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24 meditations & Commentaries

Marcus Aurelius

(121-180)

“Meditations”

Commentary

“Think of your many years of Procrastination; how the Gods have repeatedly given

you further periods of Grace, of which you have taken no advantage. It is time now to

realise the nature of the universe to which you belong, and of that controlling Power

whose offspring you are; and to understand that your time has a limit set to it.

Use it then to advance your enlightenment, or it will be gone, and never in your power

again.”

Marcus Aurelius (121-180)

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Stoic Roman Emperor

Contents Page

1. Introduction 3

2. Humility 4

3. Facing Unwelcome Facts 5

4. Social Flippancies 6

5. Letting Go. 7

6. Spiritual Efforts must be Greater 8

7. The Insignificance of This World 8

8. Changing One’s Spots 9

9. Criticisms 10

10. Who are We? 10

11. There’s No Future in It. 11

12. Do and Forget 12

13. The Human Condition 13

14. Things Ain’t What They Used to Be 14

15. Wants and Fancies 15

16. So What? 16

17. What Does One Need for a Happy Life? 17

18. Looking at Realities. 18

19. The Nature and Purpose of Being 20

20. The Tongues of Posterity 21

21. Anxieties 22

22. At Odds with the World 23

23. Life is Rotten isn’t It? 24

24. You Can Do It. 25

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1. Introduction

Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor Philosopher, was quite a phenomenon, as most

emperors in the days of the Roman Empire thought little else besides spending

money, engaging in wars and getting rid of enemies, real or presumed. His book

“Meditations” was a kind of Stoic equivalent of Thomas à Kempis’ “Imitations of

Christ”, and is very valuable to know how to live a better life in harmony with the

Divine, which he refers to as “that controlling Power.” The Stoic philosophy found its

way into the Christian Church as did Plato. Another field which had similarities to

these Contemplations was Buddhism, full of aphorisms about how to conduct one’s

life, but curiously absent of any direct mention of a Higher Power; the emphasis being

on one’s own efforts alone.

In 180 CE, the Stoic philosophy was founded by Zeno (334-262BCE) who was born

in Citium1 (Cyprus). He left Cyprus and went to Athens and studied the various

philosophies there. It must be remembered that in those times, philosophy was the

thinking part of religion; such matters as morality and man’s connection with the

‘gods’ were the province of Philosophers. The religious priests confined themselves to

ceremonies that would ensure that the affairs of State were safeguarded, and rites to

avert the displeasure of the Gods. It was responsible for ceremonies carried out by the

ruling classes, and gave no help to doubts that people had, their desire for spiritual

knowledge or their difficulties that might affect their religious lives. Any that thought

about life and its purpose would find help from the philosophers, so they were really

the provider of religious thought; the priests, as now, being concerned with repetitious

prayers and relics of pagan festivals dressed up as Christian traditions.

Zeno used to teach in colonnades of buildings in the city. The Stoics received their

name from this fact, as the word “stoa” referred to these colonnades. His chief

follower was a man called Cleanthes, who was succeeded by Chrysippus, resulting in

the increase of Divine matters. In Aurelius’ writing he often uses the term “gods”

(plural) as in those times the religion of the near-human gods who seemed to share all

of the faults and peccadilloes of humanity still held sway. However he did understand

that there was a Supreme Power as evidenced for in the quote in the title page of this

essay. There too he reminds us that we spend most of our lives with concern only for

the temporary existence in this world, and have misused our time here as we avoid

anything that is of a Divine (hence infinite) nature. The Stoics believed that this

Supreme Power energised everything in Nature; this term sometimes referring to the

natural world alone, but often includes the Higher Power, because a fragment of it

would be found in any form of life on Earth.

The plan of this work is of many self-standing essays about particular meditative

thoughts of Marcus Aurelius, none of which constitute a course; they can be read in

any order. You may want to keep them separate as individual papers, or collect them

together in a file.

As Marcus was not of the one God scene, his use of the term ‘gods’ plural need to be read as in the singular

preferably such terms as “Divine” The Source and so on.

1 Citium now called Larnaka.

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2. Humility

I was not impatient to reach manhood but contented myself with an unhurried

development. I thank heaven also that under my father, the Emperor, I was cured of

all pomposity , and made to realise that life at court can be lived without royal

escorts, robes of state, illuminations, statues, and outward splendour , but that one’s

manner of life can be reduced almost to the level of a private gentleman without

losing prestige and authority needful when the affairs of state require leadership.”

Marcus Aurelius

“Meditations” (Med.)

Book 1. 17.

What a guide that has been around for almost two thousand years; what a lesson in

humility on the part of a Roman emperor! One might wonder that Royalty, high

ranking politicians, moguls of industry, and present day billionaires through the ages

have never felt impelled to take a leaf out of Marcus’ book and his voluntary life-

style. One might wonder that the religious hierarchies have never lowered themselves

to learn from a Stoic, dismissed as “pagan” by the Church Fathers. Perhaps their

education never included Marcus Aurelius, but they have assiduously studied pure

fiction of writers like Horace’s “Odes and Epodes,” and non-fiction Livy’s “The War

with Hannibal,” and Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”, authors of ancient Greece and Rome

which formed a perennial part of the ancient Classical Literature in educational

syllabuses of up-market schools for generations. Of course, Marcus Aurelius’ work

might have been looked at in some schools, but the pupils seemed to have had an

attack of amnesia afterwards, as there has been little or no evidence of any supra-

privileged people being let loose in the world with Marcus’ active philosophies.

Of course, we should not confine these philosophical/spiritual ideas to the great and

the rich. We all could do with downsizing our life style in view of the state of the

Earth, where our appetite for ever new goods and inventions are denuding the planet

of its riches, they are not renewable. One of the current difficulties is that of water. It

has been said many years ago that the water supplies could not keep pace with the

ever-growing population, and this has now come to roost in Jordan where the very

continuation of this country to exist is now being threatened by absence of water,

exasperated by climate change, another fatality where greed and excessive life-styles

have had its share of responsibility. It was said years ago that future wars would not

be over oil, but water.

So what has Marcus Aurelius’ philosophy (in the ancient world’s meaning of this

term)2 got to teach us more humble folk? We too must become more actively spiritual

in our life styles. Certainly those on the path towards unity with the Divine need to

abandon excessive materialism, and even downgrade our standard of living in order to

reduce or even banish the materialistic life styles which pass as the “norm” today;

indeed to progress rapidly towards emptying the cup so that the wisdom and guidance

from the Divine Source can operate in a greater area of our lives and so fill our cup

2 Philosophy in ancient Greece and Rome meant the study of the metaphysical or religion. As

mentioned in other essays, religion was more State bound and dealt with the political fortunes, and

concerned itself with rituals.

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with that Spiritual know-how that will see us through any unwelcome changes in our

future.

Take note above, that although Marcus was an Emperor of the mightiest empire that

the world of that time knew, he advocated a more simple way of life, and downgraded

the expensive and exclusive trappings of state life and personal life-style and sought

something better.

3. Facing Unwelcome Facts

“In the life of man, his time is but a moment; his being in constant flux, his senses a

dim rush-light, his body a prey of worms, his soul an unquiet eddy; his fortune dark

and his fame doubtful. In short, all that is of the body is as coursing waters, all that is

of the soul is as dreams and vapour; life a warfare, a brief sojourn in an alien land.;

and after repute, oblivion. Where then can a man find the power to guide and guard

his steps? In one thing and one thing alone: Philosophy.

