emancipated from the thralldom of appearances...

Ulysses G.B. Pierce concludes his summary of methods that Epictetus advises if one is to live a life of philosophy.

"The law of use and disuse is also invoked by the teacher. By this law old manners and habits vanish away through disuse, and new habits are established by continuous practice. Here is the law: Darwin could have stated it no more clearly: " Every skill and faculty is maintained and increased by the corresponding acts; as the faculty of walking by walking. And thus it is in spiritual things also. When thou art wrathful, know that not this single evil hath happened to thee, but that thou hast increased the aptness to it, and, as it were, poured oil upon the fire. Wouldst thou then be no longer of a wrathful temper? Then do not nourish the aptness to it, give it nothing that will increase it, be tranquil from the outset, and number the days when thou hast not been wrathful . . . but if thou hast saved thirty days, then sacrifice to God in thanksgiving."Thus it is that old and vicious habits may be extirpated and wholesome manners developed.

Self-examination also has an important place. The disciple must watch himself as he would an enemy. He must know how the matter stands with himself. Epictetus commends to his followers the lines of Pythagoras:

Let sleep not come upon thy languid eyes
Before each daily action thou hast scanned;
What's done amiss, what done, what left undone;
From first to last examine all, and then
Blame what is wrong, in what is right rejoice.

 Epictetus also avails himself of the law of auto-suggestion. The principles of philosophy are to become part of ourselves, finding lodgement in the subconscious and becoming a second nature; so that these principles may uphold and guide one even in sleep or in despondency.

Furthermore the power of visualization is utilized. The disciple is to have always before him the form and type of character to which he aspires, the mental picture of the perfection toward which he would grow. As a sort of super-self this image must transform us into its own likeness...his recital of methods, by no means exhaustive, will suffice to show how seriously Epictetus regarded the matter. For what he contemplates is nothing less than the highest virtue of which man is capable and the fulfilment of the promise of our spiritual nature. So he admonishes us: " Hold thyself worthy to live as a man of full age and as one who is pressing forward; and let everything that appeareth the best be to thee as an inviolable law." 91 Thus the wise man and good is to educate and discipline his moral faculties until he is emancipated from the thralldom of appearances and finds himself superior to the pressure of circumstance. Such an endeavor issues in tranquillity, magnanimity, freedom ; and the Stoic, " while imprisoned in this mortal body, makes fellowship with God his aim."

Blessings

Wouldst thou be good?...

What, according to Ulysses G.B. Pierce, is the Stoic way of life?  How does one start along this path? Today and tomorrow, a brief overview.  I, for one, am reminded strongly of Henry Ware Jr...

"Therefore the first step of progress is the laying aside of all self-assurance and complacency. The disciple must become a fool, in order that he may become wise: he must empty himself of all vanity before he can be filled with wisdom. " Wouldst thou be good ? " he asks; " then first know that thou art evil." Therefore the beginning of philosophy is the consciousness of our own weakness...

Moreover the disciple is cautioned not to announce the fact that he is " taking a course in philosophy." He is to make no proclamation of his new resolve, and is not to speak much of things philosophic. " Fruit grows thus: the seed must be buried for some time, hid, grow slowly in order that it may come to perfection. Let the root grow, then acquire the first joint, then the second, and then the third: in this way the fruit will naturally force itself out." ...

Epictetus next recommends that the new resolve be aided by a new mental and moral environment. As physicians advise a change of climate, so the disciple should make for himself a new and congenial atmosphere. " Do you also introduce other habits than those which you have: fix your opinions and exercise yourself in them. Fly from your former habits, fly from the vulgar, if you intend ever to begin to be something."...

Blessings
(Photo:  the Door of Humility, Bethlehem)

no royal road...

To my way of thinking, one of the most important ideas advanced by the Boston Unitarians was that of salvation as a continuous work, a "path of progress."  Ulysses G.B. Pierce reports that Stoicism (via Epictetus) says much the same...

"From the foregoing it must be obvious that such a faith as Epictetus contemplates is not to be attained in a day or without great effort. Nor does the great Stoic so imagine. He indulges no illusions on the subject. The life according to nature must obey the universal law of growth. " Nothing great," he warns us, " is produced suddenly, since not even the grape or the fig is. If you say to me now that you want a fig, I will answer to you that it requires time. Is then the fruit of a fig-tree not perfected suddenly and in an hour, and would you possess the fruit of a man's mind in so short a time and so easily ? " The path of virtue is a path of progress. For virtue not only may be taught, but it must be taught. The moral heights cannot be scaled, but are to be gained only by a long and tortuous ascent. Towards these moral summits the teacher himself leads the way, at once guide and companion; and Epictetus gives his followers certain definite instructions regarding what is at best a long and difficult journey.

At the outset it should be observed that Epictetus holds out no false and alluring hopes to those who seek his instruction. There is no royal road to philosophy. The disciple must come prepared to " scorn delights, and live laborious days." He must be willing to be laughed at and mocked. Like an athlete, he must go into training. He should count the cost ere ever he enter the lists. For Epictetus wishes no halfhearted disciples. " You must watch, you must labor; overcome certain desires; quit your familiar friends, submit to be despised by your servant, to be held in derision by them that meet you, to take the lower place in all things, in office, in positions of authority, in courts of law. Weigh these things fully, and then, if you will, lay to your hand."

Blessings

every spot is home...

Before his long and influential ministry at All Souls in Washington DC, Ulysses G.B. Pierce served congregations in Decorah, Iowa,  Pomona, CA, and Ithaca, NY.  Here is more from the introduction to "The Creed of Epictetus"...

