The 30 Days Meditations of Marcus Aurelius Challenge

Welcome to the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius challenge!

This is a knowledge and discipline driven challenge. The aim is to combine reading, knowledge, discipline and reflection to create a challenge that leaves you with a wholesome feeling of self-improvement.

First, a bit about the man, Marcus Aurelius.

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Marcus was the Emperor of Rome from the year 161 until the year 180 AD, giving him a lengthy reign of nearly 2 decades as the head of the most powerful, well organised and dominant state of its' time. The glory and power of Rome continues to impress historians even today. Born in a prominent family, he received a strong foundational education. Even further emphasis on his education was given after it became apparent he is next in line for the most important position in the Empire. It is important to emphasise the extent of the power that Marcus had at his disposal. If he so wished, nothing would be off limits for him. What truly sets Marcus apart is that in the face of unlimited power and temptation his head remained firmly on his shoulders. In true defiance of Machiavellian norms he did not allow absolute power to corrupt him. The historical records of the strength of his character remain a bright beacon of light symbolising what a true masculine, stoic leader can be and achieve.

But this challenge is not meant to be a cult of personality. We are here to study and discuss the ideas that the man has grown to represent. In the last 10 years of his life and reign Marcus Aurelius began writing a journal, of sort. This was a personal record of his thoughts and affirmations. It was never meant to be read by anyone but himself, let alone be published. In fact, some records say there were explicit instructions for the books to be destroyed upon his death. Luckily for us, those instructions were never followed. The books were preserved and are now widely known and available as the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. It is a collection of thoughts that embody the stoic philosophy written by one of the most powerful and yet consistently virtuous people our world has ever produced.

Next, a bit about the idea - Stoicism.

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Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium in Athens in the early 3rd century BC. It is a philosophy of personal ethics informed by its system of logic and its views on the natural world. The core tenets of Stoicism are the following:

• Courage. It is the choice and willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.
• Temperance. In its modern use is defined as moderation or voluntary self-restraint. It is typically described in terms of what an individual voluntarily refrains from doing.
• Justice. It is the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness; to uphold the justice of a cause.
• Wisdom. Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgement, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, self-transcendence and non-attachment, and virtues such as ethics and benevolence.

Stoicism is characterised by a rejection of pleasure as the standard for human happiness and human felicity. Stoicism takes the position that the wise man, the good man, the philosopher, is a man who lives in accordance with Nature (you need to study the texts on Stoicism to understand what a Stoic means by Nature). He fears only abdicating his moral responsibility. He is not afraid of pain, he is not afraid of death, he is not afraid of poverty, he is not afraid of any of the vicissitudes of the human condition. He fears only that he should let himself down and he should be less than a complete human being.

According to the Stoics, the only matter of concern to a wise and philosophical individual is the things completely under your control. You can’t control the movements of the sun and the planets, you can’t control whether a leaky ship sinks or makes it to port, you can’t control the weather, you can’t control other people, you can’t control the society around you. There is only one thing, and one thing only that you are in control of, and that is YOU. Your will, your intentions, yourself. In other words, the wise man, the truly philosophical man is a man who is entirely in control of his own soul. Who takes utter and complete moral responsibility for his actions and is indifferent to anything else. Not because he doesn’t care about other people but because it is not under his control.

In order to learn more about Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism before you begin, have a look at this lecture. It is a very succinct introduction and some of the text in this post has come from transcribing the content.


Last, a bit about the challenge.
The premise is simple. In order to complete this challenge you must make progress both on your NoFap streak and the book.

The meditations of Marcus Aurelius is divided into 12 books. This means you'll 2-3 days per book, with some of the longer chapters getting a bit of extra time. At the end of the allocated time, you must post a progress report that contains a short (or long if you wish to) text that contains your own meditations and thoughts on what you've read during this stretch.

Book 1 : Days 1 and 2 | ~3000 words

Book 2 : Days 3 and 4

Book 3 : Days 5 and 6

Book 4 : Days 7 and 8

Book 5 : Days 9, 10 and 11

Book 6 : Days 12, 13 and 14

Book 7 : Days 15, 16 and 17

Book 8 : Days 18, 19 and 20

Book 9 : Days 21 and 22

Book 10 : Days 23, 24 and 25

Book 11 : Days 26, 27 and 28

Book 12 : Days 29 and 30

The meditations are not the kind of book where it would benefit you to look ahead or read through quickly. There is no plot, no part of it is particularly more important than another. What would benefit you most is if you read through it slowly, deliberately and with great attention and reflection. This is what I invite you to do. Read, pause, ponder and write down your thoughts, so that you can share them here. How does Marcus's ideals of morality resonate with your own? Is Marcus describing the man you would like to strive to be? Have you ever encountered situations similar to what he is describing? How did you react in them and has what you've read changed your worldview? How you would approach the situation in the future?

We think best when we write. Without writing, many would say, you can barely say you've even thought. I invite you to start writing and sharing your thoughts. Not only read the books, but also leave a mark. On this forum and in the memory of the people who read it.

You can start this challenge at any point in your journey. Just keep track of which day of this challenge you are using a daily check in.

You can find free PDF files of the book at project Gutenberg and potentially in many other places online if you search for it. You can also find free audio versions on YouTube or at LibriVox. You can also buy the paper version at any bookstore or online retailer.

Best of luck, young Stoics. May Nature favour you in your pursuits of Courage, Temperance, Justice and Wisdom.

