Stephen Hanselman (4:35)
January 26th the power of Mantra. This is today's entry from The Daily Stoic Book 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the Art of Living. I'm reading from the reg hardcover because that's what I had in front of me, but you can grab a leather bound edition that Steve and I did. I sell those@store.daily stoic.com Our quote today is from Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8 29. Erase the false impressions from your mind by constantly saying to yourself, I have it in my soul to keep out any evil, desire, any kind of disturbance. Instead, seeing the true nature of things, I will give them only their due. Always remember this power that nature gave you. Anyone who has taken a yoga class or been exposed to Hindu or Buddhist thought has probably heard of the concept of mantra. In Sanskrit, it means sacred utterance, essentially a word, a phrase or thought, even a sound intended to provide clarity or spiritual guidance. A mantra can be especially helpful in the meditative process because it allows us to block out everything else while we focus. It's fitting, then, that Marcus Aurelius would suggest this stoic mantra, a reminder or a watch phrase to use when we feel false impressions, distractions, or the crush of everyday life upon us. It says, essentially, I have the power within me to keep this out. I can see the truth. Change the wording as you like. That part is up to you. But have a mantra and use it to find the clarity you crave. I've talked about this before, but it is funny, right? It's called Meditations. But he's not doing meditation in the sense of it we think today. But then again, he also is, right? He's using mantras. What Meditations is, is Marcus Aurelius talking to himself. That's what it translates to in Greek. And then he is reminding himself over and over again of the same ideas. In fact, that's one of the criticisms, ironically, of Meditations, that Marcus Aurelius is repetitive. That's what he's doing. He's repeating to himself what he feels needs to be repeated. This isn't what he thinks the reader needs to hear, or what he thinks would be most compelling or entertaining to the reader. He's not thinking about the reader at all. He's thinking about himself. And yet what he's saying and what I was trying to say, there is actually something very similar to what they talk about in meditations, that you have this power over your own thoughts. Even that idea, like, I am not my thoughts. I don't have to identify this with detachment, presence, connection, breath. Some of the things that are popular in the meditation community or in meditation practices is what Marcus is doing there. And I really do feel like stoicism is a philosophy built around a series of mantras. Or that's the stoicism that I like, that I'm attracted to. I mean, I have a couple on my arm. I have. Stillness is the key. Ego is the enemy, the obstacle is the way. Little reminders, right? Aphorisms. And even when I sign the books, right, I tend to write the same things over and over again. I'll write a mor. Fatih. I'll write one of my favorite quotes from Marcus, I think another great mantra, he says, fight to be the person. Philosophy tried to make you. So the idea is, what's your mantra? What are you repeating to yourself? What are you reminding yourself when you feel like the lower self taking over? When you feel yourself drifting, when you feel yourself going in the wrong direction? What do you repeat to yourself? What do you remind yourself? What do you need to know? And like, maybe it's cliche, maybe it's lame, but I like to write these things down. I mean, as I said, I literally have them tattooed. Marcus Aurelius is writing them in his journal. Like, if you were to read my journals, you'd think it's cheesy or even weird how often I'm having to say the same things over and over again. It's like, does he get it? Yeah, I get it. That's why I'm having to write it down. And I'm usually like, if they were easy and natural, well, then I'm probably not pushing myself enough. So I'm trying to say these things over and over and over again. And you're hoping that it kind of becomes part of who you are, becomes part of your muscle memory. It becomes second nature. So that in the big moments, it's there, right? That you just go there, right? That the training kicks in. That's what Marcus is doing. That's what I'm trying to do. That's what I hope you do. So maybe think as a big picture, what's a mantra for the year, right, for you, as we're wrapping up January here, what's your mantra? But then also, just, what are some day to day mantras? Reminders, little phrases that come to you from the Stoics that you can turn to always, Is this in my control? Is it outside my control? The serenity prayers, kind of a longer mantra. There's just so much of it. I mean, Epictetus said all of Stoic philosophy could be reduced down to this mantra of persist and resist. There's so many of them. Pick the ones that resonate with you. Repeat them to yourself. Write them down, as Epictetus says. Talk to others about them. Let them become part of you and part of the training. That's what we're doing. I'll talk to you soon.
