Speaker 1Hello everyone. How you doing? Hope all is well. Here we have another lecture. This is going to be the second installment of the philosophical meditations for the daily or frequent philosophical practices chapter. So we have a few more questions, a couple more prompts today, and then of course a little bit of bibliotherapy just to get us thinking and moving on this topic for the final week. So first question, do you stop to smell the roses? And we could expand on that a little bit, like how do you stop to smell the roses? When? How often? Why and why not? Next one. Think of three things you are taking the time today to practice or develop. How do you practice these things? Why do you practice these things? What good habit have you started recently? Which bad habit should you stop? And again, why and how for both of those? What do you imagine most frequently? And then what should you imagine less and what should you imagine more? When, how, and why do you make time to reflect? What are your movement practices? And this is a prompt, so I fill in the blanks. My attitude on a daily basis is blank percent positive, blank percent negative. And then another prompt. Describe your ideal day. So describe it in terms of your thinking, your feeling, and your acting. And then sort of approach the question of, well, at the end of that, what's your ideal day? And then sort of approach the question of, well, at the end of that, what's your ideal day? And then sort of approach the question of, well, at the end of that, what's your ideal day? And then sort of approach the question of, well, at the end of that, what's your ideal day? And then sort of approach the question of, well, at the end of that, what's your ideal day? And then sort of approach the question of, well, at the end of that, what's your ideal day? And then sort of approach the question of, well, at the end of that day, what might be different? What might be the same about you? And also we can think about how close is that ideal day to a lot of the days you have now, and maybe how can we make them closer by integrating some new practices and some new ways maybe of thinking, feeling, and acting. All right, just a few today. Hope those are interesting and engaging. And now let's get into the bibliotherapy. So we'll start off with a few quotes from Marcus Aurelius, and then we're going to get into a couple other philosophers for today's bibliotherapy. All right, so this is from Marcus Aurelius' Meditations. First one, do not act at random or otherwise than is prescribed by the exact canons of the art of living. So I think when we think about this idea of the canon of the art of living, I interpret that, and I would like for us to interpret that with this idea of the canon of the art of living. So I think when we think about this idea of the canon of the art of living, I interpret that, and I would like for us to interpret that with this idea of the canon of the art of living. So as I'm reading a lot of your essays, if you're in my class listening to this, I see that we already have this. A number of us are talking about music we like, literature we like. We seem to be connecting with certain philosophies as a result of this class more than others. And that's a hugely important part of this work that we're doing together, right? So for me, it's like you want to create your own group of artists, musicians, authors, and then other just individuals in our lives that we turn to on a frequent basis. And that sort of creates a lot of different things. And I think that's a really important part of this work. These are, let's say, the techniques and our sources to cultivate knowledge, to cultivate wisdom, right? So I think we already talked a little bit about self-writing with Michel Foucault, right? He talks about this idea of the hypnomata of sort of being like a collected treasure. So to say we have a canon is just, for me, or in this case, is sort of to say we have places that we turn to, people we turn to, ideas that we turn to, to cultivate and to collect those treasures, those ideas, those quotes, right? So we want to all, you know, be looking for new sources always, and also, you know, learn how to return to the ones we've already become familiar with in meaningful ways, right? So that's, I think, an interesting part of the second or this interesting second part of the quote. And the first part, right, do not act at random. I mean, a large part of this chapter, a large part of what we're doing now in these couple of weeks is hopefully we're adding something into our lives that kind of, you know, will create a sense of order in both a physical way, right? So, you know, maybe now every day we make time to sit for 15 minutes, or today we'll get a little bit more into movement. We make time to go for a walk on a more regular basis. So we're creating a sense of order by creating a habit, right? Which is another reason why we had the questions earlier about habits, right? So creating habits, you know, they give our lives a sense of order. So do rituals, right? Habits, rituals, kind of synonymous, right? So to not act at random to me might mean we remove some stuff, we stop some habits that maybe create more chaos than is needed. But we also want to add some things, some rituals, some habits that give us a greater sense of order, right? So we're not acting just based on whatever, or only based on external influence, right? But instead, we're kind of having these conversations with ourselves about maybe creating a greater sense of, as he's saying here, a greater sense of, again, with the stoic idea of what we can't control, right? Creating a greater sense of order in the face of what at times can be, and especially if you disagree with the stoics, right? A