BY TOM RAPSAS

events that make up our daily lives. That means reflecting at the end of each day on any personal problems you solved, what temptations you resisted, and where you might show improvement.

To the last point, Seneca once reflected on a dinner party he had just attended. He was not seated in the place of honor he thought he deserved but in the back of the hall. Steamed, he spent the banquet angry at the person who had assigned his seat and jealous of those who had better seats than he did. But at the end of the day, he assessed his behavior like this:

You lunatic, what difference does it make what part of the couch you put your weight on?

It was a behavioral faux pas he promised himself he would never make again.

The difference between Zen meditation and Stoic meditation

As you’ve probably surmised, there’s a huge difference between the Zen-influenced meditation that’s popular today and Stoic meditation. While most meditation practices encourage us to empty the mind, the Stoics do exactly the opposite. Their minds remain quite active. You might refer to it a thinking person’s meditation.

Similar to the Jesuit practice of examen, Stoics like Seneca would meditate daily. At bedtime, they would look back and reflect on the day’s events and examine their conduct and character. Seneca was well aware that while he could not control events, he could control his reaction to them. During his meditation period, Seneca would ask himself questions like:

Did anything upset my tranquility or composure today?

Did I experience anger or envy or lust?

Was I boastful when I could have been humble?

Is there anything I could have done better?

Irvine points out that the goal of Stoic meditation isn’t to stop us from experiencing emotion, but to have fewer negative emotions. This involves not over-reacting to any challenges or disturbances that come our way. We go with the flow and take them in stride. By doing this we spend less time wishing things could be different and more time enjoying things as they are.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/wakeupcall/2023/03/the-thinking-persons-guide-to-meditation/