The endurance of pain

We all want to reduce the pain and maximise the happiness. Can you imagine the world without a pain? Is it possible that there can be the world with only happiness? If yes then probably we would not exist. Mother would not give a birth to a child since giving birth causes tremendous pain. Suffering is valuable and life would not sustain without a pain. Buddha has said, "Life is suffering". Even Jesus christ suffered the pain for humanity when he was crucified. In Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna taught Arjun that no matter who is fighting from the other side, it is his duty to fight a war from the right side of dharma.

Stoicism talks about the philosophy of suffering. There were three well-known Roman Stoic philosophers Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. In the early 3rd century, Zeno founded the Stoic school. Life of a philosopher and philosophy are integrated to each other. Let's look at the life of these three philosophers.

Seneca was a Roman philosopher, statesman, a tutor and adviser to the Roman Emperor, Nero. His work involves dozens of essays and 124 letters in which he explains his philosophy. He was forced to take his own life for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to assassinate Nero.

Epictetus was born as a slave at about A.D. 55 in the Roman Empire. You can imagine how much pain he must have gone through during slavery. With permission of his owner, he studied stoic philosophy under the master Gaius Musonius Rufus. He began to teach philosophy in Rome after the death of Nero. Later he taught in Greece where he founded a philosophical school teaching Stoicism. He influenced Marcus Aurelius, who later become the Roman Emperor.

Marcus Aurelius was born in A.D. 121. He is considered one of the greatest Roman Emperors to have ever lived. He wrote his journals during the dull moments of a war campaign. His writing became a book popularly known as Meditations, which contain stoic philosophy and it is an important source of the modern understanding of ancient Stoic philosophy.

There are some differences between Stoicism and Platonic concepts. Stoics denied the reality of platonic forms of concepts such as ideal world and virtues. They also rejected the Platonic view that mind is a source of knowledge and senses of error and illusion. They believe that true knowledge comes from the senses that get imprinted on the mind. The mind develops concept by developing common ideas between different things. Concepts have no existence outside the human mind. That means we create an ideal world which is not an ideal in the mind of other human beings.

Stoics accepted the role of the God. Stoics believe that doing the right thing is most important. God and Good are synonymous. Good is the only virtue. show indifference to all else. We all have god within us guiding to right path. We can call this god as our consciousness. In Hindu philosophy also it is said that 'Paramātmā(God) is within us'. We can attain happiness only by acting in accord with our true nature, as revealed by our inner guide, and by being contented with the one's lot in life. The World has a purpose and is marked by order, harmony, beauty and design. If we find the world ugly that means we are unable to perceive the beauty of the world.

There is an importance to reason. The Universe is governed by the eternal laws. The reason is one of the most important attributes of man. Living life according to the laws of nature based on the reasoning of mind is the best. The virtuous life is the life according to reasone. Stoics are unique in their challange to happiness. They make bold statement and say that pleasure is not good. It need to be shunned. Virtue is the source of happiness that should be practiced as a duty. In Hinduism, there is similar thought in Gita, where Lord Krishna says it is your job to destroy the people, who are on the side of Adharma. Here Adharma means 'that which is not in accord with the law'. The cheif virtue from which all virtue arrise is wisdom. 'Wise man' and 'good man' are synonymous. Four cordial values bravery, insight, self-control and justice originate from wisdom. If you develop wisdom in you, you become a good person.

Let's look at some thoughts by stoics.

“Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
All emotions come from within. All our pain, happiness, anxiety .etc are because of what we are thinking. It is internal, therefore if you can make right paradigm of the world and you can understand the world as it is then there is no need to feel anxious. It is something you create for yourself.

“Choose someone whose way of life as well as words, and whose very face as mirroring the character that lies behind it, have won your approval. Be always pointing him out to yourself either as your guardian or as your model. This is a need, in my view, for someone as a standard against which our characters can measure themselves. Without a ruler to do it against you won’t make the crooked straight.” — Seneca, Letters From a Stoic
Have a role model, whom you respect and use them to stay honest.  You should look for the person, who is walking the talk. Who does what exactly he/she says. We should have some ideals and should imitate somebody. In Hinduism, people say 'Ram se bada Ram ka naam', which means when you believe in god you believe the values of god and that is a better tribute to a god than worshiping a god.

“Don’t just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents.” — Epictetus, The Art of Living 
In today's world, people are filled with knowledge from books, web and other sources. We should read purposefully, and apply your knowledge. The objective of education is to increase knowledge but ultimately spark action and facilitate wiser decisions. Books should able you to distinguish between right and wrong. Books are training weights of mind, just like you lift weights in the gym and train yourself to get stronger. Books can help you to train your mind and make it strong.

“‘A consciousness of wrongdoing is the first step to salvation.’ This remark of Epicurus’ is to me a very good one. For a person who is not aware that he is doing anything wrong has no desire to be put right. You have to catch yourself doing it before you can reform. Some people boast about their failings: can you imagine someone who counts his faults as merits ever giving thought to their cure? So—to the best of your ability—demonstrate your own guilt, conduct inquiries of your own into all the evidence against yourself. Play the first part of prosecutor, then of judge and finally of pleader in mitigation. Be harsh with yourself at times.” — Seneca, Letters From a Stoic
We people are very positive to ourselves. we are very soft to ourselves. When you do something wrong and you realise that you have done something wrong this is the first step of salvation. There are people who boost their demerits. There is absolutely no way a corrupt person can be called a good man. You should examine yourself critically because that will help you improve yourself.

“A key point to bear in mind: The value of attentiveness varies in proportion to its object. You’re better off not giving the small things more time than they deserve.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
People who do extraordinary work, who master their profession, do so because of their ability to prioritise. They acknowledge every hour of their day. Real world people are bothered about small things in life and that is why they are not able to think and achieve bigger things in life.