chaotic universe that isn't rational, right? Again, that's a totally valid perspective. So that's a main focus of this chapter. How can we create good types of order where we can in life? And also, of course, on the other side of that, how do we work on becoming adaptable and flexible with life, right? But either way, I think generally considering how we might want to not act at random is a good, good call, good idea. All right, next quote. And where can one find a calmer, more restful haven than in their own soul? So this is aspiration, right? He's asking himself this. And we're keeping in mind that Marcus Aurelius is writing for himself. He's not writing to share his work. So he's asking himself this because I would imagine he wasn't all that peaceful that day, or in that moment. He's trying to remind himself, right? He's trying to remind himself, right? He's trying to remind himself, right? That I have to look inward to find peace. And I should try to be as peaceful as I can with my own thoughts and exercise whatever degree of control I might have over my own thoughts, right? And of course, we can have wonderful conversations about the degree to which we can control our thoughts. I think I already introduced this idea, but I'm a firm believer in the idea of a flot or a flying thought. Like sometimes we don't control the thoughts we're having, right? They kind of just rise up. Seemingly out of nowhere, right? Kind of maybe to use a psychological or term from psychology, maybe I don't want to misuse it. So I'm hopefully at least in the ballpark here, but kind of like an intrusive thought, right? It's a thought that let's say at the very least, it's a thought we don't ask for, or a thought that we don't prompt. So I firmly believe in that. And of course we have to keep in mind the Stoics are writing long before a number of very important developments in modern psychology, right? So bear that in mind. But I do think nonetheless, this is an interesting inquiry, right? And something we can aspire to because ultimately we all want to be at peace, right? So I think reminding ourselves that it's possible and then again, turning into a question, I think is pretty brilliant, right? Like where else am I going to go for peace? Of course I should look inward, right? Of course I can strive for peace here, which of course is not to say also that we shouldn't try to create external worlds that are peaceful. Of course we should do that too, right? But I think it's a great question. Again, this is very much in line with this chapter on these self-care practices, right? Another great quote, be simple. He's not saying be simple. I think that's very deliberate, right? We should always be, you know, we're always becoming no matter what. That's an inescapable fact of being alive. We're always becoming something, right? So again, we're striving for simplicity, which I think is a great idea. I think the first quote I shared of not acting at random, that definitely helps with creating a, you know, a sense of simplicity because the routines and the habits, I think, again, kind of get rid of what's chaotic, get rid of what's unnecessary, and give us a greater sense of direction. And there should be, I think, a beauty and a simplicity in there. And the idea of becoming, again, is inevitable, but are we becoming more complicated or becoming less clear or becoming simple? And in the sense of, or with that simplicity, seeing more clearly, with that simplicity, becoming more peaceful. And it's a constant process, right? The idea of prosokare we talked about is that kind of vigilance at every moment, right? So instead of just becoming, we're becoming more aware of how we're becoming. Now, maybe we're doing some things, hopefully, that might direct that becoming. Again, it's one of the aspirations for this chapter and one of the hopes for the practices, right? That you might adopt. The idea that we're always becoming, but maybe we can exert some influence on that that could be meaningful. Again, in new ways, maybe, or in different ways. And here's, you know, a quote for the not morning people. I'm not a morning person. I'm in that sorely against your wills. You don't want to get up, but you got to get up to go to work or whatever, right? Summon up this thought. I am rising to do the work of a person, right? Why then this grouchiness? If the way lies open to perform the task which I exist to perform, and for whose sake I was brought into the world. So he's kind of talking about destiny here, which I think is very cool, right? So you may or may not agree with this, but I think it's an interesting idea, right? To say, I'm waking up to do the things I was brought into this world to do. I mean, even if you don't believe in a higher power, right? I think that's a pretty powerful idea. We can maybe craft that for and with ourselves as well, right? If we have this sense that... even a sense of vocation, I think, that I'm doing something that's fulfilling for me and something that's of service to society, that's akin or similar to what he's saying here, right? I'm meant to do what I'm about to do today. Remind ourselves of that. Question that. What am I upset for? It's very interesting, right? And again, I think that could work with a number of things in life. Career, it could work with being a parent. It could work with being a sibling, being a friend, right? Not just career. And I think that's really interesting, right? To remind ourselves of that every morning when we don't want to get out of bed. Well, wait a minute. I'm born to do this. I was born to this world to fulfill this obligation. Powerful stuff, I think. Okay. Or am I to say, and this is kind of him insulting himself, which is good, right? Like this little self-deprecation. Or am