7 Powerful Life Lessons From Marcus Aurelius' Meditations That Will Quietly Change the Way You See Everything

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Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor

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Introduction

Suppose a man is sitting in the midst of the din of war, and has on top of him the burden of an empire in the world, and, rather than preparing the plans of battle, he is writing to himself. Not for glory. Not for history. Only because he could hope a little better tomorrow than he was today, to be humane.

This was Marcus Aurelius, the Emperor of Rome. And his unedited, unofficial words, written close to 2,000 years ago? We refer to them today as Meditations--and they never ceased to speak.

It is somehow heartbreaking about this book. Even the most powerful man in the ancient world was struggling. He doubted himself. He grew impatient. He grieved. He struggled with his ego and was defeated at times. And yet, every morning, he got his pen in hand once more. And even then, when that does not touch you, read it again,-- because that is just the sort of courage most of us have lost the right to possess.

It is not simply a book on philosophy. It's a mirror. And when you pick it up, you will probably never think about your life in the same light again.

So, what exactly is meditation?

Meditations is fundamentally a personal journal - uncooked, crude, and never intended to be seen by other people. It was written in Greek by Marcus Aurelius during his military campaigns (161-180 AD) and was a conversation he had with himself. No audience. No applause. Only a man who took responsibility for himself under the values he had in mind.

The book is arranged into 12 parts, completely saturated by short, densely packed thoughts on themes that seem to be almost outrageously modern:

• How to calm a restless mind
• Why suffering doesn't have to define you
• What to do about those who abused you.
• What it actually means to live well.

And above all-- how to reconcile oneself to the fact that we have not long here to stay.

It is the honesty of this meditation book that makes it so silently extraordinary. Marcus did not write to impress. He wrote to improve. And there is that straightforward, bare good-naturedness that most of us can only discover in our own 3 a.m. thoughts.

7 Powerful Life Lessons from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations – Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life

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Why Is It Called a Meditation Book If There Are No Breathing Exercises?

This is one of the most common questions new readers ask — and it's a fair one.

Meditations is not a step-by-step meditation book. It has no breathing exercises or body scan scripts. Rather, Marcus engaged in philosophical reflection, what philosophers term contemplative reflection, that is, the gradual, deliberate sitting down with an idea until it tells you something substantive about yourself.

It is, in most aspects, a deeper meditation than most contemporary ways. Since instead of momentarily shutting the mind, Marcus was engaging in a process of reconstituting the way his mind functioned - day by day, thought by thought.

Curiously enough, the inherent principles intersected in Meditations have always been known by professionals in mental health to directly reflect the principles underlying Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - one of the most evidence-based psychological techniques deployed in the contemporary world to alleviate anxiety, depression, and chronic stress. Marcus Aurelius was not only practicing CBT before he turned to himself.

That's not ancient history. Wisdom that was so far ahead of its time it was lapping us.

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7 Life Lessons From Meditations That Still Hit Differently Today

1. You Can Not Control the Storm -But You Can Control Your Sail

Once more, and once more in the book, Marcus gets back to the one major fact, and that is, outside events are not under your command. The quality of your response is what is absolutely your own. This is not an easy acceptance; it is passionate interior liberty. Once you really internalise this, then you will not be in a traffic jam without ruining your morning. An inhuman remark is made sterile. Life no longer happens to you, but begins to happen to your development.

2. It is the Only Home You Will Ever Have.

Marcus had all the reasons to exist in his head, wars to plan, politics to play with, and an empire to take care of. And still he dragged himself down to the present. He had the extraordinary insight into the fact that the past is a shadow we cannot cut, and the future is a book we were not yet been written. The present moment is the only location where something real can take place. In your next talk, your next decision, your next sigh.

3. Self-Reflections are not a sign of weakness but the most courageous thing that one can do.

The majority are afraid of examining themselves. It's uncomfortable. It is facing the difference between ourselves and the way we perceive ourselves to be. In writing, Marcus was running toward that discomfort on a daily basis. He called himself out. He had confessed when and when he became proud. He noted when he was unkind. And then--and this, too, is what we usually overlook--he made peace with himself, and started afresh. Such a mixture of sincerity and self-understanding is not very common, and it is extremely strong.

4. Your Obstacles are not Checking the Path--The Path.

There are very few other ideas in this meditation book that have reverberated through the centuries as has this one. Marcus thought that each challenge came with an invitation to develop greater strength, better thinking, or more giving of love. The wall, before you, is not the stop. It's a climbing frame. And when you change your outlook, resistance begins to become more of a preparation than a punishment.

5. Ego, very noisy, however, and nothing to say of any value.

This was a man of more terrestrial strength than most mortals could desire to dream of--and in his leisure moments, he was reminding himself that it really counted with none. Not the titles. Not the victories. Not the statues. It was the question of whether he had been good. Whether he had been fair. Whether he had been dignified to the very lowest servant. In a society where status and number of followers are idols, that message is a stark contrast to the clutter.

6. All the people you encounter are struggling with something you cannot see.

Marcus penned with such great sensitivity concerning human affinity. He kept reminding himself that all tough guys, all annoying contacts, all unkind words belonged to a person who was going through hard times, and he could not possibly conceive what was going on. It was not judgment on his part, but pity. It was not stupid or cold benevolence, but the powerful, unblurred one that declares: I know you are human, when you are putting yourself through it.

7. Fully Living Means That This Is the End.

The most disseminating (and possibly the most liberating) of all the strands in the whole book, perhaps, is the constant meditation on death that Marcus is experiencing. He did not write about it morbidly. He wrote about it as a person with a deadline, explaining everything. When you really believe you have a finite amount of time to live and that time is running out, minor complaints are meaningless. Minor comparisons lose their grasp. And the real stuff that does matter, love, integrity, being present, having a purpose, all get into fierce and desperate clarity.

Who Needs to Read This Book Right Now?

This book is a must-read in case you have been stuck, stressed, or silently out of touch with yourself. This book is meant to be read by those who are leaders with more than they appear, parents stretched to the limit, and the youngster struggling to understand how to become this or that type of human being. This book is a must-read if you read all the books on self-help bestsellers of the present-day times and still feel that something important is missing.

Meditations do not provide a 30-day change program. It gives you something more precious and stronger, a constant companion that is going to insist on your being truthful with yourself and on trying again.

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Which Translation Should You Choose?

To the average first-time reader, Gregory Hays' translation is the most welcoming point of entry as it is conversational and crisp and unexpectedly personal. Should you like a more academic style which does not stray much farther into the original Greek, the version by Robin Hard translated under the Classics label of Oxford World is highly admired and as well rewarding. Either way, don't overthink it. Just start. Open to any page. The prudence will seek you out where thou art.

Conclusion

Meditations was not published by Marcus Aurelius. He did not even mean that one soul should read it. He wrote it because he had to write it - because even kings lose their way once in a while, even the greatest man doubts himself, even even the most wise of hearts must be told what they know better than others.

And yet somehow, in 2,000 years of history, wars and civilizations have been born and perished, those personal guffaws of an overstrained, trying man have reached us. Still relevant. Still healing. Still necessary.

Perhaps, that is the greatest thing to know of all, that the silent, silent struggle to be a better person, even when it doesn't matter, even when you are not doing it, even when it is a struggle, is as human as it is heroic, and the greatest thing that any of us can accomplish at all.

Pick up this meditation book. Read it slowly. Let it ask hard questions. And remind you, as it reminded Marcus on his darkest nights, that you can still start again.