was stoicism influenced by buddhism

In urging participation in human affairs, Stoics have always believed that the goal of all inquiry is to provide a mode of conduct characterized by tranquillity of mind and certainty of moral worth. (for ex. My Ultimate Vision For You: Why Stoic Leaders exists? In concrete terms, the first aim of this daily practice is to become more aware of the contents of our mind, in particular the embryonic initial appraisals of good and bad that are normally outside our awareness. There are several perspectives we can take away in this respect, for instance the importance of intentions. Being unhappy, depressed and sad is a choice very much like choosing between soup over cake for dinner. Some buddhist tendencies are heavily influenced by superstitous beliefs, mainly because it is designed as a religion. We should, of course, do the opposite: appreciate that everything is impermanent, empty of self and inseparable from suffering, and therefore realise that what looks lovely on the surface actually isn’t. Stoics value virtue on top of everything whereas Buddhism value the pursuit of enlightenment. Stoicism and Buddhism Thread starter madness; Start date May 31, 2009; May 31, 2009 (Ench. Certainly, Buddhism has influence on Greek Philosophies, Christianity, Avesta, Post-Vedic Hinduism, Islam. It was one of the loftiest and most sublime philosophies in the record of Western civilization. Later … In urging participation in human affairs, Stoics have always believed that the goal of all inquiry is to provide a mode of conduct characterized by tranquillity of mind and certainty of moral worth. I noticed that she’s an “existential psychotherapist.” Does that mean that in her professional role she uses counseling techniques based on Existentialist philosophy? There is also another word in the Buddhist texts, bhāvana, which refers to mental and spiritual exercises intended to cultivate wholesome states. Equanimity is a central goal in both Buddhism and Stoicism. We could spend a long time talking about the many definitions of mindfulness, but at bottom it’s a way of paying attention, a skill used differently in different Buddhist meditation practices. Disclaimer: Advice and information is provided on this site as-is and may not suit your specific circumstances. Stoics and Buddhists share practices like meditation, reflecting on nature, and conversation with friends and elders. By signing up, you'll get thousands of step-by-step solutions to your homework questions. I did this for a number of years. Scamming people and stealing from them for profit would  conflict with Stoic virtues.). Others might choose to highlight different aspects. Buddhists and Stoics both believe in disciplining the mind to make themselves wiser, more compassionate, and more emotionally strong. “Every hour focus your mind attentively…on the performance of the task in hand, with dignity, human sympathy, benevolence and freedom, and leave aside all other thoughts. In any case, I like to think that both the Stoic philosophers and the Buddha would have approved of this kind of questioning approach, even if it were to lead to conclusions that are at odds with traditional ones. Modern Stoicism is a non-profit limited company registered in the UK (#10950027). Seneca has a good analogy for this: Just as in a field that has been ploughed for corn some flowers grow up in between, yet all that work was not undertaken for this little plant, however much it pleases the eyes … so too, pleasure is not the reward or the motive of virtue but an accessory. 1. I agree the two are complimentary. Buddhism was founded in ancient India in the 6 th century BC by a prince named Siddharta Gautama, also known as “the Buddha.” Stoicism in one sentence: a school of ancient Greek philosophy founded in Athens in the 3 rd century BC by a philosopher named Zeno of Citium. We present here a review of a new book exploring common ground between Buddhism and the philosophical tradition of Stoicism:More Than Happiness: Buddhist and Stoic Wisdom for a Sceptical Ageby Antonia MacaroIcon Books, London, 2018. Notovitch's theory was controversial from the beginning and was widely criticized. That is correct. The goal of Buddhism is to eliminate suffering (dukkha) and reach nirvana – a state of non-desire. In more general terms, seeing clearly is about critical thinking, valuing reason, looking for evidence, cultivating curiosity, awareness, reflection and intellectual honesty. As a both a long time practitioner and student of stoicism and a avowed Zen Buddhist Id question if nirvana/enlightenment is the goal and that rather the aim is to live mindfully, with compassion and cultivated wisdom the consequence being enlightment. That is why Buddhist monks spend hours upon hours meditating and raising their consciousness. Thank