I to say I was created for the purpose of lying in blankets and keeping myself warm? And then come on. He's like, come on, man. Get up. Let's go. Really? This is great because this is something I think we all struggle with here and there at least, right? Hitting the snooze button. If you're setting more than like three or four alarms, this is a little bit helpful. And again, I am that person. So this for me is very effective and this is a good idea, right? Come on. I'm meant for this. And again, this could be, it doesn't have to be the whole day, but find the things that you maybe connect with in this manner. Motivational. Dig within yourself. There lies the source of good, a source whose waters will forever well up if you but forever dig. Again, he's encouraging himself here. And I think a very philosophical way. And this is also, I think this is something I enjoy reading, right? This idea that there's a source of good inside me. There's goodness inside me. A number of us have already made really nice connections to our, to our religions, right? A number of you might be people of faith. I think this is also interesting in regards to like understanding not only the goodness that might, that might exist in us as a result of a benevolent or a good higher power. But the idea too, it's like we're always, again, not in every religion, of course, perhaps, but based on what I've been reading recently, it's like there's comfort and goodness in the idea that you're loved by a higher power, right? So there's goodness within you. You are loved. I mean, these are really positive sort of affirmations and also confirmations of what we maybe need as people, right? We want to feel like we can dig within ourselves and do good and feel good. And the Stoics among other schools of philosophy, right, are giving us advice on that. It's like, it's not just about how you feel, but it's also about how you feel about yourself. And so I think this is a good idea. What you offer the world. And we should care about goodness in both of those things, right? We should work to feel good ourselves. That's very important. Then we should also work to offer good things to others. Also very important. The art of living has more resemblance to that of the wrestler than to that of the dancer in as much as the chief requisite in both is the power of standing firm, right? And ready for, unforeseen onset. So I interpret this in the following way, a dancer. And I think this is, if he's saying here, right, that the art of living resembles wrestling more than dancing. I would say, let's say dancing that is choreographed, right? Because I think in a choreographed dance, there are a lot of, you know, there's so many skills involved there, both mind, body, and soul. That's not both because it's more than two, right? Mind, body, and soul. When you're doing a choreographed dance, 100%, right? That being said, I think what he's introducing here is interesting is the greater degree of unpredictability when you're wrestling somebody else, right? And again, life is unpredictable. A choreographed dance has a higher degree of predictability. There's a higher degree of control, right? So the wrestler has to train themselves in a slightly different way because what they're interacting with is not a set of steps that is once again, choreographed to music, but they're dealing with another human being whose movements they cannot predict or control. So there's, there's a different, a different skill set there. And of course, when, you know, anyone who's ever, you know, practicing martial art, a part of that is drilling, right? Where there is a higher degree of control, even when you're drilling with another human being, right? Like you, you kind of can predict, they're going to let you practice the move, right? Or even if, for example, you're not drilling with another person, you're just practicing like shadow boxing, right? You're obviously in greater control there. So that idea of being choreographed or a higher degree of control, we can capitalize on this practice of that nature, even in this example to then be more prepared for let's say wrestling a person, which is to say living life, right? In a way that's philosophical. And then again, the art of living, right? That's sort of where we get some notions of, you know, why bother self-writing? Why bother visualization? Why bother with certain exercises of the imagination? Well, this is an example of how and why that might be useful for when the real thing occurs, right? So again, if the wrestler has been drilling with other people in a, in a situation where there's a higher degree of control, if they've been visualizing themselves wrestling, if they've been training their bodies in exercises that are similar to wrestling, right? Like if you're going to show up for a wrestling match, you really, you know, don't practice boxing, right? Because it's a wrestling match. You're not going to be able to punch the person, right? Just again, sticking with his analogy here, right? So again, if you're someone who needs to be more patient, according to your own characterization of yourself, you have to think about patience. You have to practice patience. You have to understand patience. You have to understand what is impatience, how you embody those things, how you feel, how you think when you're, let's say, moving towards that virtue, or when you're practicing the deficient element, right? The idea that you're not patient enough. All pathways to that moment where life is going to be unpredictable and you're like, "Oh, I really should be patient right now." So when we're writing about patience, when we're thinking about patience, and we're not necessarily being called to be patient, it's still meaningful. We still get something