Marcus Aurelius, the Enlightened Emperor

Marcus Aurelius, the Enlightened Emperor

Marcus Aurelius was an emperor during the Roman Empire. Like many emperors, he was raised to be a leader and educated by the finest tutors. His instruction encompassed the wisdom of his time and ancient Greeks, and today we regard him as a Stoic, among the likes of Epictetus, Seneca, and Zeno. Enjoy the sample selections provided here.

I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind. Constantly then give to thyself this retreat and renew thyself.

Our teacher considers him to be a conscious being, someone who has achieved a permanent state of enlightenment. One reading of his only existing work, Meditations, leaves anyone struck by his universal message and deep understanding of the human condition.

I have cast out all trouble, for it was not outside, but within, and in my opinions.

Like the Fourth Way, his writings suggest a pragmatic, urgent approach to living. It's hard to imagine awakening as an emperor, but he is an example of someone who transcended his role and became unified.

The present is the only reality of which a man can truly be deprived.

There is an old science fiction movie that I recall from the sixties in which a time traveler departs for the future, and the housekeeper notices that several books were taken from his bookshelf before he left for the future in his time machine. The film leaves the viewer with the question of what books you would take if you were travelling to the future to start a new civilization, which was a subplot of the story. One of the books I would take would be Marcus Aurelius's Meditations. What else would you take?

It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.

There are many ancient writers whom I enjoy reading, but there is no one like Marcus Aurelius. His turn of phrase, directness, and deep psychological insight are like no one else I've read. He clearly commanded esoteric knowledge and applied what he learned, and through it became a whole person. Interestingly, this text was more a memoir than a book because it does not seem that he intended it to be a published work, as I understand it. So, it's even more profound when considering its simple purpose was a collection of his musings, his meditations, his understandings, written down for all to read and ponder.

We have only now.

I'm highly inspired when I read his work and find it compatible with all modern thinking and universal understandings at the same time. That's an amazing combination, and when juxtaposed with the knowledge of the Fourth Way, it makes it a practical and go-to sort of text.

When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive. To think, to enjoy, to love.

I wonder whether anyone could read Meditations and not feel compelled to apply his observations and make them their own. So rare are these kinds of readings that I cherish this one above many others.

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Old Marcus Aurelius in his 50s (170-180 AD, Saint-Raymond Museum, Toulouse, France)