ఇంకో ఉత్తరం

మార్కస్ అరీలియస్ మెడిటేషన్స్ పైన నేను చేసిన రెండో ప్రసంగం పైన మాధవిగారు వారి అమ్మాయికి రాసిన ఉత్తరం ఇది. ఇంతకు ముందు మీతో పంచుకున్న మొదటి ఉత్తరానికి ఇది కొనసాగింపు.

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Chinni,

Please read the summary of next talk in the series covering Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations:

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Marcus Aurelius – Meditations Talk 2

By Sri China Veerabhadrudu garu

This second talk moved deeper into the philosophical foundations behind Meditations and explained why Marcus Aurelius matters-not only historically, but as a lived example of philosophy.

The speaker began by recalling a conversation with Dr. Adduri Raghurama Raju, former Head of the Philosophy Department at the University of Hyderabad and a well-known international scholar. Dr. Raghurama Raju had pointed out that today there is a noticeable gap in public discourse regarding two major traditions:

Ancient European philosophy beyond Plato and Aristotle

Modern Indian philosophy beyond the Vedas, Upanishads, Śaṅkara, and Rāmānuja

In Indian philosophy, many 20th-century thinkers such as Kalidas Bhattacharya, M. Hiriyanna, and J.N. Mohanty did serious philosophical work, yet remain largely unknown. Similarly, in the West, ancient Greek and Roman philosophy is often reduced to Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates, while a rich philosophical tradition continued in Greece and Rome until the 4th century CE, when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. Discussion of these philosophers and translations of their works are still limited.

Dr. Raghurama Raju encouraged writing about these neglected traditions and translating their works. This became one of the motivations behind Sri China Veerabhadrudu garu’s engagement with Stoic philosophy.

The talk then introduced Diogenes Laertius, author of Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, a foundational text for understanding ancient Greek and Roman philosophers. For Diogenes, a philosopher was not someone who merely wrote books, but someone who lived philosophy. By this measure:

• Socrates was a philosopher because he lived his ideals, even unto death
• Marcus Aurelius was a great philosopher but was never recognized as a philosopher during his lifetime
• Even Aristotle, though now considered the father of Western philosophy and science, was not accepted as a philosopher by Diogenes because his life did not align fully with his teachings—he supported Macedonian rulers and lacked trikaraṇa śuddhi (purity of thought, speech, and action)

In contrast, Plato stood with truth, and Socrates sacrificed his life for it, these are real philosophers

The talk also discussed Diogenes of Sinope, the Cynic philosopher who lived in radical simplicity, famously residing in a barrel. Though he wrote no books and avoided formal philosophical debate, he was revered until nearly the 10th century because of the way he lived. This reinforced the idea that philosophy, for the ancients, was a way of life, not an academic exercise.

After being urged to write about these traditions, Sri China Veerabhadrudu garu began writing about Stoicism in 2022. Earlier, he had translated about half of Seneca’s Letters to Lucilius (124 letters written near the end of Seneca’s life on ethics and daily living) and expressed the need to complete them, along with translating Epictetus’ Enchiridion. He also wrote essays on modern Indian philosopher Satchidananda Murty, noting that much more remains to be explored.

When he first encountered Stoicism years ago-during his philosophy studies and while writing Satyānveṣaṇa-his understanding was limited. But after reading Stoic texts deeply over the last three years, he was struck by how such valuable philosophical thought had remained largely inaccessible.

Today, Stoicism appears in self-help and management sections of bookstores (The Daily Stoic, 365 Days of Stoicism), but it has not become a mass trend. Interestingly, in academic philosophy departments, Stoicism is neither openly embraced nor acknowledged, yet its influence quietly runs through modern thinkers. Immanuel Kant was cited as an example.

Early 20th-century movements like Phenomenology and Existentialism carry Stoic influence, though this is rarely acknowledged. Western philosophy gradually became focused on system-building and academic theory. Stoics, like the Buddha or Gandhi, did not build philosophical systems-they lived philosophy. They were anushtāna vādanulu, practitioners rather than theorists.

Marcus Aurelius – the Philosopher King

Marcus Aurelius became emperor in 161 CE after being adopted by Emperor Antoninus Pius. Though he could have ruled alone, he chose to share power with Lucius Verus. After Verus’ death in 169, Marcus ruled alone until his own death in 180 CE during wars against Germanic tribes.

