Silent meditation could be practiced while standing motionless – this was Socrates’ way-or while walking, as in the following verses by Horace: “Do you go silently, tiptoeing through the healthful woods, harboring in your mind all the thoughts worthy of a sage and a good man?” Likewise, the Stoic Epictetus: “Go for a walk alone, and converse with yourself.” Meditation is part of an ensemble of practices, not all of which fall within the order of discourse, but all of which testify to the philosopher’s personal engagement. They are means by which philosophers can transform and influence themselves. These are the spiritual exercises, which we shall now investigate.
Every school had spiritual exercises that likely involved breathwork. There is also a connection between these breathing exercises and Shamanism, which primarily is found within hunting cultures.
He who believes every day that his life has been complete enjoys peace of mind.
The foolish live waiting for good things to happen. Since they know these things are uncertain, they are consumed by fear and anxiety. Later on-and this is the worst of their torments-they find that they have longed in vain for money, power, and glory; for they have not derived any pleasure from these things, which they hoped for so passionately and worked so hard to attain. The life of a fool is hard and worrisome. It is wholly devoured by the future.
Epicurean spiritual exercise consists in concentration on the present-that is to say, on the consciousness of the “I” in the present-and in refraining from projecting our desires on the future. The present is enough for happiness, because it allows us to satisfy our simplest and most necessary desires, which provide stable pleasure. This is one of the favorite themes of the poet Horace: Let the soul be happy in the present, and refuse to worry about what will come later.
Think about arranging the present as best you can, with serene mind. All else is carried away as by a river.73 For the Stoics, this exercise is closely linked to the thought of death, since this is what gives value to each of life’s days and instants. This is why we must live each moment as if it were our last: While we are talking, jealous time has fl ed. So seize the day, and do not trust the morrow! Persuade yourself that each new day that dawns will be your last. Then you will receive each unexpected hour with gratitude.74
“With gratitude” because, from the perspective of death, each instant appears as a wonderful gif t -an act of grace which is unexpected in its uniqueness. “Recognize the value of each additional moment, and receive it as though it happened by wonderf u l, in¬ credible luck.”75
We must become aware of the splendor of existence. Most people are unaware of it and consume themselves in vain desires, which conceal life itself from them. In the words of the Stoic Seneca: “While we postpone living, life passes us by.” He seems to have been echoing an Epicurean saying: “We are born only once; twice is not permitted. Thus, we must cease to exist for all eternity. Yet you, who are not master of tomorrow-you put off joy until tomorrow. Life is vainly consumed in such delays, and each of us dies without ever having known peace:’
Perhaps Wittgenstein was thinking of Epicurus when he wrote: “Death is not an event of life. It is not experienced. If by ‘eternity’ we mean not an infinite temporal duration but atemporality, then whoever lives in the present lives eternally.”
Source: What is Ancient Philosophy?