AURELIUS MEDITATIONS
Marus Aurelius is one of the greatest ancient roman philosophers and his book meditations gives us an insight on what he has learned throughout his life as well as a practical guideline on how we can use his wisdom and philosophy to improve our own life. His collection of books, Meditations, is a must read for anyone and everyone who is interested in philosophy and living a calm life.
Below is the full text of the book, as well as the audiobook in Youtube. There is also a video on the summary of major concepts discussed in Meditations text.
Book 1: After finishing reading Book 1, reflect on your own life and come up with 10 people, animals, or objects in the life that teach you how to live a better life. Book 1 highlights Aurelius' friends, family, and teachers and the positive things each one of them possesses. Oftentimes, we find it difficult to see good things in others and only fixate on the flaws in other people. Aurelius teaches us to learn from each person and situation in our life and try to become better people every day. The goal of this exercise is to improve your mindfulness and give you a chance to become more positive in life.
Book 2: This book was written when Aurelius was reflecting on River Gran. It contains his insights on the dichotomy of good and evil, anger and lust, and several other polar opposites. He reminds us that nature has both qualities, and it is the job of good to uplift and the evil, and it is the job of evil to motivate the good to strive in the world. In this way the yin and yang, the good and bad, both exist and will continue to exist forever. We must choose which side we are on, and continue doing accoding to our own nature, regardless of what others may do or so. Reflect on times when you have prioritized social norms over moral obligations, what forced you to do the popular thing instead of the right thing? Why must a good person be patient with the evil one, who attempts to harm others?
Book 3: In paragraph 5, Aurelius describes how we must act. Reflect on his stanzas and dicepher what he means when he says "Taking up his post like a soldier and patiently awaiting his recall from life. Needing no oath or witness." Later on Aurelius writes several times about impulse control and mental discipline. Why is mental discipline important in our daily life? The body does its own work by sustaining cellular activity, so does the ego by producing selfish drives, but if the mind's job is rationalization and logic, why does it do things that make it suffer? Isn't that illogical?
Book 4: This one of the most important books that Aurelius writes. The later parts of the book talk about death. His quote for reflection, "In short, know this: Human lives are brief and trivial. Yesterday a blob of semen; tomorrow embalming fluid, ash. To pass through this brief life as nature demands. To give it upwithout complaint. LIke an olive that ripens and falls- praising its mother, thanking the tree it grew on." Think of your own life and how it has progressed, where it went before, and where it is going now. Why is it that when all things shall pass, we continue to hold on to the momentary flashes of events? Is it not better to view this life as a sequence of things, and move through them with no attachment to what things come or go?
Book 5: "The things you think about determine the quality of you mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts. Color it with a run of thoughts like these: Anywhere you can lead your life, you can lead a good one. Things gravitate towards what they were intended for." Try to imagine times when you went through a very terrible day, and ask yourself, why was I so sad, or stressed or angry? You will find that your feelings are product of the thinking patterns you hold. What can you do to change the color of mind so that it can live a good life? If things gravitate towards what they were intended to, isn't it natural our minds should gravitate towards controlling our impulse, and using rationality?
Book 6: