I finished this weekend Marcus Aurelius Meditations. Yes, this is the Emperor in the movie Gladiator. Since I have reading about Stoicism, watching videos and actually doing meditation, I was curious about MA’s writings. I have read about Epictetus so looked like a good follow up.
The intro of the book is quite good. Give you a lot of background about MA, his time and his “meditations” itself. To be honest, I gathered more from the intro that the book itself. The meditations are divided in 12 books but doesnt looks like there is a plot. I felt that MA was repeating his stoicism mantra in all books.
I was surprised about his very stoicism believe with insisting points about anything outside your soul, it is something you can’t control and it is going to perish sooner or latter. You should care only about your reasoning and following the “rational” nature.
Any pain, insult, feeling is is something external and if it affects you is because you are not following the human nature. Dont look for fame, fortune, etc. At the end, the atoms of our body will go back to the nature, the source. And this is for everybody.
And very interesting, he is very clear in the existence of a god and there is a reason for everything.
In summary, I am taking several points of stoicism in my own believe. It fits in my core values and find it useful. Like meditation itself.