【每日斯多葛】10月3日

October 3rd  

A MANTRA OF MUTUAL INTERDEPENDENCE

“Meditate often on the interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe. For in a sense, all things are mutually woven together and therefore have an affinity for each other—for one thing follows after another according to their tension of movement, their sympathetic stirrings, and the unity of all substance.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.38

Anne Lamott once observed that all writers “are little rivers running into one lake,” all contributing to the same big project. The same is true in many industries—though sadly, even inside the same company, people selfishly forget they’re working together. As human beings we all breathe the atoms that made up our ancestors and flow into the same earth when we die.

Over and over again, the Stoics reminded themselves of the interconnectedness of life. Perhaps that was because life in Greece and Rome was particularly harsh. Animals and people were slaughtered senselessly to amuse the masses in the Colosseum (events lamented in the Stoic writings). Countries were conquered and its citizens sold into slavery to expand the empire (the futility of which the Stoics also lamented). This kind of cruelty is possible only when we forget how we’re related to our fellow human beings and the environment.

Today, take a moment to remember that we are woven together and that each of us plays a role (good, bad, or ugly) in this world.

10月3日  

相互依存的箴言

“经常思考宇宙万物之间的相互联系和相互依存。因为从某种意义上说，一切事物都彼此交织，因此彼此之间具有亲和性——一件事会随着另一件事发生，这源于它们运动中的张力、相互感应的波动，以及一切实体的统一。”

——马可·奥勒留，《沉思录》，6.38

安妮·拉莫特曾经说过，所有作家“都是流入同一个湖泊的小河”，大家都在为同一个宏大的事业作出贡献。许多行业其实也是如此——但遗憾的是，即使在同一家公司里，人们也常常因为自私而忘记彼此其实是在共同工作。作为人类，我们呼吸着曾经组成祖先身体的原子，而在死去之后，我们最终也都会回归同一片土地。

斯多葛主义者一次又一次提醒自己，生命是相互联系的。也许这是因为古希腊和古罗马的生活尤其残酷。为了取悦竞技场中的大众，动物和人会被毫无意义地屠杀（斯多葛主义的著作对此有所哀叹）。为了扩张帝国，一个个国家被征服，其公民被卖为奴隶（斯多葛主义者同样哀叹这种做法的徒劳）。只有当我们忘记自己与其他人类以及自然环境之间的联系时，这种残酷才会成为可能。

今天，花一点时间提醒自己：我们彼此交织在一起，而我们每个人都在这个世界中扮演着一个角色——无论这个角色是好的、坏的，还是丑陋的。