To be a philosopher is to keep unsullied and unscathed the Divine spirit within him,

so that it may transcend all pleasure and all pain, depending not on another’s actions

or inactions, and look upon all dispensations as coming from the same Source as

yourself.

Med. Bk2 17

A lifetime to us seems a very long time, but that is scaled according to our

consciousness; a small insect that may live for a short time; to it will seem a lifetime.

We are told by scientists that our life would be extended by time going more slowly

if we approached the speed of light on extra terrestrial space travels. Marcus also

observed that not only was a lifetime a mere blink in Eternity, but of course we could

die prematurely through accident, wars or illness. Life is really a tightrope, and many

fall off.

His senses are likened to ‘dim rush-light’, the light from which compared with

modern lighting would be very tiring to the eyes. Most of Mankind are all subject to

health problems at times, and sometimes these can prove fatal; there is no guarantee

that any individual will not become victim to these events, and these possibilities

together with other happenings can make him very insecure, having only this

temporal material life to think about. Also his financial status is not guaranteed either;

a rich man can lose his fortune in these volatile systems of our world economy; not to

think negatively is his way of dealing with it. The prosperity of our physical life is

likened to by Marcus as “coursing waters” never still, but always on the move with no

stability.

For most, having little or no real understanding of that great world outside of the five

senses, either because they believe in nothing beyond the measurable, or because of

the emptiness of religions, causing them to be in what Jesus described as “in the

prison house,” anything spiritual for them is “as dreams and vapours”, lacking any

reality. All of these uncertainties can cause a very few to explore other realms, it is

realised that this “brief sojourn” in what is really an alien land, alien from the spiritual

territories from which we had sprung, and in which, imprisoned in our bodies cause us

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to only look forward to oblivion when we discard this body. When you survey the

hazards of this life together with the idea that we just cease to exist after all this

running of the gauntlet is over, makes one wonder why folk are content to remain or

even come to the physical world. The answer, apart from the disbelief, is that

mankind is in a state of voluntary amnesia. We all are encouraged to “look on the

bright side” and ‘never to engage in negative thinking’, a mantra that is one of the

foundation planks of the ‘New Age’. Realism is discouraged, but the philosophy

mentioned by Marcus above is meant spirituality, the deeper thinking that religion of

his time, Religion did not do that but contented itself with political matters, repetition

and ceremonials. No, not that, but to keep the Divine spirit within oneself, which is

the aim of the Cheshire Papers to give help in that very thing for you was not done

then either.

4. Social Flippancies “Do not waste what remains of your life in speculating about your neighbours, unless

with a view to some mutual benefit. To wonder what so and so is doing and why or

what he is saying, thinking or scheming; in a word anything that distracts you from

fidelity to the Ruler within you means a loss of opportunity for some other task. See

then that the flow of your thoughts is kept free from idle and random fancies,

particularly those of an inquisitive or uncharitable nature; and to become a social

being with no taste for pleasures of sensuous imaginings, jealousies, envies,

suspicions or other sentiments that he would blush to acknowledge even to himself.

Such a man is a poor minister of the gods.”

Med. Bk. 3. 4.

It will be apparent that humanity has not changed since the second century, how

familiar the above set of thoughts seems to us! Listen to the sort of conversation that

people in the street that is overheard, or even acquaintances of ours that engage us in

conversation! Very rarely do they speak of something interesting and uplifting, they

live on a planet that is full of vibrating life, with an unending emporium of facts that

can be amazing; yet they confine themselves to idle chatter. The wonder of the mobile

phone has been used by so many for aimless “natter” that it is a shame that it is not a

vehicle to raise the standards of civilisation. Such empty symbols are in no state to

have deep thoughts about the Divine, they skate on the surface and no nothing about

the depths of their own soul, and the real interactive existence of the Divine, the Ruler

that Marcus mentions who is a spark within us all, and can become more than a mere

tiny point.

If we are sometimes guilty of these errors we might engage in a spring clean of our

body and minds to make them a fitting temple in which the Spirit of God can expand.

The emptying of our glass spoken of by Tauler has to include this sort of thing as well

as worldly ways in general; in short, we must “come away” from disturbing

influences. We gradually evolve Spiritually so that these things become to have no

taste for us. We cease to resort with the world and its ways.

I [God] will make my home among them and live with them, I will be their God and

they shall be my people. Then come away from them and keep aloof says the Lord,

touch nothing that is unclean, and I will welcome you and be your Father; and you

shall be my sons and daughters, says the Almighty Lord. 3

3 2. Cor. 6. 16-18.

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5 Letting Go.

Treat with respect the power you have to form an opinion. By it alone can the

helmsman within you avoid forming opinions that are at variance with nature. From

it you may look to obtain circumspection and conformity with the will of Heaven.

Letting go of all else, cling to the following few truths. Remember that man lives only

in the present, in this fleeting instant, all the rest of his life is either past and gone, or

not yet revealed; this mortal life is a little thing, lived in a little corner of the Earth,

and little too is the largest fame of all dependent as it is on a succession of fast-

perishing men who have no knowledge of themselves, much less the dead and gone.

Med. Bk3. 9,10.

This is a reminder that the human race possesses powers about which we never think,

yet carries many responsibilities. Most animals live purely by instinct, they are

programmed to act according to deep seated urges that they cannot control or do not

have the power of thought to discriminate. The squirrels in our garden rob the bird’s

seeds in the container; they turn it upside down to empty it on the ground. When my

daughter’s dog visits us, our own dog will eat his food fast, so he can rob the other

dog of his food too. It is the law of the jungle, it is no use moralising about it.

We on the other hand can think, reflect, and come to a decision which is only ours.

This is great! It lifts us out of the jungle, the complete imprisonment of ourselves

locked in the action of our glands and can exercise some independence of action. But

this has its flip side; this freedom means that if we think wrongly we have given

ourselves much trouble. Some faulty thinking can affect the rest of our lives.

Marcus gives the answer to this dilemma; to realise the presence of the “helmsman

within”, our real selves who will enable our outer bodies to connect with the Divine

to receive the guidance that can be tapped, what Marcus calls “heaven”. He tells us to

rely on this as a priority letting everything else go. How many people do you know

that would be prepared to do this in its entirety? Would you? Remember you do have

a choice unlike the beasts of the field, and you must accept responsibility for the

results of your choice. Our life on Earth is fleeting, sometimes comes to a premature

end, but while we still crawl over this little planet, we are tied to time, and the present.

What is the present? It is very illusive, and you cannot remain in Earth-time even for a

millisecond. Just think about, as soon as you say ‘Now!’ that present has already

gone. So ‘now’ is beyond our power to dwell in it. But it is only the now that at any

time we can live; the past has gone, and the future is yet to come. So our tenure on

earth is actually confined to some small millisecond, as we cannot be certain that in

the following millisecond we shall not drop dead. This “present” is a small amount in

which to put all our efforts, and to ignore eternity that lies beyond our shores.

Then Marcus speaks of inheritance, and such inheritors are relying on men who have

to fast die in order for one to inherit, for some they cannot die fast enough! But they

too will die, and leave it behind. Most of these people have little idea of who they

really are and what will happen to them. Do we really want to be like them?

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6 Our Spiritual Effort needs to be Great

If you do the task before you, always adhering to strict reason with zeal and energy

and yet with humanity, disregarding all lesser ends, and keeping the Divinity within

you, pure and upright; if you hold steadily to this , staying for nothing and shrinking

from nothing , only seeking in each passing action ...and in each word and utterance

a fearless truthfulness; then shall the good life be yours.

