The Bhagavad Gita, Stoicism and a Poem of Challenge: Mantras for getting on with it

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I discovered my love for football during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. I still have fond memories of that tournament between Kenan’s anthemic ‘Waving Flag’ and Shakira’s Waka Waka dance, the crazy fans with their blaring vuvuzelas and the amazing football being played .Who can forget Forlan’s 40 meter long banger or Iniesta’s crazy extra time goal in an absolute slugfest of a final, such incredible sporting moments that they were. But perhaps the memory that stayed with me throughout the final was of a diminutive Argentine getting kicked and fouled all over the field by the opposition and then simply just getting up and getting on with it. It was my first real introduction to the man we know as Lionel Messi and something about his quiet, unassuming and steadfast style of play even when faced with what would qualify as physical assault outside the football pitch resonated with me.

 

I didn't understand it back then but now I realise that Messi’s attitude was the first time my young mind was introduced to the ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism.Derived from the Greek words ‘Stoa Poikite’ meaning painted porch( a nod to the location in the Athenean market where the early stoics met to chat philosophy and such), this school of thought was founded by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC. Zeno’s story itself was a compelling one. He was a wealthy Phoenician merchant who lost everything in a storm at sea and was shipwrecked in Athens. Having nothing left and nothing to do, the story goes that he was roaming the streets of Athens when he entered a bookstore.The books on philosophy there piqued his interest ( I suppose losing everything you own is enough to turn anyone philosophical !) - and he thus visited the schools of philosophers in the Athenian marketplace.Liking what he saw and heard, he decided to give this philosopher gig a shot and the rest  is some really niche history.

 

 

 

Without going much into the academic details of Stoicism ( a 22 year old has no business talking about the academic nuances of philosophy ) its basic teachings are quite simple-

“The world is a cold dark place filled with cold dark people.Doesn't mean you have to also turn cold and dark. Just learn to deal with it and get on with your work. Don't worry about the things you can't change and focus on the things you can.” 

 

 It is a simple and highly practical message and it has brought me great comfort in times of trouble. The Bhagavad Gita perhaps the habdbook of all life lessons also discusses a similar message : 

“Perform your duty without attachment, 

 For in performing duty without attachment, men attain the supreme truth

 Act for the sake of acting,

 Do not be motivated by the goals of this world”

 

 

 


Many confuse this message for one of hopelessness, that it forces us to accept the cruelty and misery of life without making any effort to change it. No! This confusion arises from only understanding  half of the truth. The Bhagavad Gita and the Stoics alike also teach us that the one thing we can control, the one thing even the most cruel and evil forces in this world can take away from us is OUR MIND and OUR SOUL- in totality, OUR SELF.This is our greatest weapon. The Stoics teach that the world does not hurt us, we choose to let the world cause us pain. The Bhagavad Gita also reinforces this immortal lesson-  

”Give up all worldly attachments and thoughts of reward and perform your Karma as it is yours to do - That is the path of the Karma Yogi”  

And here in these simple messages lies the power of this philosophy, that happiness and sorrow, victory and defeat, bliss and chaos are all constructs of the mind. Focus on yourself, look inside and you will find eternal peace. This idea puts control back squarely into your hands and makes me for one, feel like an absolute beast.


Perhaps Kipling, another famous Stoic of the Victorian era explained it best in his poem:

               

IF


If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

    -Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    -If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    -With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

    -And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
Location: Shillong, Meghalaya, India

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