Human beings are rational by Nature, and everything external is nothing. Life is like a Venn diagram in which all the overlapping circles are all the elements of existence: mind, actions, health, wealth, reputation, environments, communities, time, space, and all experience. The inner overlapping center is all that is under the power of the Will that includes the mind, thoughts, and actions. That is all that is under our control. Everything outside of this is indifferent because there is limited power over it. These include the preferred indifferences of health, wealth and reputation. If any of these can be acquired with the preservation of honor, then get them. If not, be ready to say it is nothing. It is totally irrational to care about anything that is not under control. This is just producing personal trouble and anxiety. However, concentrate absolutely on the mind, and see that all good and evil is in the Will. Good is achieved by working for the perfection of reason and merging individual Will with Nature’s will. We must exercise caution with our Will, and courage in engaging in externals. As Epictetus said, it is just like you are the owner of a ship, that you have equipped and operated it as best you can, but if it is wrecked, it is nothing to you because you fulfilled all your responsibilities. One is like a surfer. The surfboard is thought and actions, and the wave is everything outside of control. If this is the focus, then nothing can do harm. No one has power over me if I have power over death. Even death itself is no harm because it is simply the fading out of existence. Once I am dead, death cannot touch me. There is no I. The Will only exists in now. View it like this, you are an actor in a script. You have played your role, and now it is time for you to exit the stage. But the role and the script are timeless. If we view all of time as happening at once, your life, script and role exist forever in your area of time and space. All things in the past, present, and future continuously "live" in their time and space. Think about all the performances of Hamlet that have occurred and the actors playing the lead roles. Taking time-space as a whole, has any of those performances or the roles played ceased to exist in that time-space? No clearly, they have not. Thus, roles and scripts eternally exist in their time-space. Likewise, every loved one who has passed away, still exists in their time-space. Moreover, you will perpetually exist in your role and in your script. Do a little thought experiment. Project yourself to a point in the infinitely far future. Now look back at your life. You see an early part that was your childhood, then adulthood, and later old age. See that all these periods are ONE time-space. Has anything changed about the time-space continuum? No. Thus, that role and script exist forever in that time-space. The perception that our existence is linear and ceases at some point is just a story we tell ourselves to organize and make sense of experience. Just because I cannot as an individual access the future or past (except as memory), does not mean they cease to exist. Time as the sequence of events one after another is just your perception. All time-space exists at once. The door of existence is continuously open. No one has power over another if that individual has power over their thoughts. This is the ultimate life hack. You have supremacy. You have nothing to fear, and nothing can cause injury. Nothing can get in the way. Nobody can deter. It is practicing the prime classical virtues of wisdom, courage, justice with love, and self-control. The work is the advancement of the rational in Nature.
Everything in life is a gift from Nature. People’s bodies, families, friends, and all the things of the world. All are on loan for an unknown period and must be returned whenever required. It is with gratitude that humans enjoy these gifts while they are present. Cherish them and protect them. Work must be for individual and extra-personal service. Work is love. Nature is a divine calculus, where infinite waveforms of non-determinist possibilities encompass all events. Mathematically, the totality of existence combines in a collective collapsing of all potentialities. Individual Will is in a superposition in this exploding galaxy of possibilities that it is continuously interacting with internal and external factors. Thus, the universal will and our Will are engaged in a mathematical integration that creates reality in a dynamic, sublime computation. It is our work to exercise Will virtuously and in a focused manner on actions according to our values. The project of life is to objectively interpret the state of the universal will with wisdom and modify individual efforts accordingly.
What does it mean to merge individual Will with Nature’s will? It means taking all actions to develop personal interests and those of loved ones in keeping with all the virtues, but serenely accepting events that are beyond control. It is the envisioning of all that fortune may bring. It is being sensitive to how the works of the universe interact with individual actions, and to follow what Nature allows. To avoid forcing an outcome that the universe is disallowing. It is giving up to fate, but not being fatalistic. But this is a fine distinction, because we do not want to prematurely give up any preferred result because it is difficult. What if at key points of history, great leaders had just abandoned action when they encountered challenges because Nature was “apparently” against the endeavor? Every action generates resistance. The universe’s communication in this matter is subtle: it is essential to go as far as you can go being guided by the phenomena of existence. Therefore, no person should fall short of their potential. This would be an error. Never give up acting and modify the approach as necessary. Humans must be like water flowing around a stone. Homo sapiens must persist, but not over-force. Individuals must be attuned to what Nature is indicating. This is a skill of super-awareness. Then make the effort and desist if Nature is opposed to a desired result after a prolonged attempt. Humans must not act like spoiled children expecting everything desired to come true. This is thoughtless and immature. The universe cannot operate this way.
