💀 Dying Every Day
Dying Every Day (Stoicism in a Year) is a podcast by the Perennial Leader Project. Each episode turns a selected passage from Stoic philosophy into a guided meditation designed to help you (and me) learn how to live.
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Seneca on an unshakable mind
Welcome back to Dying Every Day (Stoicism in a Year). This is Day 96, and we’re turning to Seneca to learn how to be unshakable.
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In a Dialogue with Seneca, his friend Serenus observed,
When I took stock of myself, Seneca, I found some faults openly displayed, others less obvious and hidden, and yet others that were not constant but recurred at intervals. I would call the latter the most distressing. I find myself most commonly in this condition, neither genuinely released from the things I feared and hated, nor vulnerable. Even though I could be in a worse state, it is still extremely plaintive and moody: I am neither sick nor well.
+Adapted from On Tranquility of Mind
How would you honestly describe your state of mind from day to day?
Do you resonate with the observations from Serenus?
For most of us, we are somewhere between tranquility and distress. Depending on the day and circumstance, our level of tranquility changes like the wind. However, Seneca believed that it’s possible to attain an unshakable mind.
He responded to Serenus,
For what you are longing for is a great thing and the highest achievement, near to God: never to be shaken. The Greeks refer to this stable balance of the mind as euthymia. I call it tranquility. … We are investigating how the mind may always move at an even and favorable pace and be well disposed to itself and glad to see its own qualities and not interrupt this joy, but always remain in a calm condition, neither rearing itself up nor thrusting itself down; this will be tranquility.
The path to tranquility begins with self-awareness. According to Seneca, we generally think ourselves able to do more than we actually can: “One man is tripped up by confidence in his eloquence, another has demanded more from his inherited property than it could sustain, another has weighed down a weak constitution with a strenuous duty.”
Take a moment to ask yourself: “Do I have an unshakable mind?” If not, what would you say is the cause of your distress?
Seneca wisely points out that we are unique or different. What causes distress to one may not to another. We each have to perform our own self-assessment, like Serenus and Seneca, we need to take stock of ourselves.
Reflection Prompt
Consider reflecting (or journaling) on what it means to be unshakable. You could ask yourself, “How would I describe my state of mind?” and/or “What would it mean to ‘remain in a calm condition’ despite the circumstances around me?”
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Thank you for listening; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
J.W.
P.S. I greatly appreciate your time, attention, and support!
Be interested for anyone’s answer to the journaling prompt 🤔