out of that. And then we're maybe more prepared, hopefully more prepared when the, again, when the universe or again, life or the wrestler that we're wrestling against is there and making, you know, making us or provoking us perhaps to work on that. We're more ready for it, that opportunity to cultivate the virtue in the actual wrestling match itself or life, right? Okay. Let's get a couple more quotes here. This is from Pema Chodron. She shares the following, right? This is great. "Life's work is to wake up, to let things that enter your life wake you up rather than put you to sleep." So for me, this connects nicely to the idea of taking time to reflect, the question we had about that earlier. Also, I think the notion of, you know, how much of the day is positive and negative percentage-wise, right? If we're awake in life, I think things can be more exciting, even challenges, right? So to use a challenge or to use the daily sort of occurrences as modes of becoming more alive, right? To look at things in that way, I think is interesting. And then the next quote from her, I think, elaborates on that in a different way, in a really nice, really nice way as well. "A source of wisdom," I'm sorry, "the source of wisdom is whatever is happening to us right at this very instant." So again, seeing our daily life as a source of wisdom, sort of like what I was saying earlier about this collected treasure idea from Foucault, right? To be awake, to connect to the first quote, to this notion that we can gather wisdom, we can grow each day, you know, is a huge, I think, motivational note for why bother adopt a practice with this chapter, right? Then from Confucius, we get the following quote, again, inspiration for one of the questions, "To learn something and at a time to practice it, surely that is a pleasure." And in one of the following episodes, we're going to talk about the Epicurean school of philosophy, different from the Stoics, and they have really interesting thoughts on pleasure. So to practice something is what Confucius believes, right? To learn and to practice. And again, every day we're learning about ourselves a little bit more. We're learning about our world a little bit more. We maybe even have specific things that we're trying to learn about that are going to serve us in our pursuit of growth. We attach to some practice, right? Again, very relevant for this chapter. And he's saying here, like, that's going to be pleasurable, which is, you know, we should all strive to have enjoyable, pleasurable experiences in life. So maybe this could be a new way we look at pleasure, to learn and to practice something. Then we have a great quote from Tolstoy, Leo Tolstoy, that I think connects nicely to the idea of, "Do you smell the roses?" So he's encouraging us in the following way, "If then I were asked for the most important advice I could give, that which I consider to be the most useful to people of our century, I should simply say, 'In the name of God, stop a moment. Cease your work. Look around you.'" And maybe you're not a person of faith. I would say maybe we can just, and I mean this, of course, respectfully, if you don't believe in higher power, maybe replace the word God with, "In the name of goodness." Because he's saying, ultimately, this would be good for you, right? To stop for a moment, stop working, and just look around, right? That's a practice in and of itself. And that's the practice of stop and smell the roses, right? Leo: Instead of, let's say for an example, just rushing to get from the train to work, or from the train home, or what have you, right? Or rushing from your car to get somewhere, right? Take a moment to, and still walk, right? Maybe even at the same pace. Still getting there, of course. But shift the consciousness. Look around you. See the trees. Hear what is there to be heard. Look at the sky. These are things that are important a little bit that we shouldn't ignore. We can't ignore the daily beauty, the daily moments to be awake in our lives, I think is what ultimately Tolstoy is suggesting there too. To stop it, to look around, just open ourselves up to that. I think this is especially, you know, you know, I've lived in New York my whole life. I think in New York, or let's say in the culture of New York, it's like, you know, you have to just be going somewhere at all times or doing something at all times. I think I mentioned this in earlier lectures, right? It's like a virtue just to be busy. Wait a minute, pause. Right, there's value there. And it doesn't, that doesn't get in the way of you achieving things. That in and of itself is a kind of achievement. And of course, balance is important here, right? And this might be for those of us who maybe either A, don't have a stop and slow down practice now, or B, again, like maybe obsessively, let's say, fixated on this idea that just being busy is a virtue. I think Tolstoy asked us to reconsider that in a meaningful way there. So I hope these early philosophical meditations were helpful. And we'll move on to a couple other things in our next lectures. We'll talk about a couple other schools of philosophy, characterize them with Pierre Hadeau, what is ancient philosophy, and we'll, of course, have some more practices in the lectures to follow. Thank you all for listening. I'll talk to you soon. Hello, everybody. How are you doing? Hope all is well. Welcome to another lecture. Today, we're focusing still on our chapter on daily or frequent philosophical practices. And first, we want to make a quick departure from Stoicism into a discussion about Epicureanism, another ancient school of philosophy, which generally had the same goal, right, to use philosophy as a form of therapy, but really had a different path to getting