you! (iv.1.175) Epictetus "Man is disturbed not by things, but by the views he takes of them." that the rationality of a person lies within his conduct and virtue, with an ability to control his mind. This marriage of compassion and equanimity is a slightly awkward one, in that there is a tension between withdrawal and engagement. How Stoicism Influenced Christianity. The dangers of compassion were felt even more strongly in Stoicism, in that compassion will often involve a judgement that something bad has happened to someone, and most of the time this would be a faulty judgement. From the lecture series: The Great Ideas of Philosophy. Sitting down and using many different meditation techniques like self-inquiry, mindfulness and do-nothing are all ways to still the mind, increase awareness and raise consciousness. One is that of a cowherd watching his cows from the distance. The 4 main virtues of the Stoics are as follows: 1- Wisdom – Making the chief operating system reason and sound mind (not for ex… Lack of supernatural powers. So it comes down to intentions. But doing this for the sake of an inheritance makes one a vulture awaiting a corpse. This is something that would surely come in handy for most of us in our daily lives. Possible that stoicism was influenced by Buddhism from the East, but no hard evidence. In Stoicism too, it is important to act with a virtuous intention, as in the famous archer’s analogy: what matters is intending to hit the target and doing our best to do so; what happens when the arrow leaves the bow is beyond our control. I think that Buddhist-influenced meditation falls into the former category. Her most recent book, More than Happiness: Buddhist and Stoic Wisdom for a Sceptical Age, is published by Icon. illness is dukkha, TOP BOOKS TO READ FOR GETTING STARTED ON ENLIGHTENMENT WORK: 1- The Book of Not Knowing by Peter Ralston – Make this book your introduction to this field. Even though ancient Stoics had some strong (and somewhat dogmatic) opinions on what the good life is, modern stoic practitioners like William Irvine, Massimo Pigliucci, Donald Robertson and Ryan Holiday are cultivating more of an open and respectful attitude towards other life philosophies. It only takes a minute to sign up. In Buddhism there were different kinds of meditation and a formal meditation practice, whereas in Stoicism as far as we know the practice involved more things like reading and memorising texts, daily reflection and … In Stoicism being compassionate without buying into faulty judgements means remembering that what is bad is not the actual situation but the suffering person’s understanding of it. Awakening is a part of it. But if we take the ideal of compassionate equanimity with a pinch of salt, we can definitely adopt the two qualities as inspiration, because in practice most of us are likely to be very much in need of bringing both more kindness and more even-mindedness into our lives. In Buddhism we should counter aversive feelings by practising compassion without attachment, like the Buddha himself. The Stoic school focuses on living in accordance with the laws of nature, using reason and logic over emotions in order to control oneself … It's not surprising, really, because while Stoicism is not considered a religion, it's core principles align perfectly with the teachings of the Buddha. You can literally waste years getting plugged into virtual reality and entertain yourself for hours. Related article: The Dangers of Being Close Minded: Embracing Open Mindedness. Just as some dyes are readily absorbed by the wool, others only after repeated soaking and simmering, so there are some studies that show up well in our minds as soon as we have learned them; this one, though, must permeate us thoroughly. It stands to reason that Cynicism and Pyrrhonism had some interaction and influenced one another given their somewhat related roots. In Stoic terms this is an emotion, which like other emotions betrays faulty thinking about the value of indifferents. Greco-Buddhism, or Graeco-Buddhism, is the cultural syncretism between Hellenistic culture and Buddhism, which developed between the 4th century BCE and the 5th century CE in Bactria (modern day Afghanistan) and the Indian subcontinent.It was a cultural consequence of a long chain of interactions begun by Greek forays into India from the time of Alexander the Great. Someone comes along and, seeing this, reasons that if the sick traveller were to be accompanied to a village and given food and medicine he would definitely recover. ageing is dukkha, Of course there are many differences between Buddhism and Stoicism, but here I focus on some of the similarities that seem most striking to me. Required fields are marked *. It was one of the loftiest and most sublime philosophies in the record of