"It is by virtue of this belief in the universal Providence that we have the Stoic conception of the World Citizen. We are to name ourselves after the most lordly of our dwellings, not after the most miserable. Therefore Epictetus commends to us the habit of Socrates who, upon being asked what was his native place, was wont to claim, not Athens or Corinth, but the universe. And with Epictetus this is no mere figure of speech, but a truth leading to many practical conclusions. For thus man is to regard himself as a living member of the universe, a citizen not an alien, a fellow-member not merely an integral part. The world is his Fatherland, and every spot is Home. " Can any man," he asks, " cast me out of the universe? He cannot; but whithersoever I may go, there will be the sun, and the moon, and there the stars, and visions, and omens, and communion with the Gods." And being members of the family universal, we are to hold nothing as profitable for self that does not contribute to the good of the whole. For as the foot is useless and dead save as a member of the body, so the individual fulfils himself only through this universal relationship. To keep this kinship inviolate and to suffer nothing to sever this relationship must be the constant aim. The good man, accordingly, is he who submits himself to God just as the good citizen submits himself to the laws of the state.

A direct inference from the belief in God as Father relates to the nobility and worth of man. For by origin, nature, capacity, vocation, and destiny man's divine ancestry is witnessed. If he could fully appreciate this truth, never would he think meanly or ignobly of himself. If kinship with Caesar would exalt one, what should be the elation upon knowing that we are sons of God! And should not this avail to rescue us from all despondency and to set us free from all fear?"

Blessings

behave as an imitator of God...

Ulysses G.B. Pierce wrote "The Creed of Epictetus"  in 1916 "in partial requirement for his degree of Doctor of Philosophy" from George Washington University.  Today he begins his description of the "faith" of Epictetus...

"In the beginning God." So it might well be said of the leading ideas of Epictetus. This is indeed the central thought of his system, from which all other ideas have been thrown off, like planets from the sun. To ignore this or to minimize it is at the outset to misunderstand the great Stoic, while rightly to apprehend this is to find ready entrance into the mind of Epictetus. So he himself says: " We are first to learn that God is."...

The supreme witness to the being of God is found, not in the laws and phenomena of external nature, but in the mind and constitution of man. For into man God has put a portion of Himself. " You are a fragment of God, you have in yourself something that is a part of Him."  The moral nature of man testifies to the being of God...

In other words, the moral nature of man functions through the organ of his intellect; and that intellect must be trained: howbeit, that moral nature which thus functions is itself the presence of God in the soul of man. Thus Epictetus anticipates modern thought; and the words of Martineau seem an echo of the thought of the great Stoic: " The revelation of authority, this knowledge of the better, this inward conscience, this moral ideality — call it what you will — is the presence of God in man."...

No easy-going faith is here however. For if there is a Providence, the implications are weighty. If there is a Providence, then to blame God is to dethrone Him. Like Job, the Stoic must stalwartly refuse to " curse God." All judgment and criticism must be withheld. Hence submission and resignation have a large place in the teaching of Epictetus. As the educated person does not spell words as he happens to wish, but spells them as they should be spelled; so the man who is morally educated submits joyfully to Providence...

Epictetus was fully aware that without "a moral and pious life," formal acts of worship count for nought; but he also knew that the godly life craves expression in worship. " Had we but understanding, should we ever cease hymning and blessing the Divine Power, both openly and in secret, and telling of His gracious gifts? . . . and upon you, too, I call to join in this selfsame hymn." Yet this worship must be no vague nor vain thing. For it must kindle in man the passionate desire to become, so far as in him lies, like unto Him whom he worships. "If the Deity is faithful, he too must be faithful; if free, beneficent, and exalted, he must be so; and, in all his words and actions, behave as an imitator of God."

Blessings

the highest compensation...

One of my favorite books is "The Creed of Epictetus" by Ulysses G.B. Pierce.  I came across it a few years ago almost by accident after reading James Freeman Clarke's sermon, "The Two Handles" which is an exposition of an idea expressed by Epictetus.  In looking for other Unitarian connections to Stoicism, I found Pierce's book.  Ulysses G.B. Pierce was the minister of All Souls Church in Washington D.C. from 1901-1943 and was one of only two Unitarian Chaplains for the United States Senate.  More on Pierce and a few excerpts over the next few days.  This from the introductory chapter, "The Faith of a Stoic."

"In brief, then, to live according to nature is, in the words of Epictetus himself: " To perform the duties of a citizen, to fill the usual offices, to marry and to rear children. ... To use according to nature the appearances that encounter thee, not missing what thou pursuest, nor falling into what thou wouldst avoid, never failing of good fortune, nor overtaken of ill fortune, free, unhindered, uncompelled, agreeing with the administration of Zeus, obedient unto the same, and well pleased therein; blaming none, charging none, able of thy whole soul to say:

" Lead me, O Zeus, and Thou, O Destiny."

The life according to nature is its own justification and its own reward. It seeks not to have, but to be. Fidelity, modesty,' piety, magnanimity, these justify themselves by every approach toward them; while every lapse from virtue carries within it its own punishment. The  teaching of Cleanthes that virtue should be sought for its own sake, without being influenced by fear or hope by any external influence, was adopted by Epictetus and embellished with all his rhetorical power. This is the Stoic doctrine of equivalents, antedating by centuries Emerson's " Compensation." Thus the Ruling Faculty is at every step complete in itself, the balance being struck with every moral transaction. The mind gets all it pays for: pays for all it gets. " For wherever you have deviated from any of these rules, there is damage immediately, not from anything external, but from the action itself." Contrariwise, the highest compensation for the life according to nature is that "of being conscious that you are obeying God, that not in word, but in deed you are performing the acts of a wise and good man."

Blessings