there. So we're going to be sticking with Pierre Hadeau's what is ancient philosophy for this lecture. And I want to share a few key ideas that I think are from the school of philosophy. All right. So firstly, we have to understand that for the Epicureans founded by Epicurus, okay, the philosopher must tend to the sickness of the soul and teach people how to experience pleasure. So at the centerpiece of the Epicurean philosophy as form of therapy was this idea of pleasure, right? It was a choice and an experience for the school of philosophy, right? And they make an interesting sort of distinction amongst different types of pleasures, right? So I want to start there, then we'll explain a little bit more in detail about what pleasure even is for them, right? But I think this is a really great way to start just to get us set up with kind of like a framework here, right? So first, there are natural and necessary desires for pleasures, right? Okay. Which of course, deliver us from pain and which correspond to the elementary or basic needs or vitalness, necessities, right? So those are natural and necessary. Natural but not necessary are, for example, desires for sumptuous foods, right? So luxury, kind of extra stuff, extra foods, right? So we can talk about excess, deficiency, balance. We're already hearing that, right? In this school of philosophy a little bit. Okay. Neither natural nor necessary. This is the third type. Okay. But produced by empty opinions. That's why they exist. Are the limitless desires for wealth, glory and immortality. So, and I would even say among other things too, there are three types of pleasures that the Epicureans wanted us to sort of work with, right? And of course, the one they wanted us to focus on the most was the first kind, the natural and the necessary desires for pleasures, right? So we have to work to limit certain desires for sure. Okay. We have to work to really limit those desires, which are neither natural nor necessary and limit them as much as possible. Okay. The last one, like the final type of pleasure really doesn't do much for us, for the Epicureans. And in pursuing it or pursuing these things, we're going to torture ourselves, right? Or let's say we may likely torture ourselves, especially if we're pursuing them, we don't know how to pursue them in a healthy way, right? So their philosophy focused again on how, we should experience pleasure, right? And this, I think this tripartite distinction is really important. Okay. For the Epicureans, we're tortured as people and we're unhappy as people because we have these quote, immensely hollow desires, such as those for, let's say excessive wealth and excessive luxury or status even, right? There's an emptiness to those desires and there's an emptiness to those pleasures. So let me, let me quickly say, right? I don't think this necessarily means we shouldn't strive for them at all. Or let's even say, I mean, let's not make it, let's say striving for wealth, but making a distinction between wealth and excessive wealth, just for example, right? And the reason why the Epicureans were even able to categorize these three things, these three different types of pleasures is because we might, as people arguably have a natural tendency to want these things, to pursue these types of pleasures. And I think the reason I like to start off with this three levels of pleasure is so we know that when we focus on the first level, which is the best level, we get the most out of that. Those are the most useful. Those are the most, hopefully, you know, readily available. And the unfortunate reality, and I think the Epicureans were picking up on this thousands of years ago, is that we tend to maybe ignore those first level pleasures, the natural and the necessary. As we talked about with the mindful eating. Oh, I'm sorry. As we will talk about, we're going to talk a little bit more about the mindful eating in a following lecture. We're eating without even realizing we're eating. The Epicureans would say, slow down. You're leaving pleasure on the table. You're not granting yourself the fullness of the experience by ignoring it, by multitasking, by not eating mindfully. And yet eating is both natural and necessary. The desire to eat rises up in us, right? That's a physiological need. And for the Stoic, I'm sorry, for the Epicureans, right? We want to focus on not being hungry, not being thirsty, right? Having, let's say, a roof over our heads to prevent us from being too cold. These are the things that we must cultivate gratitude for. These are the pleasures that we must engage with most intensely, most frequently, and not ignore them. Because the other two levels are those that we kind of may focus on at the expense of the first. And that's not a good thing. And again, for the Epicureans, with philosophy as a form of therapy, they believed we could work to, let's say, again, to use that word, discipline certain desires, second, third level desires, and reshift our focus to the first level. And that would improve our way of life. But that would increase our amount of pleasure, decrease our amount of suffering. And they want us to focus on the pure pleasure of existing. We have to, for the Epicureans, learn how to seek pleasure in a reasonable way. Okay? The only genuine pleasure is that pure pleasure of existing. Okay? For the Epicureans, a lot of people, when they seek pleasure, they're unable to find it because they cannot be satisfied with what they have, or because they seek what is beyond their reach, or because they spoil their pleasure by constantly fearing they will lose it. In a sense, one could say that people's suffering comes primarily from their empty opinions. Right? That's the idea, once again, that being famous will make you