From this course let no man [or woman] hold you back.

Med. Bk.3. 12

Working in the vineyard of the Divine calls for constant efforts, but we have to keep

the Divine within us, our own efforts will never be enough. Keeping the Divine within

you is for all of the time, even if we are doing worldly chores, or are in non-Spiritual

company. We must be honest and reliable, indeed we seek to be these things with

other creatures, but can be found wanting in our responses to the Divine, the Giver of

all we have. Marcus advises us to shrink from nothing insofar as the Great Source is

concerned and to be fearless in doing this. It is easy to soften our connection with the

Divine, in order to keep popular with our family, friends or colleagues; or be afraid to

follow that difficult narrow way spoken of by Jesus. Indeed if we compromise to the

extent that we are failing to do what deep in our hearts we know we should do, then

we are allowing our glass to fill up again with this world’s ideas, thus becoming once

again a part of it.

He concludes with the statement that we should not allow anybody to hold us back.

7. The Insignificance of the World

Does the bubble reputation distract you? Keep before you the onset of oblivion, and

the abyss of Eternity both before us and behind. Mark how hollow are the echoes of

applause; how fickle and undiscerning are the judgement of professed admirers; how

puny the arena of human fame. Remember the entire Earth is but a point ; and the

place of our own habitation but a minute corner of it. How many are there who will

praise you? And what sort of men are they?

Med. Bk.4. 3.

Everything in the material world is doomed to cease, fortunes can be lost, storms

smash towns; how accurate it all is, being described as a mere bubble. Illnesses can

bring early demise so our own lives can be bubble-like. A terrorist bomb can bring an

unexpected end to the life of the most healthy of us, so can transport accidents; the

world is full of these events, yet very few give real time to find out why we are here,

and what happens when we die.

Most of us too look for the applause of men, and feel dejected if our reputation is lost

or tainted, possibly unjustly. Yet these people that hand out either their approval of us,

or we are dragged through the social mud by them. But what of it? If we crave the

approval of those not on this Spiritual journey, then we are still a part of this world;

what people think of us has become important to us; yes, just the opinions of mere

creatures who are here today and gone tomorrow; but the Divine is Infinite. Mere

humanity crawling like bacteria on the surface of a planet that is lost in the vastness of

space, should not engage our attention that much, even though we have compassion

for them and help them as we may.

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To receive the adoration of the many, we need to tune in to their ways, become a pop

star and sing indecencies. Constantly utter swear words on the TV, if you are an

attractive female, then to take off your clothes for the men present to commit lustful

non-loving sex with you in your minds, or if you don’t want to do this, then write

lewd stories so that they can run riot in their minds. It is certainly true that the western

world, the cradle of fine art and architecture has lost its culture, and now the gutter

has risen up far above beautiful things and thoughts. That is the way for being popular

and receiving huge sums of money for it.

But for us ordinary folk if some praise us, they will be very few, because what we do

is hardly popular and never has been.

8 Changing One’s Spots?

That men of a certain type should behave as they do is inevitable; to wish it otherwise

were to wish the fig tree would not yield its juice. In any case, remember that in a very

little while, both you and he will be dead, and your very names quickly forgotten.

Med. Bk 4 6.

The above sentiments would not hold true if the person with these traits were to seek

the help of the Divine, and it is not for us to make decisions about any individual.

Time can change people, sometimes a severely bad experience can cause one to stop

and start thinking for the first time. But this change can only come about with the

infusion of the Divine Spirit.

However, speaking collectively about mankind, the history of this planet suggests

than men never learn about themselves, their morality and their tendency for

selfishness and violence. The world has never changed in these matters, only

individuals have. This is why admittedly sincere efforts have been made from time to

time to improve the world, any successes however have proved temporary; sooner or

later matters revert back to what they had before. The improvement in provision for

the needy that was striven for in Victorian times and since is now being rapidly

eroded. The free health provision of the NHS is today a fraction of its aims for which

it set out. It may seem unbelievable today that medicines were free, spectacles were

free and dentistry too. All home helps were free for the disadvantaged; so was

entrance to a home for the aged. The aged poor were given telephones and allowances

were generous. The advent of the global market has seen a flight of industry from

Western Europe to the Far East, where the companies do not have taxes to pay to

finance these things. So there is less tax money available here, and that is why

personal taxes, both direct and indirect are so high to pay for less and less.

It doesn’t seem to have sunk in with the general population that the tightening of our

belts with promises of cuts and even more cuts should not be necessary. If you borrow

money, then you pay it back. If the banks have money from us, they apparently are

not the one’s to pay it back, we the lenders have to do that. Is this not crazy

economics? We might be forgiven to wonder if we are not the victims of a mighty

government inspired scam!

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Why expect anything else? The fig tree will continue to behave like a fig tree, and so

do people. So don’t concern yourself; it will always be the same! Just concentrate on

your own spiritual development.

.The only one that does not play around with us is the Divine Source; the harvests

provide us with food, and the magnificent scenery of this planet is free.

9 Criticisms

He who ignores what his neighbour is saying or doing or thinking, cares only that his

own actions should be just and godly, such a one is greatly the gainer in time and

ease. A good man does not spy around for black spots in others, but presses

unswervingly towards his mark.

Med. Bk.4. 18

Of course the “neighbour” is not just the man next door, but it means our global

neighbours. We need to be aware of what is going on, (see above) but we do not

spend time immersing ourselves in the slough of human behaviour. We will never be

judged on what others do, the Divine will take care of these matters, and we need to

concentrate on our own defects, for all of us, there are bound to be many! We must

remember that life here is but a moment of time in Eternity, and there is plenty of time

for justice to be meted out. Most people only think about this temporary abode, locked

within our bodies, and know nothing nor care anything about the extended future

when we dump our bodies and go on elsewhere, they expect this corrupt world to

deliver these sort of goods here and now. You will be disappointed in the behaviour of

individuals and nations, so you will have to make do with the endless stuff on sale

that constitutes the only real change in this world’s affairs: our toys; electronic junk

that rapidly becomes obsolete and is eventually scrapped.

10 Who are We?

A poor soul burdened with a corpse.

Med. Bk. 4. 41.

Yes, have you thought about it? If you are young, beautiful and handsome, remember

that the flower in the garden always fades and becomes shrivelled on its stalk. So if

you are attractive, this is not you, because it will pass. Insofar as women are

concerned, beauty will always get them a male; but what will happen if in the ravages

of time, you are no longer the belle of the ball? And what about that muscle-rippling

male, causing all the girls to scream in passion and faint? Not only age will transform

this Adonis into a shaking creased old man dithering about everything, but early

illnesses can do the same, and render you in the prime of life, a helpless cripple or

having a brain that is like leaking tank.

So the above seemingly negative and depressing statement is very true. Not only does

one become a corpse, but can prematurely be little more than that if illnesses or age

deprive us of our faculties or energy. At the best, the soul is burdened with the body,

as the physical is at home in the material world with all its deviations disappointments

and traps; the soul, that is the real you; is not interested in your worldly capers, but is

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trying desperately to make its ideas heard by you. But for most people, they listen to

their brains and appetites ignoring the fact that their spirit/soul has come from

elsewhere, as Wordsworth tells us:

Our birth is but a sleep and forgetting:

The soul that rises with us, our life’s star

Hath has elsewhere its setting

And cometh from afar.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

“Intimations of Immortality” Oh by the way, if you blame Marcus Aurelius for the quote that heads this section

which to some is very negative, then don’t. He was quoting from Epictetus, who lived

in the first century; a one time slave who became a Greek Philosopher and was a

Stoic.

