Stillness is the Key

• Definition: Stillness.
• 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.

"The struggle is great, the task divine—to gain mastery, freedom, happiness, and tranquility."

- Epictetus

"be content to appear clueless or stupid in extraneous matters."

- Epictetus

Insight: Given time, insignificant things will become obvious or disappear.

Principle: Limit your inputs.

"If we’re anxious or nervous when we make the catch or throw, what will become of the game, and how can one maintain one’s composure; how can one see what is coming next?"

- Epictetus

Insight: We can think too much.

Principle: Create clear space in the mind for insights or breakthroughs.

"Most of us would be seized with fear if our bodies went numb, and would do everything possible to avoid it, yet we take no interest at all in the numbing of our souls."

- Epictetus

Insight: Epictetus spoke of who it is the job of the philosopher to put our impressions to the test by taking action.

Insight: Epictetus was a slave who eventually received his freedom. He bought a nice iron lamp which got stolen. Initially feeling emotions of surprise and violation, he caught himself and said "Tomorrow, my friend, you will find an earthenware lamp; for a man can only lose what he has."

• Definition: Human flourishing in what we do and how we live according to Aristotle.
• Insight: A person that makes selfish choices or acts against their conscience (what they know to be right) will never be at peace.
• Insight: The stoics and buddhists do not believe in "original sin" (that we all have fundamental flaws), they believe we are born good, and therefore that doing the "right thing" is akin to acting according to our nature.

• Definition: Avoiding direct battle.
• Reference: Fabius in war against Hannibal. Wearing Hannibal down by largely avoiding battle rather than taking more action, and letting the opposition wear themselves down and spend energy.
• Insight: Inaction or deliberate restraint is often viewed as a sign of weakness, where it may be the most optimal strategy.
• Insight: Fabian was special for what he didn't do, for demonstrating patience, despite political pressure to take action (because of our innate action bias).

• Insight: The fact that we will die, and the uncertainty of timing, is responsible for anxiety and distress.
• Insight: The denial of death is why we seek pleasure, fame, money, and why we struggle to remain still and at peace. We spend so much time and energy trying to fight death or ignoring it.
• Reference: Seneca: reminded himself often that we were once not born, and when we die we will simply return to this state.
• Reference: Cicero: to study philosophy is to learn how to die.

• Insight: There is an opportunity cost to trying to stay informed or keep up with everything and everyone. It takes our time and energy away from what is really important.

"Before we can make deep changes in our lives, we have to look into our diet, our way of consuming. We have to live in such a way that we stop consuming the things that poison us and intoxicate us. Then we will have the strength to allow the best in us to arise, and we will no longer be victims of anger, of frustration."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Insight: Information consumption can impact us in the same way that food impacts our health.

Insight: Garbage in, garbage out - if you want good outputs you have to take care of the inputs.

Insight: One of our most important jobs is knowing what to ignore, what not to do, what not to think about.

"On the surface of the ocean there is stillness...but underneath there are currents."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

"After recognising and embracing our inner child, the third function of mindfulness is to soothe and relieve our difficult emotions. Just by holding this child gently, we are soothing our difficult emotions and we can begin to feel at ease. When we embrace our strong emotions with mindfulness and concentration, we’ll be able to see the roots of these mental formations. We’ll know where our suffering has come from. When we see the roots of things, our suffering will lessen. So mindfulness recognises, embraces, and relieves."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Insight: Healing our own wounds takes self-patience, self-empathy, and self-love.

• Definition: The ability to hold back, to wait until the perfect time.
• Example: A long distance running will not succeed if they try to sprint the whole distance.
• Insight: You can't solve problems (maze) by rushing. You have to stop and think.
• Insight: You can't do everything with your full attention and energy.
• Principle: Stop and think.
• Principle: Get better at saying no.