Reference: According to Epicurus, living with fear is incompatible with ataraxia.
Reference: Buddist word for ataraxia is upekkha; aslama for muslims; hishtavut in Hebrew; Greeks euthymia and hesychia.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita speaks in a poem about samatvam: "evenness of mind—a peace that is ever the same."
Insight: It is almost impossible to find a philosophy that does not treat stillness or ataraxia as the highest good or goal.
Insight: We must cultivate our mind to achieve stillness to succeed in life, and to navigate crisis.
Insight: Anger is opposed to ataraxia.
Principle: Be fully present.
Principle: Empty the mind of preconceptions.
Principle: Take your time.
Principle: Sit quietly and reflect. Cultivate silence.
Principle: Reject distraction. Limit your inputs.
Principle: Journal.
Principle: Seek wisdom.
Principle: Seek to be confident, but avoid ego.
Principle: Detach from outcomes.
Principle: Seek virtue and moral balance.
Principle: Heal your childhood wounds and trauma.
Principle: Beware desires.
Principle: Practice gratitude and awareness of enough.
Principle: Cultivate love and relationships.
Principle: Let go to something higher.
Principle: Practice saying no - we cannot do everything.
Principle: Take walks.
Principle: Build routine.
Principle: Limit attachment to physical things.
Principle: Seek solitude.
Principle: Rest.
Principle: Pursue hobbies and things for fun.
Definition: Peace of mind, tranquillity.
Insight: Achieving ataraxia as a philosophical goal came to prominence during the insecurity of Hellenic times, and the loss of autonomy under the empires or Alexander and Rome. The need felt by people to find security and stability within themselves whilst the world around the was uncertain.
Insight: Ataraxia is achieved through understanding the true nature of the world, and living in conformity with that.
Reference: For Epicurus the main goal of philosophy is to help people understand what the best kind of life is and achieve ataraxia.
Reference: The sceptical movement Pyrrhonism was concerned with attaining ataraxia - peace of mind or tranquillity.
Definition: Freedom from anxiety, equilibrium, the art of maintaining an even keel.
Insight: The Greeks believed that the best way to achieve eudaimonia (human flourishing) was through ataraxia.
Insight: To attain ataraxia means having control over your emotions.
Reference: The Pyrrhonians aimed to attain a condition of relaxation about everything on the path to ataraxia.
Reference: Montaigne also believed in achieving human flourishing through balance, or ataraxia.
Insight: The Hellenic period was an unsettled period, prompted people to think about how they could achieve inner peace of mind, or ataraxia.
Insight: The uncertainty of external environments can be balanced through a peaceful internal one, which we have control over.
Reference: Epicurus advised people to pursue pleasure and avoid pain, by which be meant the pursuit of learning, reading, and inner peace or ataraxia.
Reference: Epicurus, Hellenistic period (341-271 BCE), believed that by focusing on the natural things that are important for humans, we can achieve ataraxia - tranquillity.
Definition: Tranquillity, freedom from disturbance by external things.
Reference: Epictetus believed that ataraxia was the result of following philosophy.
Reference: Epicurus had the goal of ataraxia - tranquillity and freedom from pain, achieved through contemplation in the quiet company of friends.
Definition: Perfect equanimity.
Reference: Epicurus believed that anyone could attain and maintain ataraxia.
Reference: Epicurus believed that the main aim of philosophy was to reach a state of tranquillity, or ataraxia.
Definition: Tranquillity and freedom from distress.
Insight: The goal of the Pyrrhonian Skeptics (founder Pyrrho of Elis) was ataraxia, which they believed came from suspending judgement.
Definition: A state of serene calmness.
Insight: Stoic philosophy emphasises the attainment of ataraxia.
Key Insights & Principles
Living meaningfully
Inner peace is achieve through understanding the true nature of the world, and living in a way that conforms with that.
Inner calmness or tranquillity can be achieved by anyone, as we have control over our inner selves.
For Epicurus, the stoics and other philosophical movements, the achievement of ataraxia is the main goal of philosophy.
Be fully present, and empty the mind.
Cultivate silence, sit quietly, and reflect.
Reject distraction. Limit your inputs.
Journal, and practice gratitude.
Seek wisdom and confidence, avoid ego.
Detach from outcomes.
Seek virtue and moral balance.
Heal your childhood wounds and trauma.
Beware desires, limit attachment to physical things, and cultivate awareness of enough.