As Marcus Aurelius would have undoubtedly said:

“Not guilty m’lud”

11. No Future in It

Remind yourself constantly of all the physicians , now dead, who used to knit their

brows over their ailing patients; the philosophers who expatiated so endlessly on

death and immortality, the great [military] Commanders who slew their thousands,

the despots who wielded powers of life and death with such terrible arrogance, as if

they themselves were Gods who could never die; the whole cities which have perished

completely; Pompeii, Herculaneum and others without number; observe in short how

transient and trivial is all mortal life; yesterday a drop of semen, tomorrow a handful

of ashes.

Spend therefore these fleeting moments on Earth as [the Divine] would bave you

spend them. Then go to your [final] rest with a good grace as an olive falls in its

season with a blessing for the Earth that bore it, and a thanksgiving for the tree that

gave it life.

Med. Bk.4. 48.

Of course we do not remind ourselves of the transitory nature of life, at mercy from

upheavals, forgetting our humble beginnings and our rather disgusting end of eventual

dust or ashes preceded by a rotting cadaver. It ain’t nice is it? And we convince

ourselves that ‘clothes make the man’. Instead of having little ego, we surround

ourselves with pomp and glory, spending our time raping the planet for our desires.

We clothe ourselves to hide the embarrassing bits, and do our best to appear

blameless even if we are the greatest crooks on Earth. “All is vanity! “said the

preacher.4 The modern mantra is “me, me, me; and anything still left over is me

again.”

4 Ecc.12

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Of course life is not a bed of roses, apart from volcanic explosions that wrecked the

cities on the Bay of Naples; the citizens of Stalingrad didn’t think so when the city

was raised to the ground in mid-winter by air-raids, tank battles in the streets and the

devastation wreaked by advancing armies in deadly battles, leaving a city of gaunt

ruins; just spare a thought for those terrified young children who lived, died or had

mutilated bodies as a consequence of rulers’ war games. Make no mistake, our souls

have been sent down here, acquire a temporary body in order to see if we can learn

what not to do; but most carry on the world’s way of doing things, adherents to the

ways of the world..

So what can we do? Certainly not help to continue the madness of this world, whether

military, commercial, political or even social; there is no future in the systems of men,

they have been around for several millennia and have never changed. Enough is

enough we might say, but the peoples of the world always think that by changing the

government all will be well and put their faith in these other charlatans! No, we must

be like that olive falling from the olive tree, giving thanks to the tree for its very

existence. Our “tree” is the Divine Source, and we try and fashion our lives according

to the will of this Loving ‘Father’ Let us spend these fleeting moments on Earth as the

Divine would have us so to do.

In this shifting and oft time’s dangerous world, we can never rely on a normal length

life, our time may be much shorter than we suppose. You might therefore be advised

to make the best of what time you will have, and have a mind for what your life will

be when you leave this planet.

12 Do and Forget

There is a type of person who, if he renders you a service, has no hesitation in

claiming credit for it. Another, though not prepared to go as far as that, will

nevertheless secretly regards you as in his debt and be fully conscious of what he had

done for you..

But there is a man, who one might say has no consciousness at all of what he has

done, but like a vine which produces a cluster of grapes and looks for no thanks, or

like a horse that has run its race , a bee who has hived her honey. Like them a man

who has done a good action does not cry it aloud, but passes on as the vine that bears

another summer’s grapes.

Med. Bk.5. 6.

There are many who we may regard as pleasant people, nice to know and so on. But

most folk, nice or nasty, nevertheless have as their priority there own welfare, and

spend all or most (or go into debt!) to satisfy their wants. Seldom does it enter their

heads that they might do something for others. So when an individual does do some

act or service to others without personal gain coming into it; this being rare, they can’t

get over their goodness, unselfishness and so on.

Now they may not consciously want payment, but many undoubtedly do think in

terms of the recipients showing endless gratitude, and perhaps should be prepared to

give the donor some sort of priority, after all these people do owe you something,

don’t they? Now this does not mean that the recipient should not show and feel

gratitude; that is not at issue; they should. But it is not for the giver to use this

13

situation to re-fuel his ego and have a life’s subscription to the guarantee of being

adored. We all have to remember that everything in the universe has been provided by

a non-human, and we receive all we need every day without a thought to thank the

Divine regularly for what we receive, and admit that we could do nothing about it if

all of the Divine gifts were to be withdrawn, Don’t be deceived that items invented

and made by man is independent of the Source; one’s superior brains over animals

have not come about by mere chance, we have been designed to be what we are, and

also the materials we use are God given.

So if we have this sense of being owed, ask yourself, when was the last time you gave

thanks for all you have; there are three meals a day, when did you last give thanks for

what you are about to eat, after all, you can never invent a cabbage can you? You may

say, rightly that you cannot do this at meals if the rest of the family are not disposed

to do this, after all, it is not for us to force anything on them, is it? If we did, it would

not be pleasing to the Divine to receive these bogus thanks. No, silence reigns, but

that does not forbid you to send wordless thanks from the heart at each meal, does it?

So when we do some small thing for someone else, and expect grace and favours, ask

yourself how much you too have received things since the day you first sucked your

mother’s breast and taken it all for granted, and left God out of your thoughts.

Remember even mother’s milk is a gift from God. You wouldn’t have a clue as to

how to design a mammary gland and to ensure that your baby is receiving the proper

nourishment that would come from it.

When you do a good act without personal gain, remember, --- forget it!

13 The Human Condition.

In a brief while, you will be ashes or bare bones. All that men set their hearts on is

vanity, corruption, and trash; men are like scuttling puppies or children who are all

smiles one moment and tears in the next. What is it then that keeps you here?

The objects of sense 5are mutable and transient; the organs of sense dim and easily

misled..... and the world’s praise a vain thing. What then? Take heart and wait for the

end, be it extinction or translation. And what think you is all that is needful until that

hour come? Why, what else but to revere and bless the gods; to do good to men to

bear and forbear; and to remember that whatsoever lies outside of this poor flesh and

breath is none of yours, nor in your power.

Med. Bk.5 33.

Many mystics are insistent on reminding us of our mortality, and this is essential,

because as they say the only things we can be sure of are taxes and death. To remind

ourselves of what we are going to become is a hint that not all our time and efforts are

to be confined to feeding our incessant demands for worldly things; all your efforts

towards the welfare of the body are doomed to extinction together with the body itself

that you have spent so much time and resources. To be exclusive in getting the

material so-called ‘wants’ is a bad investment!

5 ‘Objects of sense,’ that is of the five senses. This is a common use of the word in spiritual writings

14

But like children, we are mesmerised by our toys, whether it be a new washing

machine with seemingly endless programmes (which we probably never use), or the

latest “mobile phone complete with picture of the person phoning; tune in to the

internet, watch TV programs, listen to the radio, book your seat to Rio, tune in to the

result of the latest technology and by the careful electronic survey of various parts of

a racehorse’s anatomy, can guarantee the winner of the five thirty at the Upton-by-

Haddock racecourse.” I am sure you need one of those!

Scepticism aside, we must remember at all time that everything in this world is

changeable and of short duration. We cannot even rely on our senses. We all know

that different witnesses of some event can differ enormously, which is the bane of the

courts. When I look in the cupboard for something, I swear it is not there, Actually it

is, but my attention is always nearer the back of the cupboard, no doubt

subconsciously thinking that if it was at the front it would not be necessary to look for

it. So I scour the back, moving objects out of the way, and failing to find it, being told

that it is actually in the very front within four inches of my eyes. That happens when

age takes it toll!

