Indifference is a power
As legions /'li:dʒən/ of warriors ['wɒrɪrz] and prisoners /'prɪznɚ/ can attest [ə'tɛst], Stoicism /ˈstoʊəˌsɪzəm/ is not grim /ɡrɪm/ resolve [rɪ'zɑlv] but a way to wrest /rɛst/ happiness from adversity [əd'vɝsəti]
By Lary Wallace [ˈwɑlɪs]
We do this to our philosophies [fə'lɑsəfi]. We redraft their contours /'kɑntʊr/ based on projected shadows ['ʃædo], or give them a cartoonish /ˌkɑːˈtuːnɪʃ/ shape like a caricaturist [‘kærɪkətʃʊərɪst] emphasising ['emfəsaizing] all the wrong features. This is how Buddhism [‘bʊdɪzəm] becomes, in the popular imagination [ɪ,mædʒɪ'neʃən], a doctrine /'dɑktrɪn/ of passivity /pæˈsɪvɪti/ and even laziness / ˈlezɪnɪs/ , while Existentialism [,ɛɡzɪ'stɛnʃəlɪzəm] becomes synonymous [sɪ'nɑnɪməs] with apathy ['æpəθi] and futile ['fjʊtaɪl] despair /dɪ'spɛr/. Something similar has happened to Stoicism/ˈstoʊəˌsɪzəm/, which is considered [kən'sɪdɚd] – when considered at all – a philosophy [fə'lɑsəfi] of grim /ɡrɪm/ endurance /ɪn'dʊrəns/, of carrying on rather than getting over, of tolerating /'tɑləret/ rather than transcending /træn'sɛnd/ life’s agonies /'æɡəni/ and adversities /əd'vɝsəti/.
No wonder ['wʌndɚ] it’s not more popular. No wonder the Stoic /ˈstoɪk/ sage [sedʒ], in Western /'wɛstɚn/ culture, has never obtained [əb'teɪnd] the popularity [,pɑpju'lærəti] of the Zen [zen] master. Even though Stoicism is far more accessible, not only does it lack the exotic [ɪɡ'zɑtɪk] mystique [mɪ'stik] of Eastern ['istɚn] practice; it’s also regarded as a philosophy of merely ['mɪrli] breaking even while remaining determinedly [di'tə:mindli] impassive [ɪm'pæsɪv]. What this attitude ['ætɪtʊd] ignores is the promise proffered ['prɑfɚ] by Stoicism of lasting transcendence [træn'sendəns] and imperturbable [,impə'tə:bəbl] tranquility /træ ŋˈk wɪlətɪ/.
It ignores gratitude ['ɡrætɪtud], too. This is part of the tranquility, because it’s what makes the tranquility possible. Stoicism is, as much as anything, a philosophy [fə'lɑsəfi] of gratitude – and a gratitude, moreover [mɔr'ovɚ], rugged /'rʌɡɪd/ enough to endure /ɛnˈdʊr/ anything. Philosophers [fə'lɑsəfɚ] who pine [paɪn] for supreme /sə’prim/ psychological [,saɪkə'lɑdʒɪkl] liberation /ˌlɪbə'reʃən/ have often failed to realise that they belong to a confederacy /kən'fɛdərəsi/ that includes the Stoics ['stoɪk].
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