I've talked to you from the outset {{username}} about "living like a Stoic," "living like a philosopher."
The following advice can help you: Shape your philosophical practice according to your "guiding principle."
You see,
you consist of three parts 1: your body, your soul and your guiding principle (hegemonikon).
You aren't your body, since you don't have full control over it.
Nor are you your soul, that subtle, diffuse breath that flows through your body, from which emotions emerge.
But
__you're the center of that soul
____and the center of your body,
______you're your "guiding principle."
Sounds strange, doesn't it?
You'd be your intellect, but you'd not be your body nor your soul?
Accept this reading: everything proceeds from your guiding principle, the good functioning of your body when your guiding principle decides to take the most care of it, the peace of your soul when your guiding principle decides to calm it;
We saw that in a previous writing: you are not your emotions, you are only your reaction to your emotions. You are your guiding principle, your intellect, your thoughts, your Self. It is to this 'guiding principle' that your emotions naturally converge, seeking clarity and understanding. From its depths, this principle acts as a compass, shaping the trajectory of your thoughts and actions, steering them toward what is truly right and just.
What is this guiding principle?
What is this guiding principle? It is like the spider at the center of its web—a metaphor used by some ancient Stoics to illustrate its central role in our lives.
Ultimately, it is the only thing that is yours and over which you have control. This guiding principle enables you to draw a line between your feelings and your judgment, and to exercise control over your thoughts, emotions and actions regardless of external circumstances.
Your Guiding Principle drives you to take care of yourself and awaken your rationality, that is, to **develop** your ability to look at your life rationally.
Your guiding principle
empowers you to look after,
as some Stoics say,
the beauty of your soul.
How to look after the beauty of your soul then?
Make sure that your sensitivity, the source of your emotions, remains under control, so that you do not ascribe a negative value to events when they occur. The original texts even speak of not assenting to pleasures, which I only partially agree with. I leave it to you, {{username}}, to decide what you think is right for you.
Your guiding principle discerns your emotions, acknowledging their natural existence without amplifying the pain when it arises.
So, think about it: your guiding principle: 1/ acknowledges the natural outburst of involuntary emotions caused by external events entering the soul, but it also 2/ acknowledges the existence (and strength) of judgment.
Take the time to reflect on this excerpt from Pierre Hadot 2, as it perfectly captures the essence of Stoicism:t sums up the essence of Stoicism:
“We can see that this delimitation of the Self is basically the fundamental exercise of Stoicism, which involves the complete transformation of our self-consciousness, our relation to our body and to external goods, our attitude towards the past and the future, a concentration on the present moment, an asceticism of detachment, the recognition of the universal causality of destiny in which we are immersed, the discovery of the power we have to judge it freely, that is, to give things the value we want to give them.”
You see, many people mistakenly believe that the self (your guiding principle) is merely shaped by destiny. They view it as something predetermined, as if their identity is a product of fate alone. However, this perspective overlooks a crucial truth: your true self is not bound by destiny. Instead, it is shaped by the choices you make and the values you embrace. It is through your conscious decisions that you define who you are, rising above the constraints of fate and forging your own path.
This is the true essence of stoicism.
Your true Self is what you choose to be when you choose not to succumb to negative emotions.
Your true Self is what comes after the emotions, the self that refuses to allow sadness, the self that identifies those emotions and accepts them for as long as it takes to identify them, dissociate them, and finally get rid of them.
{{username}},
this
is your true self—rooted in your control and your actions, not merely in the thoughts we often cling to and identify with. Your true self is defined by your ability to manage those thoughts and emotions; to achieve this control, you must transform your ways. It is a journey, and I am here to accompany you in your transformation. You will still be yourself, but as a more serene version.
_/// It is not
your thoughts. ///_
Your Self is your control and your action.
And I am here to help you {{username}}, to transform that self so you can live better.
"I see in myself, Lucilius, not just an improvement, but a transformation.” Seneca. 3
Remember this, my friend: Philosophy is fundamentally about transformation, particularly the transformation of your guiding principle, which represents your unique self.
~
A unified consciousness.
That's how I described your guiding principle.
One of the keys is to perceive your pain, fear, and sadness as something foreign to you. They become foreign when you refuse to accept them; by doing so, you prevent them from taking root deep within you.
Consider the below text from Seneca:
“Furthermore, that you may know in what manner passions begin and swell and gain spirit, learn that the first emotion is involuntary, and is, as it were, a preparation for a passion, and a threatening of one.
The next is combined with a wish, though not an obstinate one, as, for example, ‘It is my duty to avenge myself, because I have been injured,’ or ‘It is right that this man should be punished, because he has committed a crime.’
The third emotion is already beyond our control, because it overrides reason, and wishes to avenge itself, not if it be its duty, but whether or no. We are not able by means of reason to escape from that first impression on the mind, any more than we can escape from those things which we have mentioned as occurring to the body: we cannot prevent other people's yawns tempting us to yawn: we cannot help winking when fingers are suddenly darted at our eyes. Reason is unable to overcome these habits, which perhaps might be weakened by practice and constant watchfulness: they differ from an emotion which is brought into existence and brought to an end by a deliberate mental act.” 4
Therefore, {{username}}, you cannot avoid these emotions any more than Seneca did, but you can ward them off, counteract them.
Your Self, the unity of your consciousness, your guiding principle that separates the Self from the outside world, is your supreme power. To represent this unity, imagine a perfectly round sphere, completely at rest within itself, immovable, perfectly smooth and polished, to which nothing external can adhere. 5
You are this sphere; you are your guiding principle. See you next time, my friend, and until then, take care of the “beauty of your soul.”