So Marcus asks us to ask ourselves what we should do if life is so uncertain both in

quality and length. Even common sense would suggest that we spend some time

finding out as to why we are here and how we spend time in looking towards our

lasting future; real because it happens to all, no one is exempted and never have been.

He answers that we should revere the gods. Well we have only one, the Divine Source

to think about and that is the answer. Also he counsels us not to concern ourselves

about the state of the world or any other examples of human degradation. We

wouldn’t have time for the Divine if we threw ourselves against an unyielding wall.

Better people than ourselves have tried through the ages, even being martyrs. It is far

better to help those who are seeking, to know of the real “God” who interacts with

those who learn and do. The world would be a different place if humanity did.

14 Things ain’t What they Used to Be

We shrink from change, yet is there anything that can come [in this world] without

change? Could you have a hot bath unless the firewood underwent some change?

Could you be nourished if the food suffered no change? Is it possible for a useful

thing to be achieved without change?

Do you see then, that a change in yourself is in the same order and no less necessary

to Nature?

Med. Chap. 7. 18.

The title is of course from a yesteryear old ‘pop’ song, and in this world things will

and have always changed, and this is actuated throughout Nature. Mountains are

thrown up by Earth movements, and worn down to nothing, finishing up in the sea

bed. Then layers of sediment build up in the millions of years and eventually, Earth

movements push it up again. This is why we find fern-like fossils deep in the

underground world of coal mines, and of course coal itself is only plant life that has

changed and been compressed by the tonnage of layers of subsequent sea bed layers

or at times on land.

15

Marcus outlines the fact that for even simple actions like a hot bath involves the

changing of fuel, in his case wood into ashes to provide the heat. The food we eat,

which looks so glamorous at a posh restaurant, and in cookery books is changed into a

real mess inside of us, our vitamin needs, fats and so on are extracted by our own

chemical works and the unwanted parts lose any glamour they once had by being

infamously ejected down the sewer; not the most glamorous of places. We might

remember the changes that take place in animal excrement, it is put on the land and

feeds the next crop of our vegetables. The veg is in part the excrement that we so feel

is disgusting, so remember that when you put the next carrot in your mouth.

So Marcus asks us is not most useful things dependent on change? Well they are. The

problem arises when for purely selfish reasons; change is effected on earth that is to

its detriment, and often to ours as well. The destruction of the tropical forests will do

no good to humanity in the long run. The burning of coal for a couple of centuries in

the old industries has been partly responsible for the fouling of the air we breathe. In

our time chemical pollution is a major factor, this time in our foods. With the

increasing of the “food technology” industry and “factory farming” has come the

enormous growth in the acquisition of the various cancers, which is why organic food

is popular, only the price being detraction for it becoming standard.

Of course these changes, good, bad and indifferent apply to life on Earth, as we have

seen. Nature is always moving and changing. But one thing has never changed, that is

the Prime Designer of all that there is. His ways are permanent and are not subject to

Earth movements or silly ideas of mankind, the changes in fashion of thought. That is

why writings of the mystics going back in some cases for thousands of years are still

valid today. We must be careful to separate things to do with the material planet from

that of the spiritual. Certainly it would not be much good for Apple Computer boffins

to read Tauler (14th

century) if they wanted to steal a march on Microsoft. But if one

wants to work towards unity with the Divine, then Tauler (as well as the other

mystics) is just the ticket.

Certainly the change in fashion in some churches to suit the current moods of some

teenagers obsessed with pop, drugs and mindless sex is not the way to the

understanding of THAT which is beyond the “Cloud of Unknowing”. Its approach is

as it always was.

15 Wants and Fancies

Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the blessings

you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they

were not yours. At the same time however beware lest the delight in them leads you to

cherish them so dearly, that their loss would destroy your peace of mind.

Withdraw into yourself; do away with all fancies’ cease to be passion’s puppet.

Limit time to the present; learn to recognise every experience for what it is. Meditate

on your last hour. Leave your neighbour’s wrongdoing to rest with him who initiated

it.

Put on the shining face of simplicity and self-respect, and of indifference to

everything outside the realms of virtue or vice; walk in God’s ways. If the world be a

concourse of atoms: extinct or transmutation, let it be a unity with the Divine.

Med. Bk.7 28-32.

16

Taking the last bit first: In Marcus’ day, the statement here of the world consisting of

atoms, was qualified by the word “if,” as the idea of everything consisting of atoms

was a theory from the Ancient Greeks, so Marcus was avoiding being dogmatic. Now

we know that this is so, and that nothing really ceases to exist, because the atomic

component parts survive to be incorporated in some other form, perhaps a human

cadaver eventually forming the soil from which a plant grows. Nothing is wasted

insofar as the Divine Creation is concerned, so it is not much of a step from that to

understand that or spirit/soul is not wasted at death, but likewise continues in another

form.

The advice concerning not to yearn for what we do not have, perhaps never to have, is

obviously a Spiritual concept. To be happy and grateful for what one does have is a

far more comfortable way of living than being endlessly dissatisfied; one who does

this has peace of mind instead of being continually tortured by unremitting hunger for

things. If one is submitting to the world of everlasting acquisition of this and that,

then we are slaves to our passion and everlasting appetites.. This is made clear when

we are prepared to scrap something we possess that may be working well, to acquire

the “latest” with all the improved extras. For some time we have been living in a

throw away society, and our consumption of the world’s gifts will one day run out.

What then?

Let us take note too of the idea to learn to use all our experiences (and possessions)

for what lesson(s) they have or us in our lives here. What ever we have or don’t have,

this is the situation in which we find ourselves to act out in this drama of life.

Whatever we are or are not, this is the role we play this time round. This time contains

challenges that we did not have last time, and next time could see us taking the part of

a very different kind with the problems associated with that particular station in life.

So in the Saga of existences, although the rich man may be in his castle, and the poor

man at its gate, the roles could be reversed next time round, so we meet the challenges

inherent in both.

The best way of feeling grateful for what you have is to “go within”, have a

connection with the Divine, and learn that material things are transitory and do not

bring lasting happiness.

16 So What?

If a man has greatness of mind, and a breadth of vision to contemplate all time and

all reality; can he regard human life as a thing of great consequence?

No he cannot.

So he won’t think death anything to be afraid of? No.

It is a shame for features in life to be ordered and dispose themselves obediently as

the mind directs, while the same mind refuses to order and dispose itself.

Med. Bk 7. 35, 37

The first five lines above was actually the words of Plato and is found in his

“Republic” and was quoted by Marcus, Similarly the last two lines were quoted from

Antisthenes. (5th

- 4th

BCE). You all know about Plato, but perhaps not the second. He

was a pupil of Socrates, and was a philosopher of an independent Mind; Plato lived at

17

the same time. Very little is known about what he said, but he disliked to be

contradicted. Perhaps his ego needed trimming, However the advice above needs no

contradiction, and we see it all the time. Politicians are probably the star turns at this.

They interfere with everybody with their targets and league tables, they seem to be

experts in education, medicine6 and tell us not to sweep our paths after snowfall. Yet

what a performance those same politicians make! The number of events that disclose

their ineptitude over things that they do never seems to end.

