I was personally confounded by the interpretations of self-reliance in your soliloquy. It seems that the definition of self-reliance is the self-contained dependence on oneself as the conduit to wholeness, fulfillment, and happiness. This, to me, does not mean that we, as beings alone, would be whole, fulfilled, or happy if we were to live our lives alone without the relationships and interactions of others, even helping others; but, rather, it simply means that it is up to each of us individually to make our own personal interpretation of the experiences in our lives. To that end, happiness is not an achievement or pinnacle or dependent state; but it is a state of being we personally CHOOSE to reach when we are ready to change our perspective to one that sees through the superficialities in life to the true nature of existence of ourselves and being alive, just as each of us interprets this. Happiness, much the same as emotional interpretations and their subsequent actions, if not the emotions themselves, are a choice. We choose how we react to our experience. We choose the actions we take. We may not have full choice of our emotions (i.e., mental illness, grief, etc.); but we have a choice in how we handle these to our betterment, the preservation of ourselves and our experiences with others. Also, in agreement with your mention of physical possessions, riches, as the bible says, "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil," with the emphasis on the fact that it is not the money itself which makes a person good/evil, successful/failure; but rather it is the purpose we assign to that money and our pursuit of it. Money is a tool, not a destination or conquest. It is a means to an end. It could never be a virtue like happiness. But what confounded me most, as someone who prays, was the thought of, "What should we pray?" I have always been nagged by the notion of praying for things like "success," "happiness," "achievement of goals," "an easier road," because, as you mentioned, it has felt to me a blasphemy, that it contradicts the purpose of life, why we are here, also demeaning the lives of millions throughout history who did not achieve, who had arduous lives without success, got sick, suffered, died. What of them? The answer is that the suffering itself brings meaning, as Victor Frankl wrote in his Man's Search for Meaning. It is the existential quest to BRING meaning to what we encounter and experience. It is our INTERPRETATION, REACTION, AND STATE OF BEING in the face of what we experience that makes us self-reliant. And not in a way that leaves us living in a bubble alone, but in a way that makes each of us responsible for our own happiness, our own awareness of ourselves, others, our experience, and our place in the universe. I have always believed that life is a strange dichotomy of apparent opposites that only seem "apparently" so. For example, I believe that the purpose of life is twofold: to give/experience love (and, in many interpretations of this, to help others) and to achieve enlightenment, which is another way of saying to discover for ourselves how to reach that state of being we would personally determine to be "happiness," and in many cases this is tied to the gift and experience of love. Happiness is not the point, but rather a side effect of being true to ourselves and our inner purpose. This brings me to the dichotomy of happiness, which is a choice, because while we make the conscious choice to be happy or not, simultaneous to this is the fact that only by not focusing on happiness as a goal can we actually achieve it, but as a state of being, not an accomplishment. This is the realization of what life is about: truth to self, the ultimate self-reliance. Truth to ourselves facilitates the other two life goals: (1) love and (2) happiness. So, then, to ask the question, what do we pray? My personal answer would be that we pray to become aware of the integrity of ourselves, no longer to separate thought from deed, and with insight to the path to our purpose, the one that feels as true as we must be to ourselves in order to be whole. And in my field, counseling, I believe that "other-care" can only be done once the person has mastered "self-care." To love others begins with treating oneself with love, the ultimate self-reliance. And treating oneself with love fulfills both goals: (1) love, (2) happiness. Thank you for indulging my soliloquy. I so appreciate the depth and knowledge of your insights, interpreted from the ancients. This channel reminds me to stay close to my center, the truth of who I am and who I envision that I should become with the interpretation of myself against the stage of my life. Thank you for sharing this with so many people. The truth you share because you feel it, not just learn it, is evident throughout your posts.
Thank you for your comment and your kind words. This was exactly what I hoped everyone would take away from this. How did you come to the insights that you share in this comment?
@@acceptingtheuniverse Thank you! It meant a lot to see your comment. I'm not sure how they came to me. It was somewhat spontaneous. But I have always been philosophically minded and also taught through the lens of religion/faith...and then drifted out of that to find my own pathway to God and meaning, having also studied philosophy and ethics and been disappointed with what is lacking in its teaching after the impact of its initial power has worn off. So I kept drifting, at first almost as a diatribe against the traditional linear, rigid pathway of faith. Faith is meant to be a conduit to becoming one with who we naturally are and seeing through that wholeness the sense that we are all connected and, so, in that way, need each other--like a large "God circuit." Yet we must be, as you say, "self-reliant." Each of us stands on our own. It is the perfect balance between holistic being and connectedness. Self-reliance is the responsibility for self, for who we are, for owning ourselves and our place in the world, rather than placing blame or forming codependence. Many look upon existence as a gift. So then self-reliance would be the willful acceptance and usage of this gift, with gratitude, rather than shunning the gift or trying to be something we are not. So that is another way to think of it. It still blows my mind regarding the subject of prayer. Prayer holds the purpose of forging the alignment of ourselves with truth. We pray to change the internal interpretation, not the vastness of everything external. We cannot change others or the entire universe at large; yet we can change ourselves and, in that way, can change the space we occupy, which sends a ripple out into the fabric of the universe that has an impact on others, which may, in turn, inspire them to change themselves. This change is a paradox in itself since by "changing," or honing, ourselves we actually are becoming who we originally are. The reason this is so powerful is because we live in a society where truth and genuineness of the soul and truth to oneself is not valued so much as conformity to the mores of the society. People who stand out scare us because of the basic programming of the fear reaction to anything that is not perceived as conducive to survival. But inner change is the control we have to advocate for others. That is how we own our space yet assert its impact like wrinkles across space-time. I just find that your insights are very edifying, affirming to my personal philosophies; and they help to clarify ideas that I have held dear but don't necessarily readily express or share with others as a matter of course. I do share a lot in my writings. Thank you for being a resonant sounding board and teacher of this material. It is important for people not to lose touch with the depth of existence.
This was awesome! I didn’t plan to read it all, but I just kept going! While slightly hard to read at certain points, simply because of the stream of consciousness style of writing and some of the seemingly run on sentences, I nonetheless extracted the truths you put forth in your statements ! I’d love to read more from you; I think if you distilled the way you write into slightly more digestible/ refined components, I think you could really reach a lot of people! As it is, I’m sure you could reach many, but as I’m sure we know, the more refined and digestible something is, the more people there are who will not only choose to read but who will also grasp the meaning of what you write- You cast a wider net, basically! I don’t mean to imply you write poorly; it’s the opposite, and I hope you know that! I only mean that to distill your thoughts into their purest form, eliminate repetition where you can, and just use simpler sentence structure- will make it more impactful to a greater number of souls! Either way, I hope you never stop writing down your thoughts and ongoing experiences :) I want to screenshot this but it’s too long😂 I wish RUclips let me copy the text of someone else’s comment ! 😢
I am so glad to have found your channel.. I love your monologue.. I lost my mom and have spent the last year questioning everything I believed in.. life, reality, God, world, ppl and your channel has become a partner for my inner thoughts.. thank you
I consider myself so fortunate to have had the parents that I had. They taught me right ftom the earliest age, that my happiness was my choice. It didn't matter what mood everyone was in, or what circumstances were... my being happy would always be a choice that I made. Consequently, I have lived 68 years being a positive and happy person. Since my being happy is in my own head, no one can take that from me.
