Buddhism and Stoicism

calendar Jun 2, 2018 · 4 min read · Buddhism Stoic  ·
Share on: linkedin copy

Somehow I see Stoicism as a "watered-down" version of Buddhism. The psychological parts of both schools have a lot in common. If I can take the liberty and boils down Buddhism into the three Characteristics: Dukkha (Unsatisfactory nature of life), Anicca (Nothing is permanent), and Anatta (Self is a delusion), Stoicism stresses the first two while not going deep into the no-self teaching.

So here is my take on Buddhism and Stoicism, in plain terms, with my own language. The motivation of compiling the lists is to have a reality check on my understanding of them, and for that matter, for anything I am trying to learn. My hope is that -- by many many cycles of simplistic, complex, and profoundly simple -- it will deepen my understanding of Stoic and Buddhist teachings, and myself.

Stoicism

  1. Tranquility should the goal of our lives.
  2. We should get the negative emotions out of our lives. Be rational, use your reasoning power.
  3. Enjoy what you have, but when it's gone, let it go.
  4. We need to practice negative visualization: imaging what would be like if you'd lost what we have now, so that by the time you actually lose them, you can accept it peacefully. This is related to the impermanence insight of Buddhism.
  5. Other people are a major source of trouble for our tranquility, so be very mindful of this.
  6. But the at same time we are social beings and we can not isolate ourselves.
  7. Stoics take almost an elite attitude to the public -- the majority of them are not as enlightened as us Stoics and we should not be bothered by their insults: it's not worth it and we Stoics are above that.
  8. There is something we have no control over, and there is something we have absolutely control; and there is something in between. Accordingly, we should not worry about something we can not control, and focus on things we do. And we have to try to achieve our internal goals, not the external ones.

Buddhism

  1. Buddhism training is mainly about psychology.
  2. Two tenets of Buddhism are wisdom and compassion; compassion is the end and wisdom is the means. They are intertwined actually: without wisdom your compassion is limited, and without compassion you will never get to the deepest wisdom.
  3. If we take wisdom as an end by itself, the means (or path) to get it is to be free at first: free of desire and hatred as they mess up the mind; then you will have a chance to develop a calm and settled mind, only then you will see things clearly and wisdom will come by itself.
  4. Living an ethic life is not really a noble thing: it's a necessity to have a calm mind.
  5. Five hindrances are daily reminders of what we need to work on: getting rid of desires and hatred are the starting point; then you need the right effort for your practice; and being mindful to work on agitation and anticipation; and of course have faith and confidence in yourself and your practice.
  6. In a sense Buddhism training, in the end, is all about wise discernment: telling apart differences, different situations, using appropriate responses -- this is nothing but skills. That's the cultivation part of the practice.
  7. The insight part of practice is the three Characteristics: unsatisfactory nature of our mind, the impermanence nature of everything, and the illusion of self. These are insights, or frameworks, big pictures, and should NOT be taken literally in daily practice; instead of your daily practice should focus on the cultivation part, i.e., work diligently to develop your skills, your mental acumen, your fine skills of discernment.
  8. The technical part of Buddhism training is the Satipattana sutta. Be mindful of your body, your feelings, your mind and your Dharma.
  9. The core Dharma teachings are: 4 noble truth, 8 fold path, 5 hindrances, 7 factors of awakening.
  10. Buddhism is actually a very rational teaching: in econ term it's about trading off short term pleasure for long term happiness, simple as that.
  11. In that sense Buddhism is really not for the faint-hearted, the lazy, or the not-so-bright people.
  12. I will stick to what I said many years back: if you are not a Buddhist by the age of 45, either you are extremely lucky or retarded. And every few can be lucky all the time.