Stoicism vs. other traditions

I’m not only an aspiring Stoic myself but also a promoter and teacher of Stoicism, so there are a number of typical questions that I’m used to hearing. One of the more frequent is about juxtaposing Stoicism and something else. “How is Stoicism different than Buddhism?” “What does Stoicism do that therapy doesn’t?” “Can I be a Stoic if I’m religious?” “And if I’m not?” The most pertinent along these lines is the one about Stoicism and mindfulness.

Bridging the intellectual edifice

Time for a confession here: mindfulness, particularly in the simple, secular meditation-and-breath-exercise take, as proposed by, for example, Dan Harris in 10% Happier, has helped me an awful lot. In my personal experience it spoke to this particular region that Stoic progress left behind. In other words, it helped me bridge the gap between the intellectual edifice of Stoic philosophy and the daily practice it requires.

I believe, though, that this is much more than my personal story.

Stoicism and daily practice

Certainly, Stoicism involves daily practice itself. More than that, Stoicism is practice (the ancients would have ridiculed any suggestion otherwise). Nevertheless, one of the poignant questions is how to translate the general tenets of Stoic philosophy into our daily routines and into action itself. This is a subtle matter, so let’s be precise here.

The long list of Stoic exercises

Stoicism tells us a great deal about specific exercises we may want to apply daily or in any other particular regimen. The list is long and not surprising: planning out our day in the morning, Stoic evaluation at bedtime, applying dichotomy of control to the hardships we encounter and so on. A wide plethora of Stoic ideas can be smoothly turned into rituals. One concept stands out though and might be a bit harder to turn into procedure. 

It is the Stoic teaching on what Marcus Aurelius calls perceptions, i.e., the idea that what has impact on our mind is not the outside events, experiences, and facts themselves but our perceptions of them. Let’s use a little updated terminology: the source of our well-being (and lack thereof) is not reality but our narrative about it. Furthermore, via dichotomy of control we have the full right and capability to shape that narrative. 

The source of our well-being (and lack thereof) is not reality but our narrative about it. 

The idea is clear. It is also liberating and empowering. There is no denying that. The only hair in the soup is that in most cases we grasp this particular chunk of Stoicism in a bit of an abstract manner. The teaching on perceptions and narratives oftentimes serves as some kind of epiphany, some mental realization we might be endowed with at some point. Clearly, that’s always a powerful, magical moment. Yet sadly, it’s rare. Can this moment be transformed into some form of practice?

Rephrasing the ancients

Let’s rephrase the ancients a bit. The key premise in dealing with our perceptions (narratives) is to understand that we are not equal to them. My “self” is something different than the perceptions I have and the narratives I follow. In crude terms: we are not our thoughts. The whole point is to learn how to cherish that difference. And this is exactly where mindfulness, that secular meditation I mentioned before, is of great help. 

Observing thoughts without judgments

After all this is exactly what it does! Mindfulness is all about letting the thoughts flow, about observing them without attachment, and about not getting carried away by them. This is no coincidence, this is a deep connection. All that Stoicism teaches us about not being swept away by useless passions originates exactly here  –  with not being swept away by random thoughts. This is precisely where Stoicism and mindfulness come hand in hand.

Dr. Piotr Stankiewicz, Ph.D., is a writer and philosopher, and promoter of reformed Stoicism. He authored Manual of Reformed Stoicism, and Does Happiness Write Blank Pages?

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