Is this how they taught you, by saying this? Or did they also do something specific to show how to do it? I grew up with parents who were Very emotional… and it was almost my task to keep my mom happy… so i really struggle with this topic… i Get so easily affected by how people feel… would appreciate if you share more Of how you parents modeller this important message ❤
I am 30 now I know what self reliance means still learning it to practice in a day to day life. It's not easy I have been living to impress people always longing for love. By chasing people's attention I have lost me, I don't know what makes me feel happy. Life is tough 😞
I’ve been in therapy going on 18 months and still haven’t had the breakthroughs with it that I’ve had with this channel’s interpretation of stoic philosophies. The impact of my internal monologue regarding happiness and anxiety has been improved significantly with these messages.
Stoic philosophy is the source of inspiration for most modern therapy methods. So you going straight to that source, out of your own free will, learning from it and making your own interpretations is way more effective than someone telling you what to do. How fitting considering the topic of this video. Personally, this step of enlightenment is what helped me accept my mental 'problems' and how to properly deal with them. I'm happy for you that you found this path and decided to discover it.
I've lived under a cloud of desire, fear of loss rejection inadequacy shame and avoidance for most of my life. I feel if watch and rewatch your videos daily along with 12 step program participation I can turn my life, thoughts and beliefs around at 39. ❤
And, I would say. love for yourself and others; especially very unconditional love for furry family members 🐾 🐈🐕🐾 I have to admit they 🐕🐈can run me over 😂
@Peace10184 I've been blessed with physical health but intense desire all my life has left me incredibly empty shallow and now shameful. These videos and others have helped me accept and even appreciate my past and give me hope for a brighter future.
I have started to read several of your recommended books. One of the first of Seneca's letters has prompted me to clean out one of my book shelves in order to make room for more of this kind of reading. Your teachings have also encouraged me to schedule more reading time into my day. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
I currently read Seneca ‘s Ethics; another book I ordered-The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Pierre Hadot. I have been reading both, years ago, not in English language. This RUclips channel gave me some great feelings on starting to re read the books 📚 again.
I have always felt that it's wrong to ask for something in prayer. There are times i will desperately be in need, but I will just say thank you instead and every time i have done that I have felt better. Thank you for giving clarity with your words.
My parents lost everything in a fire years ago, when that happened I realized that all the souvenirs we collect in life can be wiped away in an instant! So I've leant having less is a better way to live overall. As for happiness, my happiness wavers I will mention the quote from Hegel - "Happiness is a dull contentment". Somehow this quote gives me comfort in the very fact that I know happiness is not a constant and that it's ok if happiness wavers. I also know that people come and go in our lives, that we cannot rely on another human to make us happy. In some cases people make ones life worse, but I think it's important for us to have bad experience because it's the bad that makes us grow ultimately.
I really resonated with your comment that we have more to lose, when we gain more from a material perspective… Happiness is just a fantasy when you live in constant anxiety about what you could potentially lose. Inner peace can only come about when you get rid of your “desires for more” and let God take the reigns on the direction of your life. The belief in “self-reliance” is so fallible, because we can never truly understand our “self”. This whole life is literally a journey in discovering what purpose the Creator has made for us individually. Thinking we know best, is definitely blasphemous and will just lead to disappointment…
Just wrote my seconde letter, and it has become one of the fulfilling moments on my week. Thank you for letting us see your view of the letters, witch for me not only complement Senecas letters, but have become part of my experience and apreciation for philosophy. Really, thank you!
From your journal entry: "They seek without what they are neglecting within and make themselves undeserving of it." Those words made me put down my phone and ponder them. I love it
Would it be possible for you to give a short explanation? I really tried to decipher, but I cannot get how "they make themselves undeserving of it". Thank you!
@harshitaanand2058 This isn't my quote ofc. But to me, it means if you look outside yourself towards external things to fill your happiness, you make yourself undeserving of receiving that happiness. It means you haven't done the work on yourself to cultivate the kind of happiness that can only come from within. It's important to remember that seeking happiness outside of ourselves won't really make us happy. It might for a bit, but it's fleeting. We really do need to put the work into ourselves, to be happy from within. We definitely deserve that! We're worth it
Last week while writing my thoughts, from the Seneca's letters of the book club, I had to write about him, so I started referring to him as Atu (short for Accepting The Universe).
Love self reliance. Have read it many times. One of my favorite parts: And truly it demands something godlike in him who has cast off the com- mon motives of humanity, and has ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster. High be his heart, faithful his will, clear his sight, that he may in good earnest be doctrine, society, law, to himself, that a simple purpose may be to him as strong as iron necessity is to others!
I've found your channel recently, and I would like to say that your videos have come at just the right time. Sometimes happiness can seem like something so simple, but it's quite difficult to find once we grow up and place it in everyone else's hands instead of our own. Thank you for reminding me of this just when I needed it.
I have a lot of interviews this week and a lot of big choices to make this week and next week regarding my life and in my career and I think this video will definitely help me. Thank you brother
Happiness almost always seemed unattainable due to my fixated mind on first buying house,….but discovering your channel has been a huge help. Keep up the good work!
we ask but are afraid to lose is so true. (btw. your OG words shared between us since then have helped me. I still struggle much, no lie, but your words have helped) 🙏
I am struggling with my Seneca letters but staying determined. My reading comprehension is possibly fine, but the ability to take myself out of my own life to write seems difficult as it’s utterly new. Even as a fiction author there’s always a slice of the little life fragments in there. My views, ethics and values are shifting and it’s difficult but it feels wonderful and necessary! Thank you for your teaching.
Stay strong, I feel the same way! I think it is to be expected. I wrote in my journal my thoughts on his letter, then compared to Mr Universes notes, and of course mine pale in comparison to his, mainly in how much he extracted from the letter. But the process is teaching us, and showing us, so we improve week by week!
@@pratikchakraborty6354He is doing a read along of Seneca’s “Letters on Ethics.” It is on his website, and free to join. He sends out a newsletter each week regarding the reading. I highly recommend!
