religion without communities?
One of the main functions of religion is the satisfy the fundamental human need for belonging and produce an emotion of elevation. Jaakko Wallenius proposes Epicureanism as a “new”, rational religion on his blog
My reponse was:
Christianity (as Buddhism and Islam, too) started out with dropping out into alternative communities and has continued to satisfy the fundamental human need for belonging. Epicureans did have their small communities for 800 years (300 BCE-500 CE) but 21st century Epicureans do not have functioning (NON-virtual) communities, the minimum necessary condition to fulfill the role (=satisfy the need) of a religion. (Democratic/meritocratic egalitarianism does work very well WITHIN closed communities and I do not think that Eism would ever aim at establishing itself as a state religion.)
How about starting a NON-virtual Epicurean community, gather experience, share its learnings?
The discussion on Facebook might produce new insights:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Epicurus/79493658728
Friendship reduces stress and prolongs life
Science proves Epicureans to be right about the immense value of friendship: some baboons groom their buddies for long lives.
Female chacma baboons that maintain close, lasting friendships live considerably longer than their peers who switch companions more frequently, a new study finds in ScienceNews
Commenting Epicurus”s First Principal Doctrine
The Epicurus page of Facebook started publishing Epicurus’s Principal Doctrines again with new comments.
“A blessed and indestructible being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; so he is free from anger and partiality, for all such things imply weakness.” – The First Epicurean Principal Doctrine
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/?ref=home
My comment was this:
I agree with DeWitt in that Epicurus taught that the gods were not immortal but “only” indestructible” and that their “blessedness” was -at least partly – due to the fact that they were “free from anger and partiality”. So the message of the 1st Principal Doctrine is: Do NOT fear the gods! At the same time I agree with Jaakko in that the gods through their “blessedness” or perfect ataraxia served as role models for Epicurean practitioners, who believed and proved that through daily practice the can “live like gods”.
the cheapest vaccine against swine flu panic
I have just received an email from one of my German friends about the connections between the swine flu “pandemic” and the persons and companies that profit from it. I never pass on emails of common interest without googling the topic a bit and in this case I could not find convincing evidence pro or contra the claims that the “pandemic” panic has been propagated out of financial interest of a certain circle of persons and their companies.
Therefore I will just stick to my 2300 year old Epicurean principle: “mens sana in corpora sano”, i.e. to strive for “a healthy mind in a healthy body.”
As I have never taken vaccine against any kind of flu (that kills about 10,000 people in Germany every year, i.e. roughly twice as many as killed in raod accidents) so far and I will not make an exception for the swine flu either. The statistics do not support any call for action that would justify the loss in MH-ROI (mental health return on investment): my peace of mind, tranquility, stress-FREEDOM, ataraxia.
The vaccine against the swine flu is expensive, it may have unpleasant or even dangerous side effects. The vaccine against the swine flu or any other panic generated by the media industry is cheap, pleasant and available for each and all: good, old, proven practical Epicurean philosophy.
Epicurean choices of attitudes and actions
Epicurus’s “Authorized Doctrines” (Kuriai Doxai) is practically a guide for the choice of attitudes toward the essential things in the art of living happily.
Epicurus drew a clear distinction between
- choosing a basic general attitude (diathesis) toward action in a given sphere and
- choosing to do or not to do a given thing within that field.
Thus Epicureans were trained to make these two choices.
They were trained, for example, to first choose what attitude they will assume towards, for instance, death, the gods, pleasure and pain, necessity, fortune, political life, food, fame and friendship.
The choice of a basic and general attitude, however, by no means abolished the necessity of making individual decisions.
The proper attitude toward pain, for instance, is to regard it as inherently evil and to be avoided; nevertheless, in the individual case the lesser pain, such as that of the surgeon’s knife, is endured for the sake of the greater good.
Again, the proper attitude toward food is to prefer a simple diet, but this does not preclude and even approves the occasional indulgence.
In a series of articles I will touch upon those topics that are considered as possible sources of stress and therefore can act as happiness blockers. By showing the attitude Epicurean practitioners applied over 800 years, I hope to help today’s happiness-seekers to escape from the most dangerous happiness-blocker: stress.
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