happy, or being famous is the thing that is your sense of eudaimonia, your sense of purpose. Or being excessively wealthy, that's the thing, right? Which, again, is maybe not even to say don't achieve it or don't pursue it, but don't confuse it, is what I think the Epicureans would definitely say. Which is to say, don't confuse these other third level, second level pleasures with the ones that are truly sustainable, which are the first level. Breathing, for example. A lot of different schools of thought, philosophical schools, different religious practices encourage us to cultivate a healthy, conscious practice with our breathing. That's for a reason. I think the Epicureans picked up on that. I think this philosophy is a very compelling one to consider in our modern times. Right? It's not to say don't go out and get more, necessarily. Right? We could always keep an eye on where excess might be coming into our lives. Right? I think the, the major takeaway point is, in the pursuit of more, make sure you're pursuing eudaimonia. Make sure you're not pursuing the wrong pleasures for the wrong reasons. And make sure that you're not stressing yourself out because of your misplaced desires. Don't forget to, on a daily basis, cultivate a pleasurable relationship to those first level pleasures. And maybe even, as I'm saying this, I'm out loud, I'm grappling with my own desires for wealth, my own desires for luxury. Right? We've come to, I think, in our culture, philosophically, justify a lot of what we do because we yearn for material things. So I think this philosophy is asking us to maybe to reconsider, at the very least, the intensity that we pursue those second, third level pleasures. And we could even turn these into questions, right? Is this desire, or is this pleasure, natural? Is it necessary? And how can we relate to it? differently in a way that's healthy for us and others, of course, if it's not natural and it's not necessary? Do we abandon it? Maybe. Do we pursue it, but with a different degree of intensity? It might be another conversation, right? Because for the Epicureans, of course, we want to do what we do to avoid suffering and fear, right? That calms our souls. But if we're chasing things that are not natural and not necessary, I mean, are we opening ourselves up for some suffering? I think they would argue yes. Whereas if you cultivated pleasure on a daily basis, for example, with your breathing, with your eating, with your drinking, with whatever movement you can accomplish that day, right? We're going to talk a little bit also about walking mindfully. So if we capitalize on these moments for pleasure, our lives would improve. But if we're constantly walking and our mental gaze is diverted from the task of walking and we're focusing on the job or the culture, we're missing an opportunity. So this, I hope, you know, in addition to the practices I'm going to share that are inspired by Epicureanism, will kind of open us up to seeing the daily pleasures of things, right? And maybe change a little bit, if not what we're going after, at least how we're going after it if it's causing us suffering and stress. To limit our appetites a little bit or maybe to decrease the intensity of the appetites and the desires for the not natural and the not necessary. So in the following episodes, we're going to examine a couple more points from this philosophy, along with some practices that I hope might be useful. All right, so here are a set of practices that I think connect to Epicureanism. They're definitely inspired by them. Mainly the idea that we should be able to do a lot of things that we're not able to do. So I'm going to start with the first one, which is the epiphyllum. It's the idea that, you know, as we talked about a few minutes ago in another part of the lecture, they need us to sort of see the differences between certain pleasures. Let's also say certain desires, right? So I think these practices really sort of connect to their first and primary type of pleasure that they want us to focus on, which would be those that are natural and necessary, right? So the desire to eat is natural, and of course, it's also necessary. And I think what I want to do is give us some ideas about how we might want to cultivate a different, healthier, more pleasurable, relationship to eating, which I think the Epicureans would agree with, right? The idea for them, again, kind of summarizing some points we made earlier, is that the body, the soul, right, there's connections there that are really meaningful, right? So the soul can be more at peace if, for the Epicureans, we're focusing on bodily desires, bodily pleasures, and let's also add mental, intellectual pleasures. And we have a great example of that, too. So I think it's a very compelling set of practices here that we're going to be getting in this episode about eating from Thich Nhat Hanh, from his book, How to Eat, which I recommend this book, among others. He has these great books. He's like how-to books. So Thich Nhat Hanh is a Zen master, and I think these perspectives really hopefully will maybe get us to try out a new practice or two. So here we go. I'm going to jump right in. This section is called Mindful Eating. To cultivate mindfulness, we could do the same things we always do, walking, sitting, working, eating, and so on, with mindful awareness of what we're doing. When we're eating, we know what we are eating. When we open a door, we know that we are opening a door. Our mind is with our actions. When you put a piece of fruit into your mouth, all you need is a little bit of mindfulness to be aware. Quote, I am putting a piece of apple into my mouth. Your mind doesn't need to be somewhere else. If you're thinking of work while you chew, that's not