The Wisdom of Hypatia: Ancient Spiritual Practices for a More Meaningful Life (14 page)

square meters of its walls his philosophy in 25,000 words (about a quarter of the length of this book). He looks forward to an Epicurean age:

Then truly the life of the gods will pass to men. For everything will be full of justice and mutual friendship, and there will come to be no need of city-walls or laws and all the things we manufacture on account of one another.69

In this ideal (if unlikely) worldwide Garden of Eden or Paradise, this return to the Golden Age, there would be no need for separate states, for Diogenes says:

The entire earth is a single native land for everyone,

and the world is a single home.70

Until this happy day, Epicurus reminds us that

The greatest gift of justice is tranquility.71

This is perhaps the most important lesson for us, since we are not living in a worldwide Epicurean Garden. Although the wise have little to fear from each other, they can strive to

66 seeking tranquility in the garden

create a society in which everyone is protected from harm and free to seek contentment by Epicurean practices.

I like to think of Epicurean justice in the following way. Everyone has a right to live in peace and contentment, and the Epicurean prescription will help them to do so. In addition, we should refrain from inflicting pain on others, whether physical or mental, so far as possible. Some pain is unavoidable, but we should try to avoid causing additional pain or anguish for our fellow humans. (Coping with unavoidable pain is addressed by the second degree of wisdom.)

Epicurean Justice:
Think about how the Epicurean sage will treat other people, non-Epicurean as well as Epicurean. Think about how you can treat other people with Epicurean wisdom. Record your intentions and regularly assess your

success.

Friendship

The Garden teaches a fundamentally individualist philosophy, grounded in personal

happiness and self-sufficiency, which is why it is a relatively accessible place to embark on our search for wisdom, but social relations are also essential to the good life in the Garden. Lucretius claims that the social contract between neighbors for their mutual benefit naturally led to friendship between them. This may seem to contradict the old proverb,

“good fences make good neighbors,” but the ancient concept of friendship was somewhat broader than ours. It was not limited to emotional attachment, but included the social networks of mutual aid and support that were necessary for thriving in the ancient world.

These were established through kinship, marriage, adoption, fostering, voluntary alliance, and common interests. Epicurus’ utilitarian theory is supplemented by modern evolutionary psychology, which has shown that cooperation and social bonding are part of human nature. (This scientific support that would have pleased the master, but not surprised him.) Those of the Garden acknowledged “the existence of a certain natural affinity among people, deriving from their likeness in body and soul.”72

The master taught that friends should not be too demanding of each other, nor too reluctant to help. Indeed, he said, it is not so much actual acts of kindness that matter, as the seeking tranquility in the garden 67

alleviation of anxiety and the pleasure in the confidence that a friend will help: knowing they will be there when you need them. Epicureans said,

It is both more noble and delightful to do than to receive a kindness.73

Those of the Garden told the story that when Epicurus was 44 years old, Demetrius

besieged Athens, which caused a great famine in the city. The master saved his friends by sharing his beans equally with them. It may seem to be a tawdry sort of friendship that is grounded in mutual benefit, but Epicurus argued that the accompanying affection could develop into genuine love for one another, which then supersedes any possible benefit.

Therefore true Epicurean friends feel each other’s pleasure and pain, a friend may suffer pains for the sake of a friend’s pleasure, and the Epicurean sage may even give his life for the sake of a friend.74 The depth of Epicurean friendship was famous in the ancient world.

The master said:

Friendship dances around the world

bidding us all to awaken to give joy to one another.75

Of all things that wisdom acquires for living one’s entire life in happiness,

the greatest by far is the possession of friendship.76

The noble soul is chiefly concerned with wisdom and friendship;

of these, the former is a mortal good, the latter an immortal one.77

When a friend dies, we should not feel sorry for them, since they cannot feel any pain.

As for ourselves, we should avoid grief and choose instead to remember the joy we received from them, thus replacing present grief by remembered pleasure. The master says,
We sympathize with our friends not through mourning

but through thoughtful attention.78

Sweet is the memory of a dead friend.79

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Philosophical Friends:
Your spiritual progress will be accelerated if you form a community of “philosophical friends” with similar spiritual aspirations. Consider

whom you can associate with who will aid your progress and not impede it.