But it is not just politicians, it is also us. We too are good at telling people where they

are wrong, but imagine that we are saints. If we do spend time admitting, if only to

ourselves and the Divine, that we have been selfish, unutterably stupid in making the

same mistakes over and over again, not giving the Divine Its due, having little

compassion, being cruel at times to other humans or animals.......perhaps you do not

do all these things, but perhaps we can find a teeny weenie bit of our own behaviour

there at times.

The rest of the above is commenting on the fact that life in the material world is not

worth worrying about, if circumstances bring it to an end that comes quicker than we

had supposed. Even in 5th

– 4th

Century BCE, although neither Plato nor Antisthenes

would know what to do with even a wind-up gramophone let alone the electronic

marvels we have, they realised something that the clever dicks do not know; that

death is nothing to fear. Any Spiritualist will tell you of contacts with the departed,

and the near death experience gives many a glimpse of the after life. I am used by the

Divine as some part of a process to send on discarnate spirits that interfere with

peoples’ normal life. Of course the Hindus knew all about it, they said that “the

physical body is worn like a garment by one who is free from desire, and assumes the

likeness of Śiva”. (Śiva Śūtras 3.42); note to be in the likeness of [God].

To the materialist (and most of the population of the West is just that) the physical

body is all we have, and death brings utter oblivion, and our precious body rapidly

decays in a terrifying manner. Still, that is how they believe it is, and when someone

dies, or speaking to the bereaved, there is really nothing to say that will comfort them.

What would you say to a dying person? “You will get well soon!” Knowing they

won’t.

17 What do you Need for a Happy Life?

Nature has not blended your mind so inextricably to your body as to prevent it from

establishing its own frontiers and controlling its own domain. It is perfectly possible

to be Godlike even if not recognised as such; keep that in mind; and remember that

the needs for a happy life are in fact very few. Mastery of dialectics or physics may

have eluded you, but that is no reason to despair of achieving freedom, self respect,

unselfishness, and obedience to the will of God.

Live out your days in untroubled serenity refusing to be coerced, though the whole

world deafen you with its demands.

Med. Bk7 67,68.

6 The law is that you are liable if anyone slips and injures themselves if you do the sensible thing and

clear the snow from the path.

18

We have probably all our lives been under the influence of our body/brain, which in

turn has been fashioned by our upbringing according to local traditions and beliefs,

and later falling victim to the self-dominated demands for wanting endless toys. Most

people are the products of their practical brains from within, and easily deceived by

propaganda of politics and advertising from without. This becomes so ingrained that

we think we are “normal” which can mean we are deceived like anyone else. Looking

at the world and its inhabitants, even the violence close at hand, leads me to wish to

avoid being like what is described as being normal, the biggest segregation being that

I avoid the intellectual fashion of not accepting the presence or existence of a High

Power.

What does he say? We can be god-like? Isn’t that a bit of ego gone wild? Wouldn’t

the churches call that blasphemy? Probably; but the biggest bit of blasphemy there is

would be to call a man (the “Son of Man”) a God? Then to worship him? Isn’t this a

pagan idea? You will find only Jesus mentioned time and time again in the churches;

rarely does God get a look in. Go to church and find out for yourself. Of course, being

God-like doesn’t mean one is claiming Divinity, we can be like something without

being it. I was told that I was like my father, but we remained ourselves, and had

some characteristics that weren’t the same. Those I didn’t have I should have had. It

certainly needs remembering that what we need to be happy is in fact surprisingly

little. I was very happy indeed as a ‘teenager in the thirties, but we were very poor and

existed without the glistening array of technicalities that dazzle one in the emporiums

of today, the commercial cathedrals dispensing ‘retail therapy’ to its worshippers.

But Marcus does include living in a God-like manner; in other words we live these

things, not merely know it. As anyone will tell you, that is the difficult bit; and it is

the constant striving to attempt to be God-like is a sure way of achieving something of

this aim. We can be ambassadors of the Divine here on Earth, representing His Way,

though the Divine Way is not to the taste of the majority; we must be careful not to

dilute our message to suit the normal state of humanity. Ambassadors to not dilute the

message from the bosses in distant capitals, the job of an Ambassador is not to change

his country’s stance.

Similarly we must be sure that we do not allow the pressures of the world from any

source to interfere with that purpose and serenity that being close to the Divine will

bring to us; yes it really does!

Let the world go its own way without us.

18 Looking at Realities

“Turn this mortal body inside out, and now see the appearance it presents! Also, see

what it comes to in old age, sickness or decay. How fleeting are the lives of those

alike who praise others, and those who are praised; of those who remember and those

remembered: how small is their little corner of this terrestrial zone – and yet even

they are not at peace with one another. The whole Earth is but the puniest dot.

Med. Bk. 8. 21.

19

The size of the observable universe is said to be 1026 to 1027, that is the figure 1 with 26

or 27 zero’s after it. The size of the Earth would be 107. Just imagine winning a lottery

prize of 1027, though you might, just might, be content with a mere 107, that being the

size of the Earth makes it likely that you would have a problem storing it. Marcus has

this kind of thought in mind when he depicts the smallness of the planet and

correspondingly the minute space (in cosmic terms) of the area we personally occupy

at any one time. But even our little selves, living for just a while on a mere speck of

cosmic dust cannot live in peace even for the short time we are here. The time we are

here seems very long to us, you know what they say; a watched kettle never seems to

boil. But to us, this long time of our lives compared with cosmic time, makes our stay

on this planet seems to be like a mere flick of the fingers.

The known (or perhaps ‘guess’ is the right word) age of the universe is reckoned by

those very clever astronomers to be something like 10 to 20 billion years ago. Now

that really is a long time, fancy waiting for your pension that long! Of course even

those in the know will tell you that this figure depends on the accuracy of what is

known as the ‘Hubble Constant’, “H” which is always being revised. “H” is a ratio of

the galaxy’s recessional speed to its distance, and this concept has to be adjusted as

knowledge and instrument efficiency changes. In terms of the nature of the Divine we

also need to take note of the phase “the observable universe”. The scientific theories

that lead to the popular conclusion that the existence of a Great Comic Designing

Mind is a mere myth is a speculative process based largely on the fact of the vastness

of time that can cause life to be from a bit of bacteria to an elephant, this is the main

theme of that anti-God scientist Richard Dawkins. If you read his book however, you

will discover that it is the fairy tale teachings of religion that has caused him to throw

the baby out with the bath water. All these ideas are based on this observable

universe, But is there no possibility of there being billions of other universes? The

concept of the Divine must be more than an old man in the sky, just the other side of

the clouds when to pass away the time he amused himself by opening the “windows”

in heaven and let the rain pour down on Earth.

The vulnerability of our appearance, and our impressive performances in various

fields, is never considered, and the pride we may take in them can be only temporary.

We must be aware that if we turned ourselves inside out, our appearance would be

suitable for a horror film. Yet that is what lays the other side of that beautiful flesh;

also an early death or old age will do the same to that beauty, so what are we really

worth? Our permanent future for aeons to come is the business of the spirit/soul. With

the smallness and limitation of our physical selves and the environment, it makes the

praise dolled out by creatures a very little thing indeed, having a pseudo-importance

for a very limited time. Seek to know of that Greater Reality that lies tantalisingly just

beyond your natural limitations of your five senses The Cheshire Papers will help you to achieve this.

20

19 The Nature of our Purpose in Being.

We have three relationships: one to this bodily shell which envelops us, one to the

Divine Cause which is the source of everything in all things; and our fellow mortals

around us.

Med. Bk.8 27,29.