eating mindfully. When you put a piece of apple into your mouth, that's not eating mindfully. When you pay attention to the apple, that is mindfulness. Then you can look more deeply, and in just a very short time, you will see the apple seed, the beautiful orchard in the sky, the farmer, and so on. A lot of work is in that apple. So, where does your mind go when you eat? For me, I know a lot of times, unfortunately, I'll be eating and I'll be answering emails, or I'll be eating and I'll be reading, right? Again, not the worst things in the world, of course, but if the goal here is to optimize our connection to the bodily pleasure and desire, and to optimize our gratitude for this experience to then lead a healthier life, right, it makes sense to remove some of these things, right? Remove, as he's saying here, some of the things that we might think about while we're eating that don't even involve the food, right? We can think about a lot of other practices that involve pausing before we eat. There's a reason for that. There's something important there, right? We have to stop and appreciate the food. We have to stop. We have to stop and appreciate the company that we're with before we eat. And these are the things that Thich Nhat Hanh is asking for us to focus on, and I think similar to what the Epicureans are suggesting, that's how we really tune in to the pleasure of the thing. Again, in this case, it was an apple, right? So, let me keep reading here another section from Thich Nhat Hanh. I have a few here I'd like to share. So, that's a general perspective, right? Eating mindfully involves maybe even telling ourselves, right now, I'm eating, and then trying to remove other distractions in our acting. In our thinking, and our feeling, and really enjoying the food, right? In a focused manner. So, eating mindfully is a practice. When we eat our meal, we should show up for that meal 100%. Eating mindfully is a practice. If we choose to drink a cup of tea in mindfulness, the pleasure of drinking tea will more than double, because we are truly there, and the tea is also truly there. Life is real. It's not a dream when mindfulness is there. So, I like to share this one, too, because for me, I'll often drink a cup of coffee, as I'm walking in my car, or I drink a cup of coffee as I'm reading, and I'm barely even acknowledging the coffee. And one thing I've done recently is I actually started to take the brief routine, my routine for making the coffee, a little more seriously, and kind of pay attention to it more, and enjoy it, right? So, I have my instant coffee. I put in a couple tablespoonful, which is too much, whatever. I pour a little water. I have this mixing thing. It kind of makes a froth. I make frappe. That's my drink of choice in the morning. Put some milk, right? And I take my time with it. And I try to, I really, I think even as a result of preparing for this lecture, like the past few days, I've been doing this way more consciously, and I'm enjoying it. I put on some music, which I think may not exactly be what he's suggesting, right? But I think the music actually, for me, enhances my ability to kind of tune in to what I'm doing with the coffee. I smell the coffee, right? I'm not, you know, doing it so quickly that I'm not taking a moment to smell the coffee. I think it looks nice. I enjoy the mug that I use day in, day out, most of the time when I, when I make the frappe. I put a little MCT oil now, which is new. The MCT oil has been a nice addition, just saying, but I'm taking my time with it more. I make sure my countertop is clean. I make it in the same place every day. The countertop is next to a window in my apartment, so I'm like, I'm tuning into the whole, you know, process. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Okay. I'm like, okay, I'm just going to do this. Thank you. pleasure that, again, is both natural and necessary, so why not enjoy it to the best of our ability? Again, and cultivate gratitude around it, right? Food is something to be grateful for. Alan Watts has a brief, he has many lectures, but one brief moment, and I haven't listened to all of them, of course, but this one brief moment, though, is interesting. He offered the following. He's like, you know, you buy food and you forget how valuable the food is, right? Food is more valuable than money. Food keeps us alive, right? So there's a sense that, I think he painted kind of a picture of somebody at a supermarket who was pretty much like, like they were angry about something small, right? They allowed themselves to be angry, maybe about the length of the line or something, and they were sort of forgetting to cultivate gratitude around the fact that, like, this food that they were getting is literally life-giving. Again, maybe why we stopped. Cultivate gratitude before a meal. So let's get some more comments from Thich Nhat Hanh here. Take your time. It's good to take time to eat because the time for a meal can be a very happy time. Take time to enjoy your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Enjoy your meal. Stop the thinking and be there fully, body and mind. So I realize as I'm reading this, I'm a hypocrite because I don't even eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't eat breakfast, really. I just don't, just not something I do. Again, I have my morning coffee routine. So we can interpret this as it works for us. But I also think even the question of, can we take more time for food? I can't remember who said this, but some comedian was talking about Pop-Tarts. And the idea he presented was like, you could put your Pop-Tarts in a toaster, which I recommend, and it takes longer than if you put it in the microwave. And his point was like, how rushed are you that you can't use the