In the final three years of his life, Marcus wrote personal notes to himself in Greek-what we now know as Meditations. He was highly educated before becoming emperor, trained in Greek, Latin, literature, philosophy, music, painting, law, and warfare.

His reign was marked by constant crises-plagues, famines, floods, rebellions, and wars across a vast empire stretching from Scotland to North Africa and from Spain to near Russian borders. Amid all this, Marcus continually examined his inner life.

The speaker compared Marcus to Krishnadevaraya, who ruled amid constant warfare yet composed Amuktamalyada-a literary masterpiece written between battles. Marcus similarly ruled two empires: the Roman Empire and his own inner empire.

In Indian tradition, such a ruler is a Rajarshi, like King Janaka, who lived detached (videha) while ruling. Marcus attempted to live with detachment and inner neutrality within a turbulent political body. There is no parallel figure like him in history.

Plato’s idea that philosopher-kings should rule found its lived example in Marcus Aurelius.

Meditations – Chapter One: Gratitude

Only a person with deep equanimity (sthita-prajña) could write Meditations. It is a manual of spiritual exercises.

The first chapter is unique in world literature. Scholar Rutherford noted that nothing like it exists elsewhere. Like an avatārikā (preface) in Indian epics, it prepares the mind. Marcus writes not for readers, but for himself.

Chapter One has 17 numbered sections, all expressions of gratitude. Marcus thanks his grandfather, parents, teachers, mentors, friends, siblings, and even books. Unlike Indian poetic traditions that include both praise and criticism, Marcus offers only sujana stuti-praise without condemnation.

The talk connected this gratitude to:

• Valmiki’s description of Rama as kṛtajña
• A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s Wings of Fire, filled with gratitude
• The idea that ancestral rituals (śrāddha, tarpaṇa) are forms of thanksgiving

A detailed Telugu translation of section 1.17 was read, where Marcus thanks the gods for moral restraint, good relationships, humility, good teachers, inner discipline, and protection from corruption.

He even thanks the gods for not excelling excessively in rhetoric or poetry, because such brilliance might have distracted him from ethical living.

Chapter Two: Core Stoic Thought

Chapter Two enters the heart of Stoicism. Marcus writes how each morning he prepares himself to meet selfish, arrogant, ungrateful people-recognizing that they act out of ignorance. Since all humans share the same rational nature, he cannot hate them.

These reflections echo:

• Isha Upanishad
• Buddha’s compassion
• Christ’s forgiveness
• Gandhi’s belief in shared humanity

The Stoic idea of assent is introduced. Between sense perception and knowledge lies a crucial space where the will chooses whether to accept an impression. Without assent, impressions do not become beliefs.

This concept aligns with:

• Buddhist Anapanasati and Satipatthana
• Bhagavad Gita’s sthita-prajña
• Modern phenomenology

The Stoics recognized that Plato and Aristotle did not account for this inner faculty that restrains action despite perception. Stoics did.

Key passages from Chapter Two (2.4, 2.6, 2.8, 2.9, 2.17) emphasize urgency of life, self-respect, awareness of nature, self-correction, and protecting the inner divinity.

Will, Phenomenology, and Inner Freedom

Western philosophy long debated reason vs sense perception. Stoics introduced will as the deciding force. This idea later reappeared in:

• Schopenhauer
• Nietzsche
• Phenomenology (Husserl)

Phenomenology argues that truth is never independent of the observer. Biases, memories, and conditioning influence perception. Hence, pure objectivity is impossible.

This aligns with Buddhist ālaya vijñāna (stored consciousness) and Hindu saṃskāras. To purify perception, one must train the will through constant awareness.

Though early Stoics were not theistic, later Stoics like Marcus believed in a guiding principle-Logos. This idea appears as:

• Logos in Heraclitus
• Word in the Gospel of John
• Inner Self in Ramana Maharshi’s teachings

Chapter Three: Readiness

Chapter Three emphasizes preparedness. Just as surgical tools are kept sterilized and ready, one must keep inner discipline ready at all times. Life gives no warning.

Marcus wrote gratitude first, then articulated a life-principle. A person who discovers such a principle can find beauty even in ugliness and accept everything-good, bad, and painful.

This, the speaker concluded, is the essence of Meditations:
philosophy lived, not admired.

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Featured image: Bradley Weber/Flickr/CC BY 2.0

2-1-2026