Stay strong and let your thoughts connect with words and actions, even if it is very challenging at times. You will get there in no time! Philosophical books are food for soul ❤😊
I am reading Seneca’s letters in English 😊 I am happy to read it again. Thank you 🙏 ❤ I could not agree more about preaching, a form of it, either is a religion or else. I believe there’s is a God, however contrary to Roman Catholic bible. I give my faith I was born and raised on, because I have been reading the Roman Catholic bible, books related when I was a child. I have not been followed through, because I could not feel it is something I can relate, my heart felt empty and I would have gotten bored. Thankfully, I have been taught by my father and his family that I don’t have to strictly follow it, neither going to church if I don’t want to. My mother were different, she hardly had accepted my feelings, but didn’t forced it, directly, just a bit convincing, so to speak. When I turned age of twelve, she gave up on even talking to me about it, until I have introduced her to my American husband. Again, she hadn’t expressed blunt criticism or negative comments, because she knew I do what I choose in spite of the situation or people opinions. I have been guided my own life, slowly but surely, starting age of fourteen. Finished high school even though I have been working since nine grade, and following what I really felt I have to build up myself, as my father advised me before he passed when I was age of thirteen and half. Therefore, I have been done mistakes in the past, of course, due too much of doing,meaning working long hours, less time for rest in my adolescence and twenties; the best feeling is I have no remorse, ruminating on because I have been doing what was best for myself and keeping doing it and learning from people, situations and mostly reflecting , analyzing on ..,by myself when needed it. My husband helps when needed and when I am asking him to help, otherwise I prefer to hold myself together, especially when I am mad 😠 😂 if we don’t have something important, I tell him directly “I need time alone” Usually we do have our space for introspection, alone, and together when needed it. I believe no one can help no one internally and even physically or else , without individual introspection, accountability, and effort from within yourself.
I've appreciated the book club. I noticed in my own writings, I was tending to absorb and rephrase the exact thing that Seneca was stating. When reading your personal entries, it helped me to be able to reframe and "zoom back out" to the bigger picture. Thank you for what you are sharing into the world. As someone who finds deep value in honesty, kindness, and understanding; I feel affirmed to continue living in this way and releasing conditioned desires and behaviors as I can identify them. Much love and warmth to all
I appreciate your channel, It's like a constant reminder, It's not easy for us to let go of the things that gives up comfort even when it's for our benefit, take an example I have been given an opportunities to improve in my job but that comes with letting of a manager I love dearly as a sister, and to be able to feel happy for myself is a struggle because I don't want her to go :(
I liked hearing that virtues are the only moral Good. From them springs true happiness. Sometimes I think the modern definition of happiness is tied to satisfaction or pleasure while the ancient interpretation was tied to a blessed state of being. Prudence informs the other three main virtues of justice, temperance, and fortitude. There are ample opportunities in the day to practice these.
Very insightful video I imagine I will come back to many times over the years. - Regarding the Seneca Letters - I swear, it's like we are reading different things entirely! I was very proud of my journal entry (still am) but after reading yours it's clear why this is so necessary for me and I am eternally grateful
Reading philosophy is not hard, it is neither complicated, yet very introspective yourself from within; in terms of vocabulary it can be challenging at times , regardless of the language a philosophical book is written. Keep reading 📖 ❤️ because it is life changing, but different than other books.
it’s imperative that we value the relationship we have with ourselves to be true to yourself; to trust and follow our heart and intuition, these feeling, and thoughts at times may be compulsive, wandering around aimlessly. Connecting with nature the very core of our existence can be powerful, peaceful long walks sounds of dancing birds singing joyously feeling the cool early morning breeze against your skin, the sun rays beaming through the trees, its light gives energy and life to everything around you, blissful serenity can be transformative and healing. Slowing down and simplifying life will become engrained in your daily routines, be bold, be brave, be fearless…let your spirit soar. Finding something that makes you feel most alive will help you overcome life’s external influences, when you look in the mirror and love the person you see, you realize that you don’t need validation from others to feel happy and fulfilled. Thank you
His vid "On Anxiety" is a good one. It helped me, at least. Before I found this channel, I remember writing in my journal "Ugh I always feel like something bad is going to happen to me!!" And of course, it still happens. But it's a learning process I think. Babysteps lol
What I disagree with is his statement that no one can take your past from you. Buddhism teaches us not to dwell on the past or the future, to live in the present moment whenever possible as that is the only moment that really exists. I agree that you can have fond memories about your past loved ones etc, and that no one can take that memory from you, but I feel it is unwise to dwell on the past and evaluate its impact on your well-being in this moment. Better it is, to realise the transitory nature of everything in the universe and not have any strong notions about the past or the future. Even the present moment is so fleeting, that we should give it our 100% focus to ensure we don't miss it.
Watching this has honestly soothed a major source of discontent for me. Thank you. It makes me think of the current capitalist/consumerist mentality that we are born and raised in, where happiness is tied to material possession. I feel like I always recommend this documentary but it really is essential to gaining perspective on our current lifestyle; The Century of the Self basically follows the man behind the birth of consumerism and advertising as we know it today (who happens to be Freud's nephew). It's really old and accessible for free on RUclips, but the documentary is incredibly eye-opening.
Many of these points make sense, but I'm curious as to what others have to say when it comes to family. For example, if I had a wife and children I believe that it would be healthier for me to acknowledge that they bring me happiness in my life even though I could very well lose them. I can't imagine being indifferent to such important people in my life. I actually look forward to the day I will eventually have a wife and child of my own and can see myself finding so much joy and happiness in spending time with them. I agree with not tying your happiness with things outside of your control as long as said things are material. But people are not material and, to me, are a fundamental source of happiness I don't strictly need but certainly add value to my life.
Quick question, Did the book club start at letter 1 last week? And this week is letter 2? It seems like the topics you discuss don't pertain to Seneca's first and second letters in the book. Letter 1 is "Taking Charge of your time" Letter 2 is "A beneficial Reading program" Maybe I'm missing something. Thanks!
I'm also noticing this. I've purchased the Chicago Press version with the blue cover that was recommended, and I am currently on letter 5. However, Im going back and re-reading Letters 1-2 and referencing the emails, and I also notice that they don't seem to line up for me. For me, Letter 1 is "taking charge of your time", and Letter 2 is "A beneficial reading program". For example, what he mentioned in this week's newsletter seems to be Letter 4 "Coming to terms with death". Is there something I'm misunderstanding? It seems the book is in a different order than the newsletter.
@mykemetzger I'm glad I'm not the only one! I think we all have the same book, but I think he may be cherry picking letters as he sees fit for the week, but he titles his newsletter as if he is reading and responding to the letters in chronological order. Weird! Love his content though!
@@tannerwalker2735 I did receive a reply via email, and here was the clarification just FYI, in case you find it helpful: Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad to see that you are reading Seneca. I hope you are enjoying his ideas and are exploring your own through journaling. My entries might seem to not match what you are reading in the letters, but I assure you that we have the same edition and that I have posted the correct entries in the newsletters. I purposefully try to expand on my own thinking rather than just to summarize Seneca's thoughts so that's why they may not seem as related as you might think they should be. I encourage you to do the same and to really take it somewhere that is your own. Thank you again and best wishes!
