A man of sense and sensitivity would depart the company of men without ever tasting falsehood, pretence of any kind, excess, or pomp. The next best course is at least to sicken of these things before your final breath. – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 9
All that you pray to reach at some point in the circuit of your life can be yours now – if you are generous to yourself. That is, if you leave all the past behind, entrust the future to Providence, and direct the present solely to reverence and justice. – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 12
Soon you will have forgotten all things: soon all things will have forgotten you. – Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 7
Fame is vanity and will be consumed by death over all. Fame is merely a remembrance of a person in the minds of other people. But minds forget, people age and ultimately die. Their children will die. As one buries his friend or beloved so too will he be buried in just a short time by another, and so on for all. Fame is vanity. The unity and integrity of the Whole is all that matters – indeed is all that actually exists. This type of stoic philosophy reminiscent of Ecclesiastes is largely what consists of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. It is a wonderfully rich book to read, particularly because he was not writing for anyone at all. Instead these were his own private journal meditations that he had no intention of sharing or communicating with anyone. They were his ruminations as Emperor of Rome, his way to handle the struggles of all that he had to manage and oversee, his sense of high philosophy, real integrity, and oneness with his person in the larger universal Whole.
People today would be well suited to don more of the mindset of Marcus Aurelius. You are essentially nothing. Your life is beyond insignificant in the expanse of the Whole. Your accomplishments are forsaken, foolish, and less than temporary. If people like you or hate you, it matters not at all for you all will be dead perhaps brutally before long. There is honestly something hilariously liberating with such a perspective on our lives! It seems to allow us to open up and relax ourselves into a far greater experience of what Marcus would refer to as the Whole.
It is fascinating to apply the cold and hard rigor of Marcus’ philosophy to our own lives just as he was seeking to apply them to his own life. The richest man on the planet was essentially disgusted by material trappings and performed his imperial functions more out of a respect and a duty than a lust for power, wealth, fame, pleasure, or anything else. To think he managed the entire Roman Empire from a state of detachment perhaps even slight annoyance or disdain is rather refreshing and unique indeed!
Each man is lord over his own domain – whatever that domain may consist of – be it a simple home and 9-5 job, a business, a tent in the wilderness, his family, a nation – the domain of a man is filled with responsibility. And with responsibility comes decisions and choices and the caring and well-being of others. These tasks, for all men, come with weight and suffering and challenge. To apply the teachings and approaches of Aurelius to our own lives, our own domain, no matter the scope and breadth, is to find some solace, elevation, and perspective on the decisions and circumstances we find ourselves. Marcus often meditated on the ephemeral nature of the world around him, the entire state of creation, and the nothingness which all dissolves ultimately. Such an extreme and intense focus would be an antidote or counterbalance to the extreme pressure and urgency which naturally surrounds the weight of a global empire. If Marcus could find solace in such mayhem that he lived surely we can as well.
Marcus of course was not perfect, indeed his son, Commodus, who inherited the kingdom from him upon his passing, was a barbaric, merciless tyrant of a ruler who was ultimately assassinated by those closest to him both for their own safety as well as the greater good of Rome. The death of Marcus and the sole reign of Commodus marks the end of the Pax Romana and the golden age of Rome. Perhaps this too is a worthy lesson for all of us – we may be able to manage some things well, but not all. In the case of Marcus he may have sacrificed his son for the care of his larger child of Rome.
The juxtaposition of Marcus’ great reign to that of his son’s frightful rule is indeed astounding and cause for alarm and pause. History clearly shows us that the reign of a just and good kingdom is rare. Anyone who lives under such reign is indeed blessed.
It seems the greatest challenge in applying Marcus’ meditations to ourselves either as individual men or as rulers of an institution or nation is to consider profoundly how insignificant we are. Holding such great fame and power and responsibility is rightly offset with an interior sense of deep humility even disrespect of oneself. To hold such scope of self is most dynamic and rare for most men to be able to achieve, which is likely why so few kingdoms are ruled justly. And perhaps even more so it is interesting to consider that the ruling of an empire holds one dynamic balancing while that of a father, a family, closer personal relations may be of a different nature. As one reads Aurelius one can only imagine the perhaps harsh, emotional void, and dire air such a man of stoic philosophy coupled with the danger and intrigue of the imperial high court could have on a young growing child. Yes we all may die and all may be in vain, but things in this world also do matter and raising your family, caring for your children, enjoying the abundant pleasures of life all around us, and perhaps even relaxing and releasing oneself from ironically a rather upside down and convoluted contortion of a self-importance by continually insisting and reminding oneself they are NOT important. It is fascinating to consider that perhaps Marcus did not wish to be emperor at all, but did so out of public duty to man, family, honor, and country. I suspect that instead, based on his writings and references, that he would have far preferred living a simple life, contemplative, and philosophical. Such a distaste for his own lot in life, ironically one of such power, wealth, and privilege that most would envy and die for in most all ages and times, perhaps bled over into a general distaste for his family, his personal enjoyments, and likewise his own son, which perhaps contributed in so insignificant manner to the complete derangement of his son as a man and a ruler after Marcus himself passed away.
Often in our lives, as vain and empty as they ultimately are, we struggle to maintain. A counterweight here can indeed balance an offset in this realm, and yet as we shift our focus there we likewise cause an imbalance over here in some other domain of our realm and kingdom. Constantly it can seem we seek to find balance amidst the various roles, realms, and ranges that we occupy in our lives, seemingly never finding solace, never obtaining a statuesque form of static perfection. All things move. All is in motion. All shall decay. As we circle and scan around and across our lives and the various boundaries our kingdom contains we find ourselves ever seeking harmony, grace, continuity, oneness. It is a worthy task to be sure, but simultaneously it is one rife with compromise and concession of less than perfect perhaps even unsatisfactory results. As Marcus would often remind himself, he is nothing. We are nothing. The games we play, the conduct we keep, the trappings that abound around us (or do not) all signify so precious little that it is indeed fair to say they are nothing at all. We all shall die. And those who bury us and mourn us or scorn us they too shall die. There are no prisoners here, we shall all be released, let us then take the opportunity now to both free ourselves of the weight and pain of this world while also facing her head on, manly, like a lion before us, refusing to cower and instead take courage, our heart who we are, and go forth into this world as we are, who we are, bumps, bruises, freckles, moles, and all. Thankfully or not – those too shall pass away.