Practice
The meaning of
practice here is appropriating a certain way of living or code of conduct according
to a particular world view or a system of thinking, so that one can have a
definite attitude towards life that will guide her/his behaviours. The ways of
living, codes of conduct, habits, all kinds of customary or ritualistic observances
and actions are all included in “practice”.
Practice as A Way Of Life and as “Spiritual Exercises”
Historian of
philosophy and philosopher Pierre Hadot suggests that
ancient Greek and Roman philosophers did not only create some theories and
systems of thought, but also they regarded philosophy as a field of living
praxis. According to ancient philosophers, “Philosophy is an art of living that
cures us of our illnesses by teaching us a radically new way of life” (Hadot
1995, p. 29). They aimed to transform the individuals through changing their
perception of the world and their way of being so that they can reach permanent
satisfaction and happiness (Hadot 1995, p. 83).
Spiritual
Exercises
Hadot,
defines the concept of “spiritual
exercises” which he discusses in his book “Philosophy as a Way of Life:
Spiritual Exercises from Socrates to Foucault”, as exercises that will lead to
change and transformation of the subject who practices them.
The
tradition of spiritual exercises practiced in Ancient Greece was preserved to
some extent in the works of Christian theologians.
Philo
of Alexandria gives two lists of these Stoico-Platonic exercises. In one of the
lists, along with research (zetesis), thorough investigation (skepsis), reading
(anagnosis), listening (akroasis) which are still used as contemporary methods
to study philosophy, exercises of awareness (prosoche), self-mastery
(enkrateia), and indifference to indifferent things are remarkable. The other
list consists of reading, meditations (meletai), therapies of the passions,
remembrance of good things, self-mastery (enkrateia), and the accomplishment of
duties (Hadot 1995, p. 85).
Awareness
(prosoche) was seen as a
prerequisite for not losing the ability to discern. The main principle
of the Stoics was to discern the things we have the power to control by will;
like our views, impulses, desires and dislikes and the things over which we don’t
have total control; like our corporeality, property and reputation. The latter
were labeled as “indifferent things”. One could lead an ethical life only by “remaining
indifferent towards indifferent things” (Epictetus, The Encheiridion). In order
to practice this principle in daily life, one has to decide which things are
indifferent and which ones are not. Thus, one has to be aware of and
concentrate on the things that are here and now. This means philosophers have
to act with awareness, and they have to be aware of themselves (Hadot 1995, s.
84-85). In his “Meditations”, Marcus Aurelius suggests us to perform every
action or deed as if it is our last one, for it is highly possible to be so. Also,
instead of wondering what is on other peoples’ minds, observing our own mind prevents us from being
dismayed. According to Marcus Aurelius,
the present is all we have, for we are not able to change the past in any way and
design the future merely by our will (Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius, Book II,
Parts 5, 8, 11 and 14).
The
Stoics represented themselves painful situations such as poverty, physical
and/or mental suffering and death, with the exercise of “premeditatio malorum”. They visualised themselves
as if they were confronted with these difficulties and sufferings of life which
do not depend on individual will. Self-mastery (enkrateia) exercises required
awareness of mental situations like anger, greed, envy and hatred and being
relieved from their influence gradually (Hadot 1995, p. 85).
One of the
spiritiual exercises that the Stoics practiced was to distinguish the
“indifferent things”, things which we cannot change solely by our will, viewing
and defining them apart from all cultural and personal values and write those
definitons. Hadot tells us that some parts of the Meditations of Marcus
Aurelius were a result of such a practice (Hadot 1995, pp. 14-15).
The Ghost in the Machine and the Eastern Teachings
When we
evaluate the spiritual exercises mentioned in Pierre Hadot’s book, they seem to
be intellectual or thought exercises in general. In some teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism and
Taoism, we may encounter similar practices like analytical meditations and
contemplations. But a very significant difference of the Western spiritual
exercises is that they don’t seem to consider corporeality which has been
treated as a separate realm from “mind” or “spirit” and the activities like
thinking and feeling which were thought to be peculiar to “spirit”, since
ancient Greece. The understanding which defines the body as an entity distinct
from the spirit or the mind which is capable of transcending beyond the
material reality has been prevailing in the Western philosophy from the
beginning. For example, according to the Stoics, body, being defined in this
way, is not totally under the control of our individual will. That is why it
must be considered among the “indifferent things” which must be treated
indifferently. The Cartesian dualism defines the human being consisting of two
opposite an insentient machine, the body and a spirit that takes shelter in a
small point inside it, which Gilbert Ryle defines as a “ghost in the machine” in
his book “Concept of Mind” (1949). This way of thinking leads to indifference
towards corporeality or attributing less value to it. This dualist view also diminishes our awareness of our
actual existence or presence. We lose ourselves in thoughts, ideas, beliefs
which we treasure much more than being in this “debased” reality of the present
moment. We neglect one dimension of our reality, our form as body, except
making it an object of our non-seizing thinking. The disciplines of hygiene and
gymnastics was held to be important by some philosophers in the antiquity but
only from a pragmatical viewpoint: to keep the body healthy and vigourous so
that the soul dwelling in it can be sheltered safely.
The
non-dualist teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism or Taoism does not define two
separate/opposite realms of being which is divided into two as body and mind. Human
being is a multiple layered whole consisting of
different intersecting layers.
Human body contains certain energy (prana, in Sanskrit, chi in Chinese, lung in
Tibetan) centers called chakras. We can
control the prana or chi with our will by the help of certain practices. These
practices help us to change our negative thoughts, afflictive emotions and our
behaviour patterns concerning anger, restlesness, greed and anxiety, which are
considered as patterns that make up our so called “personality”. These practice
methods include certain body postures and movements, breathing in a certain way
and vocal exercises (mantras). In the antique schools of philosophy in Ancient
Greece and Roman civilizations, we can not find the records of similar
practices. Likewise, Christian scholars also appropriated such an attitude
towards corporeal dimension of human existence that can be at best described as
“indifferent” but more often as oppressing and neglecting. Until recent times, corporeal dimension was
not evaluated
entirely in Western philosophy and “spirituality”.
Only in the
ancient times, philosophers discussed corporeality indirectly under the title
of ethics where we encounter a vast literature about virtuous and non-virtuous actions.
But the same dualist understanding was dominant which became an obstacle to
“practicing what you preach.” After the establishment of the Christian church, the
split in between the art of living and so called “wisdom” taught in schools
widened and philosophy became an exegetical study. Preaching became more
important than practice. As Hadot also emphasises, although secular education system
is grounded today, the education of philosophy in the universities still has
the same form of “exegesis”, that is to
say, commentaries on the works of some philosphers considered as “authorities”.
Kaynakça
1- The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and
Religion, ed. Stephan Schuhmacher, Gert
Woerner, Shambhala Boston, 1989 s.
130-131, 429
2- Philosophy as a way of life: spiritual exercises
from Socrates to Foucault Pierre Hadot, Arnold Ira Davidson Blackwell
Publishing, 1995.
3-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Hadot
4- The Project
Gutenberg EBook of Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus by Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus, Translator: George Long
5- Tarih ve
Tin, Joel Kovel.
6- A New Earth,
Eckhart Tolle.
7- Hye-jung Jung: The Body and Practice
In Western Philosophy, International
Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture February 2006, Vol.6,
pp.313-327.