Here, Marcus puts the ‘bodily shell’ first in order, whereas those on the path to Divine

Unity, would quite naturally put the “Divine Cause” first. Of course, everybody who

is not particularly thinking or contemplating the true reality of oneself in the greater

milieu which includes the Spiritual aspect of man will, without thinking

automatically, do the same. It is natural so to do, as the body is the vehicle that the

soul has to survive in a material world, and we have had a lifetime of thinking this

way; to think of oneself as being the body. Nonetheless, Marcus does describe the

body as being a mere shell, and we do not ever think of a shell as being the creature

inside. We never seek the shell but the oyster inside.

Diving as we do into the ocean of Eternity, the importance of the body to us gradually

diminishes, so that if someone says things about us which we feel are unjust, and our

reputation is in danger of being tarnished, we are not concerned about it at all, it is the

body/brain they are criticising, and that is destined to oblivion in just a while, so it is

not of any significant importance. We know that this is something in the work

description in the great work of educating people to the Realities of the Divine

Presence that is possible, and that description is found in Matthew 7: “Blessed are you

when men shall revile you ..... and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely...”

The response of one who has put the body in its rightful place, and has resisted

thinking of it as being the most important part of us, really is: “so what? If that is what

you think of me, so that is what you think; big deal!” Coming into our Spiritual

Inheritance would not depend on the ideas of people of this world about us. The same

applies to things, people and events. But having said that, we must still care for this

body, a miracle of design, and needs to be kept serviced like is done for our car, but it

is not really us no more than the car is us. We are spirit, which is in and not of this

world. But because the body is of the material existence, it is natural for it to behave

likewise; its constant demands need to be kept in check, because once we embark on a

journey of compliance with the body, we found ourselves lost in a tidal wave of

desires. We are in fact in the same position as Paul was when he found himself doing

what he did not want to do.8 He was in constant battle with his body-self.

Finally he mentions the relationship with our fellow mortals around us. We can show

love and compassion but never have the spirit of unity or reliance upon them.

Obviously they have plenty of sources for the material goodies, and there are plenty

of distractions from reality available, amusements, drugs, sex, lotteries, football,

punch-ups and so on. But the way to know oneself and be aware of that greater

existence beyond the few years spent here in that shell; they know little or nothing.

There are few people around who can help them, so a priority in Spiritual work is

bound to be ours. After all, if you do not help them, who will?

7 Matt. 5.11.

8 see the letter to those in Rome (Romans 7.15)

21

20 The Tongues of Posterity.

Make the best of today; those who aim instead at tomorrow’s plaudits fail to

remember that future generations will be in nowise different from the contemporaries

who so try their patience now, and nowise less mortal. In any case, can it matter to

you how the tongues of posterity may wag, or what views of yourself it may contain?

Take me and cast me where you will; I shall be the possessor of the Divinity within

me, serene and content. Is it a matter of such a moment that my soul will be afflicted

by it? Changed for the worse? Suppliant and spiritless? Remember that your soul,

your Higher Self becomes invincible once it withdraws into itself.

Med. Bk. 8. 44,45,48.

Those firmly on the Spiritual path towards Divine Unity often have the feeling, just

for a flash, that one is living (in spite of our planet being immersed in time) in the

everlasting now, as it actually impossible to define “now” in a changing flow of time.

When is “Now?” As soon as you think you have found it, it has already gone, you

cannot pin it down. Think of a fish in a pond, the fishes move about, are born and die;

but the pond stays put.

Those of us who are concerned about our reputations in the world whether now or in

the future when the memory of us could still be active by people, should have no

desire to be known. If we find injustice and are victims of false representation no, we

need to bear in mind those future generations of people will be no different. As the

essays have pointed out, inventions change but the human condition changes very

little, and still has the tendency to steal, offer violence and engage in scandals real or

imagined. So there is no consolation about being remembered when you depart from

this planet. The ‘tongues of Posterity will continue to wag’.

One who has lost ego, has no concern about what situation one finds oneself. We have

offered ourselves to the Divine to use as It thinks fit. We know that our possible

journey through the ‘Valley of the Shadow of Death’ causes us to fear no evil because

the Divine is with us. In any case whatever happens to us in this life, if we are

slandered after we have gone is a matter of indifference to us; because the Spirit

within is not affected, whilst we are here, and it will not be affected when we leave

this world either.

So even in this short life with its problems, withdrawal to our inner selves, the Higher

Self, will insulate us from the stresses of this life, and how? It is because withdrawal

into our spirit/soul is reaching our real selves, not the temporary body in which we

have to function here. Reaching our spirit selves we are in a better position to reach

the active presence of the Divine than if we stay imprisoned in the carnal body whose

interests are largely directed to the physical material existence.

The withdrawal brings us in a state of receiving in us of the Spirit of God, which is

immune from human frailties and anger; we always have the protection of the Divine,

because we have carried out the spirit of detachment, the first defence against spiritual

pollution.

“He who does not patiently endure what befalls him shows himself even more

ungrateful than a child, for he has received [from the Source] all things in this world,

and he simply awaits what is to come in Love.

cf. Peter of Damaskos (circa 11th

or 12th

cent).

22

21 Anxieties Many of the anxieties that harass you are superfluous being creatures of your own

fancy. You can rid yourself of them and expand into an ampler region, letting your

thoughts sweep over the entire universe, contemplating the illimitable tracts of

Eternity, marking the swiftness of change in each created thing ; and contrasting the

brief span between birth and dissolution with the endless aeons that precede the one,

and that follows the other.

In a while, all that is before your eyes now will have perished. Those who can witness

its passing will go the same road themselves before long. Then what is there to choose

between the oldest grandfather and the baby that died in its cradle?

Med. Bk. 9. 32/33.

How true the opening remarks are! We have all experienced this, projecting our fears

into the uncertain future; and in doing so we tend to imagine the very worst scenario

that we can conjure up. Certainly the mystic will have no concerns about his future,

good or not, because giving himself lock stock and barrel over to the Divine, he will

weather the storm or relax on the beach, whichever it is. This is the advantage of one

who has been integrated within the Divine. However, experience has shown that even

those not on the journey to the Source, nevertheless, seldom experience their most

disturbing fears. The imagination has gone wild like a beast in the jungle, yet these

disasters seldom come. Yet we do not learn by this, and still spoil our present life by

these imaginary disasters.

But the servant of the Most High has expanded into an” ampler region,” the

boundaries have been breached and we shot out beyond the body’s lock on us into the

wide Reality that is the Greater. We can sweep the universe and marvel at the scope

of the Divine. Human affairs are confined to that little insignificant planet on the edge

of our local Milky Way, our local cosmos. Association with the Divine exceeds even

the mighty greater universe, so what are the little troubles that man is so concerned

about, whether real or imagined in his little mind?

Yes, it is all going to go, even though the mighty mountains seem eternal, but they

crumble and fall all the time, and one day, just like aeons of time ago, they will have

worn away and finish up via the rivers into the sea bed. “What is man that Thou art

mindful of him?” 9 What indeed!

If you go on holiday for a week or a fortnight, the holiday is going to end afterwards,

and become only a memory. Sixty years later it will not really be important to you

then how long you stayed; it will not affect your present situation. Similarly with a

life span, whenever you go it will have the same journey. Marcus himself was to die

at an early age, 59, possibly of stomach trouble; but he would be in the Spirit world

even if he had died earlier or later; the destination is exactly the same whatever age

you may be.. Life even at its longest is a mere flip of the coin. Most of our time is

spent elsewhere.

