On Death

"Someone looking at death without its associated images will conclude then that it is nothing more than a function of nature...and death is not only a function of nature, but also to her benefit." (1)

Death is as much a part of our lives as our individual births.  Death as an act of nature is undoubtedly to the good, and that is why all living things will experience it.  The world is constantly renewed and refreshed through the system of replacing the old with the new.  The materials that made up our bodies are eventually broken down to assist in building up that which comes after us.

If we ackowledge that our good acts are those that are in accordance with our individual character and nature as a whole, then it is impossible to view death as something "bad."  It serves the same nature that we aspire to, so it can only be considered both necessary and to the good.

"Men are not disturbed by things, but by the views which they take of things.  Thus, death is nothing terrible...the terror consists in our notion of death, and that is terrible." (2)

Death as a concept cannot be objectively feared.  What is that we really fear?

Do we fear pain then?

It is true that pain could be part of our dying, but the act of death itself is separate from that of the pain.  There is no reason to believe that the state of being dead is any different than the state we experienced (or didn't) before we were born, which is to say, none.  Men can brace themselves against pain, act with honor in its presence, and acknowledge its potential.  And in the unfortunate circumstances that extreme pain is a prequel to our dying, the death itself is a release from pain, and not a continuation of it.

Perhaps we fear that we have not yet done our duty then.  We have not yet begun or completed our work.

We do not own the past, and the future is never assured.  Nothing more than the present instant can be considered "ours," and therefore is the only thing that can be taken away from us.  Whether we live twenty years or a hundred, it is still only the present that can be taken, and so both individuals can only lose the same amount of life.  Relatively speaking, the oldest living human is still nothing more than a minor blink of time, less than a blip on the screen, that all of us, the youngest and the oldest live in rounded form for the same amount of time.  Our passing through nature is neither noticed nor remembered.

"In a short while I am dead and all things are gone. What more do I want, if this present work is that of an intelligent and social being?" (1)

If we can only "own" the current second, then begin your work now.  If you act in accordance with your nature now, and in the next now, and in the next, then you have done your duty, regardless of whether an outsider would have considered it "complete" at any one of those stages. 

This article should not be considered "negative" or "pessimistic."  It is not morbid to think on death as a natural and necessary act, and to resolve to die as well as possible, whenever our inevitable time comes. 

"The person without previous resolution to inevitable death makes certain that his death will be in bad form.  But if one is resolved to death beforehand, in what way can he be despicable?  One should be especially diligent in this concern." (3)

By thinking and resolving how we should die, we can also teach ourselves to live.  Followers of both the Stoic philosophy in Greece and the Samurai in Japan would meditate on both their own death and the death of their loved ones.  They would enter a deep level of mindfulness and then visualize the worst pain and suffering on themselves.  They would endeavor to think so deeply on this that they could "feel" the wounds.  This taught them to value the time that they did have.  It taught them to value their family, their neighbors and their society.  People who experience a near-death experience may come out with a greater understanding and appreciation for what they nearly lost, and that was the goal of the Stoics and the Samurai.

If this conditioning takes hold, we can train ourselves to do our duty even if death is the result.

(1) Marcus Aurelius - "Meditations"
(2) Epictetus - "The Discourses"
(3) Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai - "Yamamoto Tsunetomo"

On Pain (Quotation)

"...and, twenty-five years later, I still remembered how to negotiate the long, horrible process of physical collapse.  It starts with pain of course, but the pain is what I thought of as the edge of a deep, dark valley.  At the bottom of the valley is true incapacitation, but it might take hours to get down there, working your way through strata of misery and dissociation until your muscles simply stop obeying and your mind can't even be trusted to give commands that make sense.  The most valuable thing that I [learned] was that when you start hurting you're not even close to the bottom of the valley, and that if you don't panic at the first agonies there's much, much more of yourself to give."