Western civilization. For instance, an infection is caused by bacteria and the therapeutic procedure is to reduce their population by taking a course of antibiotics, thereby restoring health. Each year, after the Stoicon conference, we ask the speakers and workshop leaders to provide transcripts or summaries of their presentations, so that our readership can enjoy some of the same opportunities for learning as the conference attendees. A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I started followed Buddhism. In Buddhism, compassion is very strongly emphasised. Nature is a complex concept for the Stoics. Buddhism’ central teachings are the following: All things in life are temporary and clinging to them inevitably produces dissatisfaction. For me the orthodox buddhist doctrins don´t fit in the today´s world (karma/rebirth) and the orthodox want to get out of nature (no birth, out of samsara ) and see animals with low value. A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I started followed Buddhism. So making a distinction between a virtuous living and enlightenment work is just close-mindedness. In fact, some people think it might have been influenced by Greek contact with Indian culture. Buddhists value the pursuit of enlightenment – reaching the nirvana state of pure stillness and tranquility – more than anything. I did this for a number of years. I was also interested in exploring the similarities and differences between the traditions. It is definitely a mistake to think in a black and white fashion. Quite a bit, as it turns out. Buddhism Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for people practicing or interested in Buddhist philosophy, teaching, and practice. We don’t have to agree with either Buddhism or Stoicism about what cultivating each of these means exactly, but we can readily see that they are important areas to develop in a good life, and that this is independent of any good feelings arising from them. For example, a sub-virtue temperance is patience. Until Simon, the youngest son of Mattathias decided to seek political independence from Syria in 141 BCE, Jews rarely sought harbored political ambitions or grand empires like the rest of the world. Contrary to this caricature, Stoicism emphasized human … Translating this into more current terminology we could say that the elements of a good life are: seeing clearly, living ethically and a daily practice supportive of these aims. It is also about a healthy scepticism and humility, about realising that our powers are limited and there’s a lot about the world and ourselves that we can probably never know. Many following teachers produced a huge literature, most of which was lost. The two are described as very interdependent: Just like two hands washing each other, ‘wisdom is purified by morality, and morality is purified by wisdom: where one is, the other is, the moral man has wisdom and the wise man has morality, and the combination of morality and wisdom is called the highest thing in the world’. Buddhism and Stoicism tended towards the ascetic. I did this for a number of years. In fact, Stoicism significantly influenced Christianity, which assimilated so much of ancient pagan thought and religious beliefs. When you indulge in fantasies, stories, anxieties and regrets, you make life unnecessarily complicated, difficult and stressful. Reply Delete. One way to think about this is that, as Stephen Batchelor points out, there was no East and West at that time, and the area between Greece and India in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE was in many ways ‘a single, interactive cultural sphere’. Learn how your comment data is processed. What is Stoicism? In this we could follow Marcus Aurelius, who wrote: ‘Things are wrapped in such a veil of mystery that many good philosophers have found it impossible to make sense of them.’. When Zeno came to Athens around 315 – 313 BC, he read Xenocrates’ work “ Memories of Socrates ” and Plato’s “ Defense of Socrates ”. What do you think about the books I’ve recommended? You will achieve this, if you perform each action as if it were your last…”. Both traditions saw themselves as providing a kind of treatment for this delusion. While there aren’t many card-carrying Epicureans or Cynics nowadays, there are about 500 million Buddhists and almost 2.5 billion Christians. Stoicism is more about rationality and logic, while Buddhism heavily lies on intuition and experience. If you want to know more about Buddhism and its practices like enlightenment and meditation (which will greatly benefit your self-actualization efforts). As you can see, Stoicism, when it comes to meditation, takes a more of a pragmatic and results-oriented approach compared to Buddhism that takes meditation as a central activity of raising one’s consciousness and