9 Psalm 8.4.

23

22 At Odds with the World

Will anyone sneer at me? That will be his concern; mine will be to ensure that nothing

I do or say shall deserve the sneer. Will he perhaps hate me? Again his concern. Mine

is to be in friendship and [compassion] with all men ready to show this very man

where he is mistaken, and to do so without any recrimination or ostentatious

forbearance; to do so as generously as Phocion of old. That is the right spirit for a

man to have within him; he should never be seen in the act of harbouring a grudge, or

making a grievance of his sufferings. What ills can touch you if you follow the proper

laws of your being and accept by moment whatever the Great [Source] deems

opportune for you.

Med. Bk.11. 13

Anything of a bad nature that anyone does to you we can be indifferent. That

individual is here to overcome the faults of the inhabitants of the world including

himself, and carve out a philosophy and actions that are spiritually right. He must

answer for his own actions; he, and not you, are responsible for them. Perhaps we are

hated by some, as the world is full of recriminations and hate. We can be hated

because we seek the Divine, as Jesus warned us.10

Wars are hardly the expression of

love, but we do not have to follow the crowds and believe in mass destruction.

Certainly if the aggressor will listen to you, then do what you can to put it right. If

they show no desire for this, then just leave them alone.

Marcus warns us not to make a great show of our negotiation, posing as a wise and

wonderful person. Marcus quotes Phocion (402-318 BCE) as an example of a man

who did not always have the mind of a military man, which is what he was, an

Athenian general and a politician. He engaged in the usual war against other

countries, sometimes defensive, but at times showed a different side to his character,

such as advising the Athenians not to be in such a hurry to resort to violence, and

played the part of a more peaceful approach when acting as an intermediary between

Athens and Macedonians in 338 BCE. He fell out of favour and was forced into

suicide by taking hemlock. In this he would remind us of Socrates, in whose character

Phocion shared; being described as famously steadfast and upright.

Sometimes we may show our dislike (justified or not) on a semi-permanent basis, and

lasting grudges can be evolved; at worst this can become a feud, when families are at

odds with one another for generations. Not only is this not showing compassion for

family members who are not concerned with the original quarrel, but the non-forgiver

is filled with hatred which festers within himself. His life is not filled with the

spiritual peace but is like a seething cauldron within which does him no good at all.

What ills can touch you if you follow the proper laws of being and accept what the

Divine has placed before you? These difficulties are those for which we came to

Earth, so that we can learn to bear those happenings which will be the refiner’s fire

for us from which to emerge spiritually stronger. We never learn much when

wallowing in ease and pleasure.

We have placed ourselves in the hands of the Divine

So what is the problem?

10

See Matt.10.22.

24

23 Life is Rotten, isn’t it?

Whenever somebody does you a wrong always reflect. What certainty have I that it is

wrong? Even if it is, he may have already reproached himself for it.

To wish that a rogue would never do wrong is like fig trees would never have sour

juice in their fruit, that infants would never cry, horses never neigh, or any other of

life’s inevitabilities ever come to pass. So how pray, could your villain act otherwise

with the character that he has?

Med. Bk.12. 16.

People have been educated to expect that life is or should be a bed of roses. We all are

entitled to just about everything, and resent that some have plenty with their flashy

£80,000 cars, whilst we have to scour the second hand market for the near rusty old

banger; poor me! Life is unfair, and we resent the profligate way people spend money

with so much poverty around. On the TV it showed the way people live in Marbella in

the Malaga Province in Spain, where they hold champagne parties, running into

thousands of pounds, The idea is to drink some, but as there is so much of it, one

cannot drink it all, so there is now a problem (it is not only the poor that have

problems you know). What can they do now? Well they get round it by having a

champagne battle and they pour bottles and bottles of the stuff over each other.

If someone has more than you, do you get jealous? Well there is one reason why you

have been brought into contact with such people, Spiritually you do not envy anyone

anything, because you do not envy anyway, but more practically, such people have

put their faith in this childish extravagance to get happiness. What folly! Surely there

is no way you would want to go down the materialistic path and forego the Presence

of ‘Le Divin’, who brings real deep contentment within you? This world is full of

have’s and have nots; It teems with people that are crooks; Some fruit is sour and

sharp, all babies keep us awake at night, holidays can be a wash out with the weather

and we can find ourselves in a rotten hotel, and we can have our wallet pinched. The

car can breakdown in the pouring rain when in deserted mountains; our wife can run

off with the milkman.

It is an unfortunate fact that we learn best by experience. Putting our finger in the fire

might become a fancy means of amusement if we didn’t get burned. People on the

Spiritual path find than when they deviate from what is the correct thing to do will

have unaccountable problems suddenly loom up in life, and when they take remedial

action all that vanishes. Yes, really; it does happen often.

Going all upside down, the first sentence in the quote is being dealt with last. The

moral is, don’t take offence too quickly and/or we should have a more compassionate

nature? Here is a parable: “some wrong move made by someone one incurs the

disapproval and decision to break with the miscreant for something that happened

some years ago. That person had long since understood what was amiss and the

problem had been put right. Should the people involved still have a self-righteous

condemning stance?” Should we asked ourselves are we doing all we should for

Spiritual growth?

If we would like the Divine to forgive us, and wipe our slate clean, should we not do

the same to others?

25

24 You Can Do It!

Everything is what your opinion makes it, and that opinion lies within yourself.

Renounce it when you will, and at once you have rounded the foreland and all is

calm; there is a tranquil sea and a tideless haven.

Med. Bk12. 22.

There is no doubt about it, so many of our problems are our own fault, faulty

reasoning, being a faulty visionary, being edged away from our Spiritual bull’s eye,

being a spiritual harlot (mixing with the world, or becoming bewitched by it)

succumbing to passions or grievances of any kind and so on.

So we can be so immersed in this world because we have to work in it, and lose sight

of our ultimate destiny, Oh! The list can be endless. So our “opinion” or thinking can

be faulty at any time and land us in it. We know that the ego must be diminished, and

if this is too strong we become self willed and rush into mistakes that can bring on the

corrective mechanism that the divine had set up; this is the way that communication

between that which is the above the “Cloud of Unknowing” and ourselves, which

hopefully though below this “Cloud of Unknowing” is above the “Cloud of

Forgetting”. If we are wise we will welcome these corrective devices though they may

bring us some grief while they last. However this is the way we know we are “off

track” hence is valuable.

If we literally give ourselves to the Divine, so that henceforth all we do is in harmony

with this Source, then so long as we are in this condition, being infused with the

Divine Spirit, we shall have ‘rounded the foreland, become in a tranquil waters and

then into the haven where the supporting seas are tideless’.

It is up to us. If we give the priority to the Infinite, and be watchful that we are not

being submerged into the material life, then the harbour’s tide will always be there.

But we need to remember that ratio; as the glass of this world is emptied so it will be

filled with the Divine Spirit. Cramming the world back into it will result in a leakage

of the Spirit, and a possible emptying of it as it is not of this world.

************************************

This is the close of this selection of ‘Meditations’ of Marcus Aurelius. However far we

think we may have progressed along the path to Unity with the Divine, however

mature we may think we are, there are many items in Marcus’ Meditations that we

should find helpful, as none of us is perfect and while in the flesh, never shall be. But

it behoves us to attempt this summit as an integral part of our Journey to the Divine.

Perhaps some of you have either slipped off the track or find unexpectedly that you

are removed from what you were. A little self examination might be called for, and

perhaps Marcus Aurelius might be of help to you too.