Thank you for this weeks video. When I pray I usually just ask for guidance about what decisions to make or actions to take. It leaves me feeling more confident and secure about whatever is happening. The question can it be taken away from me? Was a lightbulb moment, that’s a quality question to ask before pursuing something and investing energy into it.
Hi! I enjoy your content. Thank you for sharing. I tend to be an active participant so I hope I can hear from you soon. I recently purchased the Seneca Letters just to join your book club! I’m 24 and I haven’t been in book club since middle school! But I do have some feedback. I hope to hear from you soon. (Ps. I also emailed the newsletter) Suggestion: I think you should expand the platform where everyone can give insight and respond to others. Two great reasons this would enhance the book club experience: 1. Reading others insights can deepen your connection with your audience. 2. It would be a great way to get to know you, and vice versa, know your audience better.
These concepts are totally the same as those taught by the Advaita masters or ancient Rishis. It maybe possible that Seneca and the other greek philosophers had access to copies of the Vedas (hindu scriptures).In the same way Spinoza was writing his views in !7th century Holland, Spinoza was influenced by Plato, Aristotle and Seneca and is documented that Jewish scholars had access to the Vedas as well. Everything is one and everything that happens was always going to happen and what is not going to happen will not happen despite and force operating on earth.
I dont understand the concept of 'preferred indifference' , how can you prefer one indifferent thing over the other. 'Virtue is the only good, vice is the only bad, every other thing is indifferent'. Like for example If health and sickness, poverty and prosperity are indifferent then how can i choose one over the other. How can I prefer something if i dont consider it to be a good. Please help me understand.
I wouldn't say it's blasphemous from a Judeo-Christian perspective to pray for wealth, success, etc., though I can't speak for other traditions. I would even say it's encouraged in some ways to pray for such ends and attain things through God. This is meant to foster humility and gratefulness and release pride over things you can't control. That said, even the Bible recognizes the virtue of praying for strength and means rather than ends. For example, in 2 Chronicles 1:11-12, "God said to Solomon, 'Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.'” I'm not a Christian, but I've been studying the Bible so that one point caught my attention.
Another insightful talk. Thank you for the work made to understand these values as well as the time and effort to share the videos. Glad to have joined the book club and have been listening through Seneca's letters here ruclips.net/p/PLzKrfPkpj5om1kEBj7c80cwjJ1JS78FL7 A truly great work worth the effort to internalize! Earlier today listened to this from another tradition that relates to this talk, from Nisargadatta Maharaj ruclips.net/video/QsOcfVysZL8/видео.html. Have a pleasant day everyone!
I have done everything I know to do and cannot subscribe to the book club newsletter. My computer programmer son has tried to help me three times. I give up and am disappointed, but I am not very savvy w electronics. Has anyone else had an issue?
Go to his website, and sign up with your name and email You'll get an email right away. Open it and click the link inside, to confirm your subscription If this doesn't work try checking your spam box, or use a different browser, or use a different email provider. Technology is just weird sometimes And if your device is still hellbent on being a meanie, he said he'll start posting the newsletters on his website anyway
I'm not sure about your take on Prayer. If one's prayer is misguided but honest, I don't know if it would be blasphemy. I have a friend from my island, he has very little education due to how life has been for him, his prayers are true and sincere, he has a real intention to act on revelation he might receive, however, to our heightened paradigm and expectations of ourselves we might see it as incorrect or in your example, blasphemous. Logically there are better way to do things, however, spirituality tends to look at purity of heart rather than eloquence of words or sequencing of actions. If there is a God, my understanding would be any sincere communication with Him, even misguided, is better than none.
You defined what is blasphemous against God in this video without offering a clear working definition of 'what is god.' Because of this, these comments, admittedly a minor section in the grand scheme of your commentary today, fell short of being a completed whole. This is not meant to be a criticism. Your overall message was clear, a gift to our minds' modulations of what it means to be self-reliant.
I was personally confounded by the interpretations of self-reliance in your soliloquy. It seems that the definition of self-reliance is the self-contained dependence on oneself as the conduit to wholeness, fulfillment, and happiness. This, to me, does not mean that we, as beings alone, would be whole, fulfilled, or happy if we were to live our lives alone without the relationships and interactions of others, even helping others; but, rather, it simply means that it is up to each of us individually to make our own personal interpretation of the experiences in our lives. To that end, happiness is not an achievement or pinnacle or dependent state; but it is a state of being we personally CHOOSE to reach when we are ready to change our perspective to one that sees through the superficialities in life to the true nature of existence of ourselves and being alive, just as each of us interprets this. Happiness, much the same as emotional interpretations and their subsequent actions, if not the emotions themselves, are a choice. We choose how we react to our experience. We choose the actions we take. We may not have full choice of our emotions (i.e., mental illness, grief, etc.); but we have a choice in how we handle these to our betterment, the preservation of ourselves and our experiences with others. Also, in agreement with your mention of physical possessions, riches, as the bible says, "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil," with the emphasis on the fact that it is not the money itself which makes a person good/evil, successful/failure; but rather it is the purpose we assign to that money and our pursuit of it. Money is a tool, not a destination or conquest. It is a means to an end. It could never be a virtue like happiness. But what confounded me most, as someone who prays, was the thought of, "What should we pray?" I have always been nagged by the notion of praying for things like "success," "happiness," "achievement of goals," "an easier road," because, as you mentioned, it has felt to me a blasphemy, that it contradicts the purpose of life, why we are here, also demeaning the lives of millions throughout history who did not achieve, who had arduous lives without success, got sick, suffered, died. What of them? The answer is that the suffering itself brings meaning, as Victor Frankl wrote in his Man's Search for Meaning. It is the existential quest to BRING meaning to what we encounter and experience. It is our INTERPRETATION, REACTION, AND STATE OF BEING in the face of what we experience that makes us self-reliant. And not in a way that leaves us living in a bubble alone, but in a way that makes each of us responsible for our own happiness, our own awareness of ourselves, others, our experience, and our place in the universe. I have always believed that life is a strange dichotomy of apparent opposites that only seem "apparently" so. For example, I believe that the purpose of life is twofold: to give/experience love (and, in many interpretations of this, to help others) and to achieve enlightenment, which is another way of saying to discover for ourselves how to reach that state of being we would personally determine to be "happiness," and in many cases this is tied to the gift and experience of love. Happiness is not the point, but rather a side effect of being true to ourselves and our inner purpose. This brings me to the dichotomy of happiness, which is a choice, because while we make the conscious choice to be happy or not, simultaneous to this is the fact that only by not focusing on happiness as a goal can we actually achieve it, but as a state of being, not an accomplishment. This is the realization of what life is about: truth to self, the ultimate self-reliance. Truth to ourselves facilitates the other two life goals: (1) love and (2) happiness. So, then, to ask the question, what do we pray? My personal answer would be that we pray to become aware of the integrity of ourselves, no longer to separate thought from deed, and with insight to the path to our purpose, the one that feels as true as we must be to ourselves in order to be whole. And in my field, counseling, I believe that "other-care" can only be done once the person has mastered "self-care." To love others begins with treating oneself with love, the ultimate self-reliance. And treating oneself with love fulfills both goals: (1) love, (2) happiness. Thank you for indulging my soliloquy. I so appreciate the depth and knowledge of your insights, interpreted from the ancients. This channel reminds me to stay close to my center, the truth of who I am and who I envision that I should become with the interpretation of myself against the stage of my life. Thank you for sharing this with so many people. The truth you share because you feel it, not just learn it, is evident throughout your posts.