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Day 1; Book 1;
I've read the book in its' entirety. As the first book in his journal it is a record of his gratitude to various people that have helped Marcus on the way to becoming who he is. It starts all the way from his childhood and mentions all people that he deems worthy of credit for his proper upbringing. Family members, friends, close people, loved ones, educators, and role models. The latter half of the book is reserved for just two entities. Both of which, I believe, represent the same idea and deserve some special reasoning. One is his second, chosen father. The other, are his gods. Marcus has had the experience of being brought up by two father figures. His birth father, Marcus Annius Verus, who unfortunately passed just a few years after the birth of Marcus. His second father was Antoninus Pius, Emperor of Rome. Marcus only briefly mentions his birth father in the beginning, but dedicates a significant portion of the book to Pius. This is likely due to the limited time that Marcus got to spend with his birth father. It is obvious the he held Pius to an exceptionally high regard. That is easily understandable, how many of us can really say "My father, the Emperor of Rome"? Not only was Pius of high social standing, he also upheld many of the ideals that later became central to Marcus as he grew older. Modesty, piety, lack of ostentatious behaviour, wisdom all barely scratch the surface. But I'll get in on that tomorrow. Secondly, Marcus takes his time thanking the gods. It is important to think about what he may have referred to at the time. Prior to Christianity, the Romans were polytheistic. At a highest level, we can find common ground in thinking about a higher power, source of both chaos and order, an eternal judge. An incarnation of masculine principles. To the gods, Marcus attributed everything that he considered to be beyond his power. A sort of meta level gratitude. An acknowledgement of the fact that he could have been born anywhere at any time. And yet, he was born then, around good, honourable, wise, patient people who put him on the path and made him worthy of being Emperor.

On a pedestal, above all else, Marcus put the masculine, authoritative role models that he had growing up. The people and entities that showed him by example and guidance the sort of man he wanted to be. The sort of man he could be if he committed to being a harsh enough judge to himself on a day to day basis.

 

Day 3; Book 1;
In this book Marcus displays his gratitude and allocates credit where credit is due. It makes you notice how many people were involved in his upbringing. In my edition, there are 16 dedications, plus one for the gods. It takes a village to raise a child. So many people, accomplished on their own, took part in the raising of one good man. Each hammering into him a specific set of virtues, both by verbal guidance and attention and with personal example. Marcus plays specific attention to personal example. In many of the dedications he specifically words the phrases so it is apparent that the people he speaks of lived out their virtues.
It makes me wonder what I would write if I had to write such a book. Would I have this many people to thank? Were there enough people around me that made a positive impact on me? Marcus attributes where he is to his nurturing upbringing. Why am I where I am? I can't help but get a feeling of loss when I compare my own experience with his. I wonder what I could have been. But also what can I become if I pursue everything that I could be.
Marcus comes from the highest echelons of Roman society. I did not have the privilege of being born in such an environment. I was not born in the highest echelons of any society or organisational structure. The indoctrination into his surroundings makes sense for Marcus. He was born in the best place he could have been. Were I to be indoctrinated into the society that I was born into, I would not have been able to reach as far as I have. I judge peoples lack of early interest in me a good thing, overall. I am where I am because of my incessant need for acceptance and belonging. Still, the melancholic side of longs for a world where my village huddled together to help me become a man. It sounds like a wonderful experience. Someday I will become the Emperor I was meant to be. And maybe then, I will be enough.

 

Day 4; Book 2;
Today, I would like to pay specific attention to one passage from this book.

This passage resonated specifically strongly with me. It made me think of the amount of time I've wasted in my own life and how much I could have done to further myself towards my goals and dreams. It is a shame for a man to waste even a minute of his time. Every minute counts and every minute you're not getting better, someone else is. You can't reach the top until you've reached near complete self-mastery. Time is precious. You are precious. Your capabilities are limitless. If you fully pursue who you could be, there is no limit to what you can accomplish. Marcus urges himself not to waste what cannot be redeemed.

 

Day 5; Book 2;
Today I have picked another passage to meditate on.

Marcus reminds himself that attachments to irrelevant things distract him from his true purpose and meaning in life. Modernity is only now re-discovering this space of quiet that he talks about. In my own life I've found that a place of quiet can do wonders to cure restlessness. Contrary to intuitiveness, allowing yourself to experience the itch and meditating on it, works better to remove it than scratching it. For a scratched itch comes back tenfold. To eliminate restlessness one needs a place of quiet and stillness.

 

Day 6; Book 3;

The thoughts of Marcus are a goldmine for such brilliant insights into what a man ought to be. Those seeking to find a righteous judge for themselves, someone whose image and words can hang above them as a goal to aspire, need to look no further. The words in his meditations hang heavy above anyone who has had the pleasure of reading them. Many would prefer to never take on the challenge of being judged in that way. Many others would try to erase the memory of the judge. Many would buckle under the weight. But some manage to live up to the expectations that Marcus has of himself and of his fellow men. We can be part of the select few.
Purity of thought, authenticity of being, resistance of temptation. Those are the morals that Marcus is trying to teach us in that excerpt from Book 3. To live free of shameful thoughts, afflictions, or habits. To be able to live purely and authentically. He never says anything concrete. He invites the reader to relate his words to their own situation. Yet reading this it leaves me to believe he was in my head two thousand years ago and knew what shameful secrets lurk in my subconscious and bubble up to the surface in the darkest moments. He is no stranger to those temptations. It is obvious that he knows me, because he knows himself, and we are in this - brothers. He is in the same fight we all are.