This is a page of web resources, books, and quotes which I've found beneficial and inspirational. Hopefully I'll be able to update the content on occasion and give a bit of context to the links and resources I'm providing. I don't claim to know everything and am far from either perfect, enlightened, or liberated. But I do sense that there is a way to mitigate the adversity and suffering we encounter by practicing these elements/concepts. It is up to each of us individually to decide if this is the correct path for our journey.
Stoicism has also been a significant part in understandig my mind and a strategy on how to respond to adversity. Many people are familiar with Marcus Aurelius's Mediations But other great Stoic authors include Seneca and Epictetus (all links back to Amazon books)
An observation in Stoicism, and especially emphasized in Meditations,
is the emphasis on kindness, compassion, and especially magnanimity. Stoicism, or being stoic
a has a strong connotation of being austere and has
risen in contemporary culture as an ideal of toughness.
a While equanimity in adversity is a key feature of the philosophy, but so are grace and forgiveness.
Those aspects of magnanimity are also central to the philosophy, and are keys to a healthy, fulfilled life.
All these aspects inter-play and join each other. And going beyond meditation techniques I've realized mindset, conduct, and our conscious thoughts -all of it- play a part in our suffering, well-being, and potential for advancement or regress. Meditation and mindfulness are critical, but are themselves not the panacea often touted in our current popular culture. Going beyond that and examining our daily thoughts, what we eat, how we conduct ourselves, what we allow our minds to sense and consume, are all critical to making our lives better or worse, and mindfulness will help make us more aware of it and tie it all together.
Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.
-Henri J.M. Nouwen