Thank you for your comment and your kind words. This was exactly what I hoped everyone would take away from this. How did you come to the insights that you share in this comment?
@@acceptingtheuniverse Thank you! It meant a lot to see your comment. I'm not sure how they came to me. It was somewhat spontaneous. But I have always been philosophically minded and also taught through the lens of religion/faith...and then drifted out of that to find my own pathway to God and meaning, having also studied philosophy and ethics and been disappointed with what is lacking in its teaching after the impact of its initial power has worn off. So I kept drifting, at first almost as a diatribe against the traditional linear, rigid pathway of faith. Faith is meant to be a conduit to becoming one with who we naturally are and seeing through that wholeness the sense that we are all connected and, so, in that way, need each other--like a large "God circuit." Yet we must be, as you say, "self-reliant." Each of us stands on our own. It is the perfect balance between holistic being and connectedness. Self-reliance is the responsibility for self, for who we are, for owning ourselves and our place in the world, rather than placing blame or forming codependence. Many look upon existence as a gift. So then self-reliance would be the willful acceptance and usage of this gift, with gratitude, rather than shunning the gift or trying to be something we are not. So that is another way to think of it. It still blows my mind regarding the subject of prayer. Prayer holds the purpose of forging the alignment of ourselves with truth. We pray to change the internal interpretation, not the vastness of everything external. We cannot change others or the entire universe at large; yet we can change ourselves and, in that way, can change the space we occupy, which sends a ripple out into the fabric of the universe that has an impact on others, which may, in turn, inspire them to change themselves. This change is a paradox in itself since by "changing," or honing, ourselves we actually are becoming who we originally are. The reason this is so powerful is because we live in a society where truth and genuineness of the soul and truth to oneself is not valued so much as conformity to the mores of the society. People who stand out scare us because of the basic programming of the fear reaction to anything that is not perceived as conducive to survival. But inner change is the control we have to advocate for others. That is how we own our space yet assert its impact like wrinkles across space-time. I just find that your insights are very edifying, affirming to my personal philosophies; and they help to clarify ideas that I have held dear but don't necessarily readily express or share with others as a matter of course. I do share a lot in my writings. Thank you for being a resonant sounding board and teacher of this material. It is important for people not to lose touch with the depth of existence.
well said
@@sharonrosecappella4487 could you simplify your insight for dumb people like me? thank you
This was awesome! I didn’t plan to read it all, but I just kept going!
While slightly hard to read at certain points, simply because of the stream of consciousness style of writing and some of the seemingly run on sentences, I nonetheless extracted the truths you put forth in your statements !
I’d love to read more from you; I think if you distilled the way you write into slightly more digestible/ refined components, I think you could really reach a lot of people! As it is, I’m sure you could reach many, but as I’m sure we know, the more refined and digestible something is, the more people there are who will not only choose to read but who will also grasp the meaning of what you write- You cast a wider net, basically!
I don’t mean to imply you write poorly; it’s the opposite, and I hope you know that!
I only mean that to distill your thoughts into their purest form, eliminate repetition where you can, and just use simpler sentence structure- will make it more impactful to a greater number of souls!
Either way, I hope you never stop writing down your thoughts and ongoing experiences :) I want to screenshot this but it’s too long😂 I wish RUclips let me copy the text of someone else’s comment ! 😢
I am so glad to have found your channel.. I love your monologue.. I lost my mom and have spent the last year questioning everything I believed in.. life, reality, God, world, ppl and your channel has become a partner for my inner thoughts.. thank you
I consider myself so fortunate to have had the parents that I had. They taught me right ftom the earliest age, that my happiness was my choice. It didn't matter what mood everyone was in, or what circumstances were... my being happy would always be a choice that I made. Consequently, I have lived 68 years being a positive and happy person. Since my being happy is in my own head, no one can take that from me.
Is this how they taught you, by saying this? Or did they also do something specific to show how to do it? I grew up with parents who were Very emotional… and it was almost my task to keep my mom happy… so i really struggle with this topic… i Get so easily affected by how people feel… would appreciate if you share more Of how you parents modeller this important message ❤
I am 30 now I know what self reliance means still learning it to practice in a day to day life.
It's not easy I have been living to impress people always longing for love.
By chasing people's attention I have lost me, I don't know what makes me feel happy.
Life is tough 😞
I’ve been in therapy going on 18 months and still haven’t had the breakthroughs with it that I’ve had with this channel’s interpretation of stoic philosophies.
The impact of my internal monologue regarding happiness and anxiety has been improved significantly with these messages.
@@JonnyBGood-mb5mg 100%
Stoic philosophy is the source of inspiration for most modern therapy methods. So you going straight to that source, out of your own free will, learning from it and making your own interpretations is way more effective than someone telling you what to do. How fitting considering the topic of this video.
Personally, this step of enlightenment is what helped me accept my mental 'problems' and how to properly deal with them. I'm happy for you that you found this path and decided to discover it.
I wondered about this for several months! Never shares his name and always starts and ends his vlogs with no beginning or end!
Luv this about him💖😀✨
One of my life lessons- you can only truly rely on yourself. So it makes sense that what you call happiness must be in you not around you.
Thanks a million for every single one of your videos. You're an excellent communicator and you communicate excellently useful ideas. Thank you!!!
I've lived under a cloud of desire, fear of loss rejection inadequacy shame and avoidance for most of my life. I feel if watch and rewatch your videos daily along with 12 step program participation I can turn my life, thoughts and beliefs around at 39. ❤
All these ideas shared here are for you ❤️
The biggest wealth is our health ,please every one reading this take care of your health, then everything come after it .
And, I would say. love for yourself and others; especially very unconditional love for furry family members 🐾 🐈🐕🐾 I have to admit they 🐕🐈can run me over 😂
@Peace10184 I've been blessed with physical health but intense desire all my life has left me incredibly empty shallow and now shameful. These videos and others have helped me accept and even appreciate my past and give me hope for a brighter future.
I have started to read several of your recommended books. One of the first of Seneca's letters has prompted me to clean out one of my book shelves in order to make room for more of this kind of reading. Your teachings have also encouraged me to schedule more reading time into my day. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
Nothing better you can do than start reading philosophy in earnest. The Stoics are a great place to start.