attaining enlightenment. The only difference a Stoic practitioner will do is to practice enlightenment and meditation more seriously. Hi, Dave! In Buddhism there were different kinds of meditation and a formal meditation practice, whereas in Stoicism as far as we know the practice involved more things like reading and memorising texts, daily reflection and visualisations, with the aim of really embedding the principles into daily life. Like compassion, equanimity runs the risk of being corrupted, in this case by indifference, and therefore it needs to be tempered by compassion. In fact, Stoicism significantly influenced Christianity, which assimilated so much of ancient pagan thought and religious beliefs. Developing insight helps to identify the right thing to do, just like working on one’s moral attitudes helps to see things in a less self-centred way. Concerning strand (I), Stoicism also features a concept of wisdom, based on the four cardinal virtues of practical wisdom, courage, justice, and temperance. ), Buddhism … They share: 1. For me it’s an open question whether this is really viable, or whether caring inevitably involves attachment and leaving oneself vulnerable to suffering, just like any kind of complete tranquillity is likely to slide into indifference. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.”. That is also one of the reasons I wanted to write this article. separation from what is pleasing is dukkha; Assuming self where there’s no self One of the things I love about Stoicism is that it operates on an open-minded mindset. The parallel is with medical explanations of physical afflictions. Sign up to join this community. Stoicism and Christianity also have diverging points of view about the afterlife. What are Stoicism and Zen Buddhism:intro [Part 1/3] (2 min read)By Ma DingdingYou may have the image of Zen Buddhism as being a bunch of people in yoga pants meditating mindfully in from of a small Buddha statue… but Zen is also Steve Jobs, Leonard Cohen and Jack Kerouac discovering the benefits Zen meditation can bring in terms of mental clarity. It is just life transforming. What these backward and forward glancing eyes are doing is they are creating illusions. Looking back over the years, I can see that my life I can see that a lot of it has been influenced by Stoicism in some way and that each influence was leading me to where I am now. True Happiness : Cure Suffering With Stoicism and Buddhism. There are things that have great importance in our lives and should be valued in full appreciation of their impermanence, such as relationships with people. In Buddhism, the awakened person has completely overcome the three ‘unwholesome roots’ of greed, aversion and delusion, and acts only out of their opposites – non-attachment, kindness and wisdom. Although there is no historical proof of significant influence from Buddhism on Stoicism or the other way around, some believe that this was the case. Emphasis on Discipline. A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I started followed Buddhism. Real joy is a by-product of other things, and the main ones I found are these: It’s interesting that one formulation of the Buddhist path points to these very areas as the fundamental ones to develop: Some scholars have argued that it’s sīla and pañña that are the essential elements. A sub-virtue of justice is social intelligence. and even Cynicism and Stoicism. What they were interested in was understanding how things really are and acting in accordance with this understanding, so something more like living truthfully. But this stereotype partially reflects the original philosophy of stoicism, but it’s much more than that. One of the biggest differences between Stoicism and Buddhism is their chief end goals. What could this mean for us? This is why we need some kind of spiritual practice (the third element of the path). One of the biggest differences between Stoicism and Buddhism is their chief end goals. Editor of Stoicism Today, president of ReasonIO, adjunct professor at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design | Sadler's Lectures podcast - https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler | YouTube channel with 1700+ philosophy videos - https://www.youtube.com/c/GregoryBSadler In ancient literature Pyrrhonism was commonly referred to as "skepticism." Being a sceptical person myself, who had been interested in Buddhism and Stoicism for a long time but who could never quite take on board the more metaphysical principles that were tied up with them, I was interested in finding out what might be left if we discarded those more metaphysical aspects. And in this article, we’ll look at both similarities and differences between Buddhism and Stoicism. And this should not be a surprise given the radically different context in which these traditions have emerged and then developed. The new model of psychotherapy was influenced by Stoicism, and that’s filtered down through self-help and psychological literature in general. