Latest / The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks / Daily Stoic Meditation for Wisdom

Transcript

Daily Stoic Meditation for Wisdom · The Stoic Handbook with Jon Brooks

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Stoic Daily Mindful Review.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: This practice helps us integrate Stoic principles into our daily lives, improving our character, reducing psychological stress, and growing in practical wisdom.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: By increasing our mindfulness, we can naturally change our behavior and speech, reducing our emotional dependence on externals and focusing on what we can control.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: As you progress with stoicism, your character will naturally improve in the flow of daily life.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: However, you may have noticed that stoicism sometimes fails you when you need it the most.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: You may do your stoic morning meditation only to realize that in the evening, you've not acted like a stoic.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: You've not acted wisely for most of the day.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: So what do we do?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: How can we fix this?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the best practice for integrating stoicism into our daily lives is a mindful review of our thoughts, emotions, speech, and actions.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: This practice increases our mindfulness and helps us act with wisdom and rational judgment throughout the day.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: I recommend you do this every day or as often as is needed so that you can extract the most lessons from your day.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: So let's begin by opening our awareness, sit comfortably and take a moment to let everything in with eyes open.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Allow and receive sensations and all the sensory data that comes to you.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Now close your eyes and ground yourself where you're sitting.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Feel the contact of your body with the chair or floor.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Take a deep breath in, hold it for a moment, and exhale slowly.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: The first step of the daily stoic mindful review requires us to choose an event where we acted unwisely.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: This event could involve being controlled by desire or aversion, allowing anger to sweep us away, or refusing to use rational judgment.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Use your intuition to choose an event linked to turmoil or agitation.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you struggle, choose events from much longer ago.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: What were you doing before?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: What things were important to you at the time?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And ask yourself how self aware were you during this event?
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Was stoicism in your mind?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Were you attempting to act with wisdom and rational judgment?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Were you viewing the situation from above?
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: Did you pause and pay attention?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: What was your overall level of awareness?
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's analyze the consequences.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Consider the cause and effect of the situation.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: What were the consequences of your behavior or thoughts, both immediately and over time How did it impact you and the people involved?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: How might it have affected people not directly present?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And what about your motivations?
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: What was the satisfaction you gained from acting in this unwise way?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Identify any underlying motivations or desires.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Were you driven by selfish desire or rational thinking?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: What were the subtle intentions behind your actions and thoughts If you regret any of your speech or actions, consider how greater awareness could have improved the outcome.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: If you identify ways you could have acted differently, make a strong commitment to be more mindful in future situations.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Are there any immediate action steps you can take to make amends or improve the situation?
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Is there a message you can send or an action you can take to negate some of the harm caused by your lack of wisdom?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, this is not about blaming yourself or feeling guilt.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's about using wise regret to acknowledge what you could have done differently and how you would like to act in the future.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: So imagine handling the situation again in a way that makes you feel proud, acting in a way that aligns with stoic principles, with universal good virtues like courage, justice, discipline and wisdom, and run the event through in your mind, and this time act in a way that you are pleased about, in a way that you would like to act if the same thing were to happen again in a week or so.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: By practicing these steps regularly, you can dramatically increase the wisdom you bring to your daily life.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Situations that stir up strong emotions will become stoic alarms, activating your training.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: The very act of doing this stoic mindful review is virtuous in and of itself.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you for taking the time today to develop your character in this way.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I encourage you to do this session regularly and take the lessons you've learned here into your daily life.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: By doing so, you will cultivate a life of wisdom and virtue.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: I hope to see you back again here soon.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Farewell.