- Sebastian Junger
"War" 

Battles Which We Must Win

"Everyone is improved and preserved by corresponding acts: the carpenter by acts of carpentry, the grammarian by the acts of good grammar.  But if a man accustoms himself to write ungrammatically, of necessity his art will be corrupted and destroyed.  Thus modest actions preserve the modest man, and immodest actions destroy him.  Actions of fidelity preserve the faithful man, and the contrary actions destroy him." (1)

In short, "we are what we repeatedly do." (2)  It is common to consider philosophy in all its forms to be merely a system of thinking.  Often neglected is the fact that philosophy is designed to let us live better.  Through study and practice, we develop a system of thinking that governs correct action.  The physical practice part is the easiest to neglect.  When one thinks of spiritual or philosophical practice, they probably think of such acts as meditation or study.  These are certainly good and useful examples, but they do not take into account that the conclusions that we come to mentally must be acted on in the day-to-day process of our lives.

I am transitioning from western boxing to Muay Thai kickboxing.  While both are stand-up combat sports, there are quite a few differences, and many of the habits that I have learned to be "good" in boxing are resulting in my taking a lot of beatings in Muay Thai.  Also, having developed some degree of competency in boxing over the years, it has been quite a while since I took much of a beating.  For the first time in a long time I am finding myself on the bottom of the totem pole.  I have solid defense from a boxing perspective, but that did not keep me from getting my nose damn near broken in the first two weeks of Muay Thai. 

Wednesdays are the main sparring days at the new gym.  I was supposed to miss the session this week because I had an appointment in Los Angeles during the class time.  Last minute, my appointment got rescheduled and now I find myself available.  Because I had mentally "checked out" for the day, the realization that I no longer had an excuse not to go hit me like a bucket of cold water.  For a while, I considered other options.  I could go for a run, which I told myself would be almost as good, and would work on my conditioning.  I could use a day off, as I was already beaten up from the last couple of days.  After all, the rest time would "do me good." 

When we have this conversation with ourself, it is simply because we want to avoid doing the thing that needs to be done.  It is a battle with ourself, and these battles must be won.  "It is essential to understand that battles are primarily won in the hearts of men." (3)    

As I endeavor to be a faithful, persistent and disciplined man, I recognize that it is only through consistent acts of fidelity, persistence and discipline that it can be achieved.  So this afternoon I will ignore that fact that today was supposed to be a day off and I will do the thing that should be done.

Quotes from today's posts attributed to Epictetus, Aristotle, Vince Lombardi.

To be a Cactus

"The Almighty conceived the cactus plant.  If God would choose a plant to represent him, I think he would choose of all plants the cactus.  The cactus has all the blessings he tried, but mostly failed, to give to man.  Let me tell you how.  It has humility but it is not submissive.  It grows where no other plant will grow.  It does not complain when the sun bakes its back, or the wind tears it from the cliff or drowns in in the dry sand of the desert or when it is thirsty.  When the rains come it stores water for the hard times to come.  In good times and in bad it will still flower.  It protects itself against danger, but it harms no other plant.  It adapts itself perfectly to almost any environment.  It has patience and enjoys solitude...[it is the plant of patience and solitude, love and madness, ugliness and beauty, toughness and gentleness.]"

Other than making me want to start a cactus garden, this quote from the character of Doc in Bryce Courtney's "The Power of One," gives one hell of a blue-print to pattern a life after.  Respecting everyone while fearing no one is the only way to meet people on equal and amicable terms.  In any situation where one or the other party is intimidated by the other, the response cannot be genuine.  If I fear you, I will tailor my response to engender a favorable impression.  Only by respecting you and seeing you as an equal can my response be perfectly honest.  Whether you "like" me or not is of no concern.  Certainly I want to be liked, but if I present my authentic self and you do the same, we do not need to be overly concerned about our effect on each other.

Likewise, complaining serves nothing.  The great man is the same under difficult circumstances as he is in times of prosperity.  A certain degree of stoicism could benefit us all.  Preparing for bad times during good times is always a good practice.  My needs should stay close to the same, even if I get a raise at work.  If I am living paycheck to paycheck at $30,000 a year, I certainly should not be when my income rises to $50,000. 

Enjoying solitude is important, as this is when we sharpen ourselves.  I become more self-aware both in public and in private, but in privacy I can consider and weigh my responses, and hopefully learn from them. 

I will enjoy the good, and I will survive the bad without complaint.