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Glad you enjoyed the article. I’ve heard of CBT and believe Stoicism played some part in its formation. The overarching commonality is the diagnosis of the human condition. It has been claimed that these ideas were directly derived from early Buddhism. Stoicism has its roots in Athens, Greece and was “founded” around 300 B.C. what others speak of as happiness, this the noble ones speak of as misery. Also influenced by an earlier school of thought known as cynicism, which emphasized self-sufficiency, independent thinking, and an ascetic lifestyle. In Buddhism there are complex views about views, but failing to see the truths of dukkha, impermanence and not-self would clearly be a pretty wrong view. In Christianity, this world is but a shadow of the world yet to come. Zeno of Citium started lecturing on the Stoa around age 34. And there is a universal justice on the large scale beyond what a human from our limited P.O.V. Just like in our own case it’s not appropriate to feel pain as a result of things going wrong in the world – because these are really neither good nor bad – for the same reason it’s not appropriate to suffer alongside another person. - 529 C.E. Ancient philosophers were great travelers, therefore we may assume that there was a sort of influence from Buddhism over Stoicism. This is similar to upekkha in Buddhism, which refers to a sense of looking upon the goings-on in the world with a balanced awareness, without getting too involved in the ups and downs of the eight worldly conditions. Due to this approach – even though Stoics advocate many meditation practices –  they don’t make meditation and consciousness work as the chief priority as Buddhism does. Epictetus, for instance, says that the philosopher ‘keeps watch over himself as over an enemy in ambush’. A Buddhist influence on Pythagoras and the stoics is also likely, and a later influence on Christian monasticism is possible; the claims of the Persian scholar Al Biruni (973-1048), that the ‘ samaniyya ’ religion existed in Iraq and Syria before imperial Persia extended its support to Zoroastrianism, must therefore be taken seriously. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading Stoicism & Western Buddhism: A Reflection on Two Philosophical Ways of Life. Even if we have a great life we are all going to get what we don’t want and will eventually lose what we want and love. And this is the foundation of ethical behaviour, because by creating that space between impulse and reaction we give ourselves the opportunity to respond to things with kindness and wisdom instead of greed, aversion and delusion. Originally founded by Zeno in 4th-century-BC Athens, Stoicism later developed and changed into forms designated "Middle Stoa" and "Later Stoa," also known as Roman Stoicism. Another is that of a gatekeeper of a town. Does anyone else think these stoic quotes are remarkably similar to Buddhist philosophy? Sensing pleasure in suffering I know little about stoicism, but I don't believe it to be necessarily influenced by Buddhism, based upon this. Such meditation cultivates an awareness of our own cognitive and emotional states, along with a sense of detachment, and that is precisely what Stoicism aims to achieve. pleasure), 2- Courage – Moral courage to stand up for injustices and taking bold actions, 3- Justice – Wisdom applied to social living. 2- Sextus Empiricus: The Outlines of Skepticism. Cynicism then went on to influence Stoicism. Life is full of suffering, but that suffering is a path to understanding a larger good. Mindfulness can help to de-automatise habitual responses. by Zeno of Citium. There is evidence that Indian Philosophy was influencing Greek philosophy The founder of skepticism Pyrrho travelled with Alexander the Great into India and was said to have studied philosophy there. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Regretting past decisions and mistakes ’ m closely interested in Buddhism will be. Be a surprise given the radically different context in which these traditions have emerged and then developed great,... About rationality and logic, while Buddhism heavily lies on intuition and experience it, particularly the law from... Interactions begun by Greek forays into India from the East, but it is definitely mistake! Translates it as ‘ mental discipline ’ stoics argue, it is too easy get... Have been associated with Buddhism and Stoicism ( the third element of path... To stop suffering and enjoy life regardless of the biggest differences between and... 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