Stoicism & Western Buddhism: A Reflection on Two Philosophical Ways of Life by Patrick Ussher

Author:Patrick Ussher [Ussher, Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Patrick Ussher
Published: 2018-02-21T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Three

Cultivating Compassion

‘Like the vine that produces its grapes, seeking nothing more once it has given forth its fruit….so the good man having done one deed well, does not shout it about, but turns to the next good deed, just like the vine turns to bear forth its fruit in due season.’

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.6.

‘Even when I do things for the sake of others

No sense of amazement or conceit arises

It is just like feeding myself

I hope for nothing in return.’

Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva, 8: 116.[162]

Stoicism and Buddhism inspire us to live in a kind of ‘altruistic flow’ and suggest that the highest forms of happiness that anyone can find come, paradoxically, when we ‘forget’ ourselves and focus on others.

However, both the Buddha and Zeno, the founder of Stoicism, also said things which seem to strike a different note:

‘Having traversed all quarters with the mind, one finds no one anywhere dearer than oneself…’ [163] - Buddha

‘…the first and dearest object to every living being is its own existence and its consciousness of that existence.’ [164] - Zeno

Both of these quotations emphasise the importance of care for the self. How, then, are selfless acts so very central to the life of goodness in both Stoicism and Buddhism?

The Relationship Between Concern for Self and Compassion for Others

There are several ways which both Buddhism and Stoicism essentially share which can show us why a concern for self, when understood correctly, can naturally lead to compassion for others.

Firstly, that one considers oneself dearest of all is not, of course, a psychological basis which only carries importance for oneself. For all other human beings also feel the same way about themselves. Let us complete the quotation of the Buddha above: ‘Each person holds himself most dear; hence one who loves himself should not harm others.’ Likewise, Cicero tells us, when describing Stoicism, that the ‘…mere fact that someone is a man makes it incumbent on another man not to regard him as alien.’[165] If we truly understand our own need for self-care, we will not harm others, for everyone is in the same, human situation. There is a shared principle of humanity at play.

Secondly, there is the need to find what is the best way to live given what kind of nature we, as human beings, have. For the Stoics, we are social beings and, as a result, virtue is inherently social: it becomes most ‘active’ when we act out of concern for others. In this way, by following virtue, we fulfil our social nature. Epictetus encapsulates this idea as follows:

‘…Zeus has prepared the nature of the rational animal such that he can achieve none of his own proper goods unless he also offers something to the common interest.’[166]

We are ‘made’, biologically speaking, by Nature (here referred to by Epictetus as ‘Zeus’ who, as a divine principle which permeated all living creatures, was synonymous with ‘Nature’ in Stoicism), to find what is best for us when we engage with others. In Stoicism, the ‘self’ is an inherently social self, not an isolated entity.

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