Why do bad things happen to good people? The Book of Job is one of the most profound examinations of this puzzle. In the Stoical view, evil only arises in the mind, and the mind of a virtuous person is free from it. Evil is only possible if an individual does an evil action or has an evil thought. Moreover, the perspective that something is “bad” is too limited. In the view from above (to look at the cosmos as if you could see it all at once) all cares are miniscule, and good and bad must exist together. If the perspective is widened to the entire universe, all events serve the economy of life. In Jobs case he came to understand that if he accepted whatever happened to him and remained a righteous man, and did not lose faith in his God, that he could not be harmed. Just as in the case of Socrates, he could only be injured if he chose to do an unjust act. But he did not, and therefore he triumphed over death. It is just so with all humans; we must merge individual Will with Nature’s will. Think about this deeply, if a person has true fellowship with all humankind, would that person wish to exchange the suffering or benefits with another person? It is as if all of humanity possessed one unified form. Would I justly exchange any of my circumstances with another? Think of the metaphor of an abstract coat. Imagine all humans have a jacket with an infinite number of pockets. In each pocket is placed an advantage or disadvantage. Would individuals then wish to pick the pocket of another, exchanging one of their disadvantages for another’s advantages ad infinitum? Would this be just? No, we must wear our own coats. Whatever the conditions of my life, there exists another who is more disadvantage than I am. How then is there any room for envy? Just as I would not envy a homeless person, so too I should not envy a rich person. Guests at a banquet must accept graciously all the nourishment given, and not complain when a favored item passes by them. It would be absurd to demand something from the host that is not on the menu. It is appropriate to consume what is given with gratitude. Epictetus teaches the metaphor of the foot. It sometimes comes to pass that the foot may need to be in mud or cut off even though it is an extension of God. But if the foot were conscious it would wish to be thrust in mud or cut off according to the needs of Nature. Likewise, the whole of humanity may be seen as a unified organism where some parts are rich, and some are poor. Some are sick and some are healthy. It is our part to assume our role and do the best that we can with it. To be continuously happy, be satisfied with what is given. Likewise, the most primitive form of morality among animals is reciprocity. This is seen in primates and other animals. Humans expanded this to the universal value of the golden rule. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. This is a key component to all moral systems. Socrates reflected this in his idea of not doing any injustice.
Excellent character is not for others, it is for us. It is the concentration on our own good. When asked why Socrates did not try to escape his imprisonment as his friends begged him to do, he stated that he would not commit an immoral act even to save his life. He considered it corrupt to act against the state. Act assertively, and yet also follow where Nature leads. Here is the distinction: while most phenomena is beyond our power, our Wills are actually a part of Nature’s will and therefore add to the directing force. It is to take forceful action with the portion of phenomena under control, and at the same moment wish to have things happen just as they do happen and find happiness in this outcome. But to do this we also need the self-correction method of perpetual self-examination. We may do this through meditation and keeping a journal. Socrates said that the unexamined life was not worth living. All so-called misfortunes are opportunities. All events are chances to improve. It is to interpret every result as valuable. This is to be invincible. Socrates was unbeatable for this reason. Homo sapiens must be mental warriors. Our minds are invulnerable fortresses in which we may find sanctuary at any time. Likewise, our imaginations are paradises that may be entered at will. It is the use of the dichotomy of control so that all efforts are toward things over which we have power. Humans must use the dichotomy of valuation so that they only value things that are within the Will, and not things outside of the Will. We must maintain our minds in harmony with Nature by understanding that we have means to endure anything that happens, understanding what truly belongs to us (thought, actions, and emotions), what belongs to others (everything else), observe what happens in life, and gratefulness for all that we have been given. Everyone is self-interested. If individuals maintain their interests in things of the Will, they can be virtuous in the classical sense. Otherwise, if they maintain their interests in externals they become like wolves. Finally, if humans can direct the Will, they may be able to endure anything, and renounce whatever is not for the good (immoral actions, negative emotions/desires). Humans are rational thought, and everything else is nothing.