I currently read Seneca ‘s Ethics; another book I ordered-The Present Alone is Our Happiness, Pierre Hadot. I have been reading both, years ago, not in English language. This RUclips channel gave me some great feelings on starting to re read the books 📚 again.
I have always felt that it's wrong to ask for something in prayer. There are times i will desperately be in need, but I will just say thank you instead and every time i have done that I have felt better.
Thank you for giving clarity with your words.
Watching your videos several times has helped to have a deeper grasp of your thoughts. Thank you.
My parents lost everything in a fire years ago, when that happened I realized that all the souvenirs we collect in life can be wiped away in an instant! So I've leant having less is a better way to live overall.
As for happiness, my happiness wavers I will mention the quote from Hegel - "Happiness is a dull contentment". Somehow this quote gives me comfort in the very fact that I know happiness is not a constant and that it's ok if happiness wavers.
I also know that people come and go in our lives, that we cannot rely on another human to make us happy. In some cases people make ones life worse, but I think it's important for us to have bad experience because it's the bad that makes us grow ultimately.
I really resonated with your comment that we have more to lose, when we gain more from a material perspective… Happiness is just a fantasy when you live in constant anxiety about what you could potentially lose. Inner peace can only come about when you get rid of your “desires for more” and let God take the reigns on the direction of your life. The belief in “self-reliance” is so fallible, because we can never truly understand our “self”. This whole life is literally a journey in discovering what purpose the Creator has made for us individually. Thinking we know best, is definitely blasphemous and will just lead to disappointment…
Just wrote my seconde letter, and it has become one of the fulfilling moments on my week. Thank you for letting us see your view of the letters, witch for me not only complement Senecas letters, but have become part of my experience and apreciation for philosophy.
Really, thank you!
Thank you for the kind words. I'm glad to see that this is having exactly the impact that I intended it to have on you. Please keep going!
From your journal entry:
"They seek without what they are neglecting within and make themselves undeserving of it."
Those words made me put down my phone and ponder them. I love it
❤️
@@acceptingtheuniverseI loved your entry too and I did my homework :)
Would it be possible for you to give a short explanation? I really tried to decipher, but I cannot get how "they make themselves undeserving of it". Thank you!
@harshitaanand2058 This isn't my quote ofc. But to me, it means if you look outside yourself towards external things to fill your happiness, you make yourself undeserving of receiving that happiness. It means you haven't done the work on yourself to cultivate the kind of happiness that can only come from within.
It's important to remember that seeking happiness outside of ourselves won't really make us happy. It might for a bit, but it's fleeting. We really do need to put the work into ourselves, to be happy from within. We definitely deserve that! We're worth it
@@Cy4nSw4n Oh that was such a good explanation! Thank you so much!!
I call you Mr. Universe as you have not shared your name. ✨
Last week while writing my thoughts, from the Seneca's letters of the book club, I had to write about him, so I started referring to him as Atu (short for Accepting The Universe).
We could also nickname him He-Man, Master of the Universe.
Nice, I like it.
Some mysteries always make our lives more creative 😉
Haha me too, I am curious about his real name!
You’re a modern day Seneca man!! Great video on pursuing preferred indifferents without compromising virtue!!
Love self reliance. Have read it many times. One of my favorite parts:
And truly it demands something godlike in him who has cast off the com- mon motives of humanity, and has ventured to trust himself for a taskmaster. High be his heart, faithful his will, clear his sight, that he may in good earnest be doctrine, society, law, to himself, that a simple purpose may be to him as strong as iron necessity is to others!
I've found your channel recently, and I would like to say that your videos have come at just the right time. Sometimes happiness can seem like something so simple, but it's quite difficult to find once we grow up and place it in everyone else's hands instead of our own. Thank you for reminding me of this just when I needed it.
I have a lot of interviews this week and a lot of big choices to make this week and next week regarding my life and in my career and I think this video will definitely help me. Thank you brother
Thank you for this brave topic. It’s so true that if you seek external happiness then you’re also seeking the fear of losing it.
Your videos' topics are so aligned with, what we deeply contemplate about at times and also the timing.
Thank you truly ✨
A beautiful and profound message for me today! Thank you 😊
Happiness almost always seemed unattainable due to my fixated mind on first buying house,….but discovering your channel has been a huge help. Keep up the good work!
we ask but are afraid to lose is so true.
(btw. your OG words shared between us since then have helped me. I still struggle much, no lie, but your words have helped) 🙏
I am struggling with my Seneca letters but staying determined. My reading comprehension is possibly fine, but the ability to take myself out of my own life to write seems difficult as it’s utterly new. Even as a fiction author there’s always a slice of the little life fragments in there.
My views, ethics and values are shifting and it’s difficult but it feels wonderful and necessary!
Thank you for your teaching.
Stay strong, I feel the same way! I think it is to be expected. I wrote in my journal my thoughts on his letter, then compared to Mr Universes notes, and of course mine pale in comparison to his, mainly in how much he extracted from the letter. But the process is teaching us, and showing us, so we improve week by week!
what are you guys talking about? and where can I see Mr Univers's notes please thank you@@Storm_.
@@pratikchakraborty6354He is doing a read along of Seneca’s “Letters on Ethics.” It is on his website, and free to join. He sends out a newsletter each week regarding the reading. I highly recommend!
Stay strong and let your thoughts connect with words and actions, even if it is very challenging at times. You will get there in no time! Philosophical books are food for soul ❤😊
@@pratikchakraborty6354 Go to his website and sign up to the email newsletter and book club and the notes will be accessible.
I am reading Seneca’s letters in English 😊 I am happy to read it again. Thank you 🙏 ❤
I could not agree more about preaching, a form of it, either is a religion or else. I believe there’s is a God, however contrary to Roman Catholic bible. I give my faith I was born and raised on, because I have been reading the Roman Catholic bible, books related when I was a child. I have not been followed through, because I could not feel it is something I can relate, my heart felt empty and I would have gotten bored. Thankfully, I have been taught by my father and his family that I don’t have to strictly follow it, neither going to church if I don’t want to. My mother were different, she hardly had accepted my feelings, but didn’t forced it, directly, just a bit convincing, so to speak. When I turned age of twelve, she gave up on even talking to me about it, until I have introduced her to my American husband. Again, she hadn’t expressed blunt criticism or negative comments, because she knew I do what I choose in spite of the situation or people opinions. I have been guided my own life, slowly but surely, starting age of fourteen. Finished high school even though I have been working since nine grade, and following what I really felt I have to build up myself, as my father advised me before he passed when I was age of thirteen and half. Therefore, I have been done mistakes in the past, of course, due too much of doing,meaning working long hours, less time for rest in my adolescence and twenties; the best feeling is I have no remorse, ruminating on because I have been doing what was best for myself and keeping doing it and learning from people, situations and mostly reflecting , analyzing on ..,by myself when needed it. My husband helps when needed and when I am asking him to help, otherwise I prefer to hold myself together, especially when I am mad 😠 😂 if we don’t have something important, I tell him directly “I need time alone” Usually we do have our space for introspection, alone, and together when needed it. I believe no one can help no one internally and even physically or else , without individual introspection, accountability, and effort from within yourself.
