrapharmaBox!

Don

I like it. Truth be told, I never was much of a pray-er (except in the contemplative way that I mentioned above) even in my long Christian years. Quiet contemplation, with perhaps a mantra, suits me better.

Tetrapharmakos Prayer [a draft]

Unaffrighted by gods,

unworried by death,

with what is good easy-come

and travails tranquilly borne,

in your Garden we rest,

by simple pleasures blest.

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This is a first pass. I am trying for short-syllable lines with some rhythm. One might use it with an image of Epicurus for meditation. Again, a first pass – till tomorrow! 😊

Don

LOL!!! I am too. If we get close, people can hopefully use the "template" to make their own more personal.

Quote from Don

That's always been one of my reasons for advocating for the Tetrapharmakos

That is both simple and familiar to an Epicurean. The usual English translations, though, seem more like instructions or rubrics, rather than self-expressive prayer or meditative affirmations. And not everyone will find the Greek either resonant or easy to remember/recite.

Kalosyni

In the plain prayer of breathing –

life-giving pleasure of breath,

I [we] give thanks – and rest.

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For me, the best prayers are brief: easy to remember. And brevity poetry (like haiku) is deceptively hard.

This one could preface a period (perhaps just a few moments) of silent prayer/meditation, focusing on the pleasure of your breathing (an Epicurean spin on breathing meditation), returning to that as unwanted thoughts intrude.

The Trappist tradition of contemplative “centering prayer” uses a simple “sacred word” – not like a mantra, but simply to return to silent-mind prayer when thoughts arise. One would enunciate the word slowly. One could use an “Epicurean” word like hedone. Or pneuma, which can mean breath as well as spirit or soul. Or eudaimonia. (Just notions that came quickly.)

I’ll keep thinking …

Quote from Joshua

Reminds of the time George R. R. Martin discovered the word 'leal' and used it in every 4th sentence...in a sequel. Pretty jarring!

Ha! I often catch myself re-using a word that I've become enamored of in successive poems -- so I try to be wary ...  

Quote from Cassius

So just like a lot of words we have to parse "belief" and even "faith" to be sure exactly what we mean.

Somewhere I have an etymology book that indicates “believe” in English originally meant “to hold dear.” This seems to have been (e.g. in the KJV Bible) a valid (if perhaps poetic) rendering of the Greek pisteo.

Cognates of “believe” include lief, leave, furlough, love.

But the word came to mean “what one thinks” – rather than a confidence or trust – which is what I take “faith” (in a very mundane sense) to mean. Christians often tend to take both terms to mean what one is certain of, regardless of actual evidence (as in the phrase “I believe in”) – whereas I view “faith” more as an attitude of – decisional – confidence in the face of uncertainty; something how the sports psychologists use it.

For myself, I only use the word “believe” (or “belief” ) in the fairly mundane sense of: “it seems to me” or “it appears to be so” or “I think so” or “the evidence indicates that …”. Thus, it always something “checkable” empirically.

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Some years ago, I wrote a whimsy poem playing with the cognate words mentioned above:

Belief

(an etymological poem)

What is belief except to give leave
to what your own heart’s desire
would lief allow for you to follow,
and to hallow always with your love?
That is as much as I will believe—
so long as beauty is safely left,
her colorful tapestries, without
furlough, to weave. As for all the rest:
An it will harm none, do as ye lief
and may all be well—beyond belief.

I really think it is not a good poem – but it was fun to write.