The Enchiridion, Session 1: In Our Daily Encounters, We Lose Ourselves or Find Ourselves
“It isn’t the things themselves that disturb people, but the judgments that they form about them.”
Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.—Parker Palmer in his book Let Your Life Speak
The Enchiridion, or Manual, is a concise summary of the more detailed teachings found in Epictetus's Discourses. The Discourses are on my list of classics to consider for future study at Mindset Shifts U.
Philip Hadot wrote, “It is fair to say that the essential substance of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations comes from Epictetus.” As I reread Meditations to prepare for our study of Epictetus, I was struck by how accurate Hadot’s observation is.
To be consistent for these sessions, I am using Robin Hard’s translations of both Meditations and The Enchiridion. The Mindset Shifts U archives contain our sessions on Meditations.
It is almost certain that, although their lives overlapped, Marcus, being geographically separated from Epictetus, never met him in person. Their backgrounds are also quite different. Epictetus was born into slavery in what is now Turkey, and Marcus was, of course, born to a noble Roman family. Yet both were drinking from the same well, as were others who came after, such as David Hume and Adam Smith (both of whom we will be reading in these sessions). A schedule for Part 1 of our Classical Wisdom sessions is available here.
To get the most out of our reading of Stoic philosophers, it is essential to understand that they believed Reality consists of an interconnected whole. We saw that idea expressed many times by Marcus. From Meditations, here is an entry to add to those I quoted in our earlier study:
Whether there are merely atoms or a universal nature, let it be postulated first that I am a part of the whole which is governed by Nature, and secondly, that I am bound by a tie of kinship to other parts of the same Nature as myself. (10.6)
Marcus, like Epictetus, wants us to remember that time is not on our side, and the present is the only portal through which we can act from our true Nature. Marcus taught, “Perfection of character requires this, that you should live each day as though it were your last, and be neither agitated, nor lethargic, nor act a part.” (7.69)
To gain the benefits of what we are reading, we should pay attention to how frequently we unconsciously behave in ways that defend our self-concept. (In Session 3, David Hume will have much to say about our self-concept.) As we become more aware of our defenses, we can chisel away what is not real. Our true Nature is left.
In one of the most quoted lines in all of Stoicism, Epictetus wrote, “It isn’t the things themselves that disturb people, but the judgements that they form about them.” (2.5)
We need not fight with our self-concept and all the trouble it causes for us because self-criticism is often full of blame and judgment, activating the very part of our mind we want to downsize. At Mindset Shifts U, we take a straightforward approach: We are willing to become more aware of our self-concept and be less identified with it. Change waits on our willingness, not our willpower.
The Enchiridion is the greatest hits version of Epictetus’s Discourses, compiled by his devoted student Arrian. Right out of the gate, expect Epictetus to hit you with a hard dose of Reality.