Beautiful said 💕 I have started watching your videos before bed time they are very relaxing 😂
Very interesting. I think we can all agree that love is happiness and sadness. It can be taken away but bring the most amazing happiness
Peace is mine now happiness comes and goes. Love this video tonight. Thank you. You are so young but so wise.
I've appreciated the book club. I noticed in my own writings, I was tending to absorb and rephrase the exact thing that Seneca was stating. When reading your personal entries, it helped me to be able to reframe and "zoom back out" to the bigger picture. Thank you for what you are sharing into the world. As someone who finds deep value in honesty, kindness, and understanding; I feel affirmed to continue living in this way and releasing conditioned desires and behaviors as I can identify them. Much love and warmth to all
This is exactly what I intended, thank you for the kind words!
I appreciate your channel, It's like a constant reminder, It's not easy for us to let go of the things that gives up comfort even when it's for our benefit, take an example I have been given an opportunities to improve in my job but that comes with letting of a manager I love dearly as a sister, and to be able to feel happy for myself is a struggle because I don't want her to go :(
This is blowing my mind. Thank you for offering these ideas
I liked hearing that virtues are the only moral Good. From them springs true happiness. Sometimes I think the modern definition of happiness is tied to satisfaction or pleasure while the ancient interpretation was tied to a blessed state of being.
Prudence informs the other three main virtues of justice, temperance, and fortitude. There are ample opportunities in the day to practice these.
my constant seeking of philosophical content brings me to you. I think I won with what shows up in my feed.
Very insightful video I imagine I will come back to many times over the years. - Regarding the Seneca Letters - I swear, it's like we are reading different things entirely! I was very proud of my journal entry (still am) but after reading yours it's clear why this is so necessary for me and I am eternally grateful
You will get there and you will exceed me if you keep going.
Reading philosophy is not hard, it is neither complicated, yet very introspective yourself from within; in terms of vocabulary it can be challenging at times , regardless of the language a philosophical book is written. Keep reading 📖 ❤️ because it is life changing, but different than other books.
it’s imperative that we value the relationship we have with ourselves to be true to yourself; to trust and follow our heart and intuition, these feeling, and thoughts at times may be compulsive, wandering around aimlessly. Connecting with nature the very core of our existence can be powerful, peaceful long walks sounds of dancing birds singing joyously feeling the cool early morning breeze against your skin, the sun rays beaming through the trees, its light gives energy and life to everything around you, blissful serenity can be transformative and healing. Slowing down and simplifying life will become engrained in your daily routines, be bold, be brave, be fearless…let your spirit soar. Finding something that makes you feel most alive will help you overcome life’s external influences, when you look in the mirror and love the person you see, you realize that you don’t need validation from others to feel happy and fulfilled. Thank you
I love your description of how we can have internal joy that no one can take away 🤍
You type out such lovely comments. Do you know your Meyers Briggs? Your words make me Soo happy and it makes me wonder if it's similar to mine (ISFP)
@@ashleypresley Thank you!
@@Cy4nSw4n Thank you for your kind words. No, not really familiar with Meyers Briggs...
Can you please make a video on excessive negative thoughts? Always overthinking mind 😢
His vid "On Anxiety" is a good one. It helped me, at least.
Before I found this channel, I remember writing in my journal "Ugh I always feel like something bad is going to happen to me!!"
And of course, it still happens. But it's a learning process I think. Babysteps lol
What I disagree with is his statement that no one can take your past from you. Buddhism teaches us not to dwell on the past or the future, to live in the present moment whenever possible as that is the only moment that really exists.
I agree that you can have fond memories about your past loved ones etc, and that no one can take that memory from you, but I feel it is unwise to dwell on the past and evaluate its impact on your well-being in this moment.
Better it is, to realise the transitory nature of everything in the universe and not have any strong notions about the past or the future. Even the present moment is so fleeting, that we should give it our 100% focus to ensure we don't miss it.
This occurred to me too
Excellent. A daily dose of happiness ❤
Watching this has honestly soothed a major source of discontent for me. Thank you.
It makes me think of the current capitalist/consumerist mentality that we are born and raised in, where happiness is tied to material possession.
I feel like I always recommend this documentary but it really is essential to gaining perspective on our current lifestyle; The Century of the Self basically follows the man behind the birth of consumerism and advertising as we know it today (who happens to be Freud's nephew). It's really old and accessible for free on RUclips, but the documentary is incredibly eye-opening.
What's the title?
@@karuchiu The Century of the Self (2002)
@@creepydani3225 Gracias
Many of these points make sense, but I'm curious as to what others have to say when it comes to family. For example, if I had a wife and children I believe that it would be healthier for me to acknowledge that they bring me happiness in my life even though I could very well lose them. I can't imagine being indifferent to such important people in my life. I actually look forward to the day I will eventually have a wife and child of my own and can see myself finding so much joy and happiness in spending time with them.
I agree with not tying your happiness with things outside of your control as long as said things are material. But people are not material and, to me, are a fundamental source of happiness I don't strictly need but certainly add value to my life.
From an old guy - just do the things you love and happiness will come!
Waiting for ur video......😊 Thankyou for educating. Listing to u makes me mentally refreshing and calm. When ever i felling low .😂
Thank you, this was an important message for me to hear today!
the virtues of self reliance (they cannot be taken from you):
-justice
-honesty
-kindness
-courage
Quick question, Did the book club start at letter 1 last week? And this week is letter 2? It seems like the topics you discuss don't pertain to Seneca's first and second letters in the book.
Letter 1 is "Taking Charge of your time"
Letter 2 is "A beneficial Reading program"
Maybe I'm missing something.
Thanks!
I'm also noticing this. I've purchased the Chicago Press version with the blue cover that was recommended, and I am currently on letter 5.
However, Im going back and re-reading Letters 1-2 and referencing the emails, and I also notice that they don't seem to line up for me.
For me, Letter 1 is "taking charge of your time", and Letter 2 is "A beneficial reading program".
For example, what he mentioned in this week's newsletter seems to be Letter 4 "Coming to terms with death".
Is there something I'm misunderstanding? It seems the book is in a different order than the newsletter.
@mykemetzger
I'm glad I'm not the only one! I think we all have the same book, but I think he may be cherry picking letters as he sees fit for the week, but he titles his newsletter as if he is reading and responding to the letters in chronological order. Weird!
Love his content though!