toaster? You need two options, one of which is faster. How rushed is your morning that you don't have toaster time? And I'm laughing because he said it in a really funny way. That being said, it's an interesting remark. Philosophically, it's like, how rushed are you? And again, how maybe does that rush encourage you to take something like eating, again, this important, wonderful thing for granted? And how might we want to change that? So again, taking our time suggesting, take your time. So maybe the idea here would be, okay, figure out how you relate to this idea presently. How could you take more time with food? So maybe it isn't breakfast, lunch, dinner, a half hour each where you're doing nothing else. Okay, maybe that's not the solution. Maybe it is. But ultimately, the idea, again, is don't be in such a rush that you can't even put a Pop-Tart in the toaster and then sit and eat the Pop-Tart or even stand and eat the Pop-Tart and enjoy it because we're so preoccupied or we're so... We're in such a rush, right? So again, how can we maybe take more time with food? That's a practice in and of itself to reflect on that and maybe creating a new practice. For me, as I said, right, I used to make the coffee not even really thinking about it. Now, I give myself a couple minutes to sit with it. Maybe five more minutes after that to have a couple sips as I'm just kind of standing in my kitchen enjoying... Again, if I get up early, there isn't sunlight, but enjoying the kitchen, enjoying how I keep it clean, enjoying the look at my vase. That I mentioned, right, which is right in front of where I make my coffee. These are all things we can consider, right? So these practices, you know, have taken our time. Also, we can think a little bit about maybe how altering, making small alterations to our physical spaces and then engaging with those additions or subtractions might be a meaningful practice that can connect us to an Epicurean sense of pleasure. Again, maybe it's memory. Maybe it's more of a bodily pleasure like eating. Let's get it. One more remark. One more remark from Thich Nhat Hanh. Sorry, give me one second here. I'm flipping the pages of the book. So this one I think is a very interesting, very tangible practice. It's called, this section, A Silent Meal. Happiness is possible during the meal and silence helps enormously. You may want to pick one meal a week to eat in silence. A silent meal helps you come back to yourself and arrive in the present moment. A truly silent meal includes turning off the noise in your head as well as finding a quiet place to enjoy your meal. You may like to choose to eat the same meal every week silently. This can be a meal you eat by yourself or if you have family or friends who want to join you for this meal, that is wonderful. Silence helps you return to your mindful breathing. You can stop the internal mental chatter, relax, breathe, and smile. Such a meal can provide many benefits. So I don't do well with silence, but I do think this is a great idea. And I think for me, sometimes I would choose to have a meal by myself. To this day, I do that, right? I'll choose to have a meal by myself. So we have this idea of meals with others being something we can tune into and be very talkative and enjoy that and use that to suspend, let's say, our concern for tomorrow, again, in a reasonable way, of course, or that allow us to sort of engage in what is, you know, such a healthy activity of being, truly being with others without distraction, right? Truly being with the food without distraction. And this is, once again, we can do this alone, as he says, or with others, another way to cultivate a meaningful relationship with food. So obviously, if you're going to do this with people, tell them beforehand, you want to be silent and ask them to do the same, you know? And one thing I'll do, or I've done in the past that resembles this practice is sometimes I'll go to a diner and just sit at the counter by myself. So obviously it's not silent, but it's nice. Right? So I think making time for that could also be a good suggestion, or even making time to go get a meal by yourself, just like a slice of pizza and going for a walk with the pizza. Right? So these are all, again, different modes that we can cultivate a different, maybe fuller relationship to the pleasure of eating that, of course, is a response to the natural and necessary desire to eat. Right? So we're also thinking about gratitude to have the food. Right? And we want to make sure that we take that gratitude to have the food. We tend to that effectively. So maybe once again, it's taking a few extra minutes to be with your food, to be with the preparation of the food without distraction. Maybe it's practicing something like a silent meal every here and there, every so often. Maybe it's eliminating the distractions that we often are engaging in when we're eating and examining the Epicurean notion of how the natural and necessary pleasure is going to be. So I think it's a good idea to do that. And I think it's a good idea to do that. And I think it's a good idea to do that. And I think it's a good idea to do that. And I think it's a good idea to do that. And I think it's a good idea to do that. Those are those that we should try to focus on the most. It's natural to want to eat. It's necessary to eat. It's something we should be grateful for the ability to do. And also, you might just be leaving some pleasure on the table. You might not be capitalizing on the joy you can get on a daily basis if you don't, for example, take a little more time with your food and see that by nourishing the body, we also nourish the soul. So I hope this was helpful. Thank you for listening. And we have some more practices to come.
PodcastTranscript AI