“How great Thou art,
The Lord supreme for ever and for aye!
No work is wrought apart from Thee, O God,
Or in the world, or in the heaven above,
Or on the deep, save only what is done
By sinners in their folly.”
– Cleanthes
Stoicism has always had a deep spiritual and sometimes even mystic tradition. In it’s heyday the idea that Stoicism was an agnostic or atheistic philosophy was not the normt. Their understanding of God differs greatly from the Abrahamic norm of today but nevertheless there was a deep spirituality and understanding that the individual is connected to ever larger and larger communities greater than himself, the largest of which is the Universe itself. God, himself.
This more spiritual side of Stoicism is what I’m seeking to explore and develop on. There are many different approaches to Stoicism. Hierocles, Gaius Musonius Rufus, Marcus Aurelius, Cicero, Epictetus, and many others wrote on the spiritual aspect of the Stoicism. Does one need to practice Stoicism in this way to be Stoic? I wouldn’t say that, but I’d say much is lacking if we discard the spiritual foundations of the philosophy. Personally, it seemed as if Modern Stoicism is used for it’s similarity and overlap with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It seems overly cold, clinical, and individualistic. I think that is too narrow and harsh a view of Stoicism. The philosophy has so much more to offer. There is a warmer, loving, and communally engaged side to Stoicism that is left ignored. I seek to revive that experience and perspective.
I also generally seek to develop new writings and thought for a new Stoa in our modern times.
I think there are four general categories of ideas that I’ll be talking about.
1. Explaining concepts – Explaining Stoic philosophic concepts and terminologies both as originally intended and how I fit them within my own Spiritual Stoic understanding.
2. New Thought – Writing my thought on topics for the modern era from the Spiritual Stoic perspective as well as developing further the explanations of Spiritual Stoicism.
3. Rebuttals – Writing my responses to older Stoic thought where we disagree as well as to other modern Stoic writings that I think are problematic.
4. Practices – Writings on actions we can take to train our bodies and minds to practice stoic virtues in our daily lives.
I hope you stay for this journey with me.
Spiritual Stoicism 