The Death of Epicurus

Many people who aren’t afraid of death, are afraid of dying; that is, they fear the pain, in-capacity, indignity, and other suffering associated with a terminal illness. This is an important issue, which I won’t address in this chapter. Instead I will take as an example Epicurus himself, who died three days after his seventy-first birthday, having endured for two weeks the agony of a bladder stone. Yet he wrote to his friend Idomeneus:

On this last, yet blessed, day of my life, I write to you. Pains and tortures of body I have to the full, but there is set over against these the joy of my heart at the memory of our happy conversations in the past.80

Thus he applied the active pleasure of his memory against his present pain. To ease his passing he took a hot bath in a large bronze tub and drank a cup of unmixed wine (ancient Greeks usually mixed their wine with water). Then Epicurus died, conversing with his friends; his last words were:

Farewell, and bear my doctrines in your minds.81

Miscellaneous Maxims

Here are a few more of Epicurus’ sayings that are worth thinking about and perhaps memorizing. Be sure to record the ones you like in your commonplace book and memorize

them if you are so inclined.

One must laugh and seek wisdom

and tend to one’s home life and use one’s other goods,

and always recount the pronouncements of true philosophy.82

seeking tranquility in the garden 69

Do not pretend to practice wisdom, but practice wisdom in reality;

for we need not the appearance of health but true health.83

It is foolish to ask of the gods that which we can supply for ourselves.84

Whoever has peace of mind disturbs neither self nor other.85

Insofar as you forget nature,

you will find yourself in trouble

and create for yourself endless fears and desires.86

A philosopher’s words are empty

if they do not heal the suffering of mankind.

For just as medicine is useless

if it does not remove sickness from the body,

so philosophy is useless

if it does not remove suffering from the soul.87

Love for true philosophy

destroys every disturbing and troublesome desire.88

Unhappiness is caused by fears,

or by endless and empty desires;

but he who is able to rein these in

creates for himself a blissful understanding.89

Meditate on these and kindred precepts day and night,

by yourself and with a like-minded friend,

and you will never be disturbed whether waking or sleeping,

but will live as a god among people.

For people lose all appearance of mortality

by living in the midst of immortal blessings.90

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There are many other Epicurean maxims that we can use to help us follow the Garden

path; see
Additional Reading
at the end of the book for some suggestions. Of course, you can formulate your own maxims or learn Epicurean principles from other practitioners.

Practice applying the principles of the Garden. When you have made them a part of your life, you may choose to advance to the Second Degree of Wisdom, which can be found at the Porch. But you could choose to remain in the Garden and live quite well.

of Wisdom

Goals of the Second Degree

We advance now to the Second Degree of Wisdom, which is Stoicism, the philosophy of

the Porch. Symbolically, we are proceeding from the secluded peace of the Garden into the more engaged and active life of the Athenian forum, where the Painted Porch was located.

You will find that while this philosophy has much in common with the Garden, it also differs in some of its doctrines. This might suggest that at least one of the philosophies must be incorrect, but that misses the point. Keep in mind that the goal of ancient philosophy is cure and care for the soul. As different medicines are required for different diseases, so different philosophical doctrines are required for souls in different conditions. For another analogy, a piano teacher will prescribe different exercises for a beginning player or for a more advanced one. So also practicing the philosophy of the Garden has prepared you for the practices of the Porch, and those, in turn, are a foundation for Hypatia’s philosophy.

As you will see, the Stoic way of life is based on three disciplines, and so I will devote three chapters to the philosophy of the Porch. This may seem like a lot, but Stoic practices provide a firm foundation for the Neoplatonic practices of Hypatia. Although we will ultimately abandon some of the Stoic doctrines as scaffolding, the practices are essential, which is why Stoic ethics was taken for granted in Neoplatonism. The chapters are divided into manageable parts, so take them one at a time; the goal, remember, is to make the practices of the Porch a way of life, and this takes some time and practice. If you follow my study plan, you should devote about one month to each chapter, but everyone will