@@tannerwalker2735 I did receive a reply via email, and here was the clarification just FYI, in case you find it helpful:
Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad to see that you are reading Seneca. I hope you are enjoying his ideas and are exploring your own through journaling.
My entries might seem to not match what you are reading in the letters, but I assure you that we have the same edition and that I have posted the correct entries in the newsletters. I purposefully try to expand on my own thinking rather than just to summarize Seneca's thoughts so that's why they may not seem as related as you might think they should be. I encourage you to do the same and to really take it somewhere that is your own.
Thank you again and best wishes!
Thank you for this weeks video. When I pray I usually just ask for guidance about what decisions to make or actions to take. It leaves me feeling more confident and secure about whatever is happening. The question can it be taken away from me? Was a lightbulb moment, that’s a quality question to ask before pursuing something and investing energy into it.
Hi! I enjoy your content. Thank you for sharing. I tend to be an active participant so I hope I can hear from you soon. I recently purchased the Seneca Letters just to join your book club! I’m 24 and I haven’t been in book club since middle school! But I do have some feedback. I hope to hear from you soon. (Ps. I also emailed the newsletter)
Suggestion: I think you should expand the platform where everyone can give insight and respond to others. Two great reasons this would enhance the book club experience:
1. Reading others insights can deepen your connection with your audience.
2. It would be a great way to get to know you, and vice versa, know your audience better.
These concepts are totally the same as those taught by the Advaita masters or ancient Rishis. It maybe possible that Seneca and the other greek philosophers had access to copies of the Vedas (hindu scriptures).In the same way Spinoza was writing his views in !7th century Holland, Spinoza was influenced by Plato, Aristotle and Seneca and is documented that Jewish scholars had access to the Vedas as well. Everything is one and everything that happens was always going to happen and what is not going to happen will not happen despite and force operating on earth.
The red book with a yellow circle besides the white and green one on the lower shelf, what is it about? Great video, as always.
Love your videos Your videos is soo good 😊❤❤❤❤
Late to the party, I just wrote down my insights for letter #3 and I'm starting to get out of my own head/life.
"People are as happy as they make up their minds to be" Abraham Lincoln. It comes down to choice.
I’ve asked and prayed for a place to live when I didn’t have one, and he helped me find those who could help. ❤❤❤
Hi,
Do you have any specific hair care routine ?
Luv this💖😀✨
Thank you for this video. ❤
Hi, thanks so much for the video ❤
But I want to ask, are the Seneca letters hard to read? My English level isn’t very high.
I don't think they are.
Gods is pissing on us by allowing us to suffer meaninglessly.......
I dont understand the concept of 'preferred indifference' , how can you prefer one indifferent thing over the other. 'Virtue is the only good, vice is the only bad, every other thing is indifferent'. Like for example If health and sickness, poverty and prosperity are indifferent then how can i choose one over the other. How can I prefer something if i dont consider it to be a good.
Please help me understand.
If you keep reading and listening it will click, I promise.
Great video! What's the deal with the Hitler book on the bookshelf?
Your videos are great
The Universe is the easy part, accepting - that's the real challenge...
I wouldn't say it's blasphemous from a Judeo-Christian perspective to pray for wealth, success, etc., though I can't speak for other traditions. I would even say it's encouraged in some ways to pray for such ends and attain things through God. This is meant to foster humility and gratefulness and release pride over things you can't control.
That said, even the Bible recognizes the virtue of praying for strength and means rather than ends. For example, in 2 Chronicles 1:11-12,
"God said to Solomon, 'Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, possessions or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king,
therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, possessions and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.'”
I'm not a Christian, but I've been studying the Bible so that one point caught my attention.
What microphone do you use for your videos?
Another insightful talk. Thank you for the work made to understand these values as well as the time and effort to share the videos. Glad to have joined the book club and have been listening through Seneca's letters here ruclips.net/p/PLzKrfPkpj5om1kEBj7c80cwjJ1JS78FL7 A truly great work worth the effort to internalize! Earlier today listened to this from another tradition that relates to this talk, from
Nisargadatta Maharaj ruclips.net/video/QsOcfVysZL8/видео.html. Have a pleasant day everyone!
Thank you dear!
Wowwwww❤❤❤❤❤
Thankyou so much Sir 🙏🙏🙏😊☘️✨🪷🕊️
Our desires achieved=our new normal.
is the second newsletter already out?
Yes
One day I will write about this place❤... In the meantime thank you for you....
This guys name is definitely Jeremy
Great video
🙏Deeply humbling
I have done everything I know to do and cannot subscribe to the book club newsletter. My computer programmer son has tried to help me three times. I give up and am disappointed, but I am not very savvy w electronics. Has anyone else had an issue?
Go to his website, and sign up with your name and email
You'll get an email right away. Open it and click the link inside, to confirm your subscription
If this doesn't work try checking your spam box, or use a different browser, or use a different email provider. Technology is just weird sometimes
And if your device is still hellbent on being a meanie, he said he'll start posting the newsletters on his website anyway
thank you 🤍 from 🇸🇦
How to pursue something without need for it ?
Do you think self-reliance makes trust and loyalty irrelevant?
Catholics are very intelligent persons
@@MayaHendsenmayajs19442 you did not undestand. He is placing all catholics on the same bag
This is the video that will get me off of the internet. This guy is talking nonsense
I'm not sure about your take on Prayer. If one's prayer is misguided but honest, I don't know if it would be blasphemy.
I have a friend from my island, he has very little education due to how life has been for him, his prayers are true and sincere, he has a real intention to act on revelation he might receive, however, to our heightened paradigm and expectations of ourselves we might see it as incorrect or in your example, blasphemous. Logically there are better way to do things, however, spirituality tends to look at purity of heart rather than eloquence of words or sequencing of actions. If there is a God, my understanding would be any sincere communication with Him, even misguided, is better than none.
There is a job coming up at the whitehouse soon. I think you shout apply for it. The world needs a lot more of your wisdom. ❤
Read consolation of philosophy recently, your words align to that greatly
First' one 😅 first comment 😊
you will have a special gift
You the man
Hi, Mr. Universe
I think some people do otherwise it wouldn't be a thing right?
Thank you 😊🫶
I like independence.
You defined what is blasphemous against God in this video without offering a clear working definition of 'what is god.' Because of this, these comments, admittedly a minor section in the grand scheme of your commentary today, fell short of being a completed whole.
This is not meant to be a criticism. Your overall message was clear, a gift to our minds' modulations of what it means to be self-reliant.
Thank you sir 😊😊
Posted this at an all too convenient time for me
Thank you 🙏
Thanks .
Thanks bro.
God bless you.
Good morning
Aap ko shat shat naman .
Sir I have a deep problem I want to be good but my subconscious against it. ?please help.
Namastey brother.
What ever you do it's on you.
Good morning bro
Bro I am suffer from mental disorder please help.