A few weeks ago I saw “More than happiness” by Antonia Macaro in a book shop. It was on a table full of new philosophy books. Even though it was still 2017 its copyright already indicated 2018. The copies must have just arrived! I had promised myself not to buy books that day, but I could not resist the temptation to read a book about “Buddhist and Stoic Wisdom for a Sceptical Age”.
Now I am really glad I bought “More Than Happiness”. If the Gamma Tao was a publishing house, it would publish books like this. Antonia Macaro is an existential psychotherapist with a long-standing interest in both Buddhism and Stoicism. In this book she explains both wisdom traditions, compares them and finally extracts some learnings that are relevant for modern readers. She also carefully separates practical wisdom from transcendental speculations. After all, we live in a sceptical age.
In the title “More Than Happiness” Antonia Macaro already distances itself from self help books that promise happiness. This should not surprise us. Buddhism and Stoicism are not exactly known for their optimistic view on life.
For Buddhism suffering or Dukkha is the basic condition of human life. Its cause is ignorance or craving. The Buddhist path is the medicine that leads to the cessation of suffering or enlightenment. Stoics see emotions as the main cause for suffering. Harmful emotions arise from faulty value judgements that need to be corrected in order to get Stoic peace of mind.
Ethics and insight are at the heart of both traditions and their overall message is clearly one of renunciation. “We’d all benefit from taking a more detached view of our objects of desire”, writes Macaro. She observes that both traditions set a “very high ethical bar” and “hold a lofty ideal of an individual who has developed perfect spontaneous morality”: the sage and the Buddha.
It is interesting to read how Antonia Macaro discusses the role of compassion and equanimity in Buddhism and Stoicism:
The most distinctive intersection of Buddhist and Stoic ethics is the ideal of sympathetic detachment – a kind of engagement with others that comes from a place of nonattachment. This requires attaining an optimal blend of compassion and equanimity, combining appropriate engagement with the ability to avoid being tossed around by emotions.
The last two chapters of the book are dedicated to Buddhist and Stoic practice and she concludes with ten meditations that are inspired by Buddhist and Stoic insights and aim to put some of them into action.
These meditations are:
- Get into the self-monitoring habit
- Question your thinking
- Remind yourself that “it’s a cup” (about attachment)
- Don’t get hung up on status and reputation
- Radiate goodwill
- Don’t be too optimistic
- Think about death (but not too much)
- Consider the bigger picture
- Use common sense
- Be quiet
Meditations like these are a good example of how classic wisdom traditions can be a source of inspiration for modern life. At the same time she remains critical of certain aspects of Stoicism and Buddhism and does not place them on a pedestal. That exactly is also the scope of the Gamma Tao. I therefore highly recommend this book, especially for readers who are new to Buddhism and Stoicism.
Let’s conclude with the final words of the “More Than Happiness”:
We should cultivate clarity and curiosity, contentment and compassion. ‘Life is short. That’s all there is to say. Get what you can from the present – thoughtfully, justly’, says Marcus (Aurelius). We should not aim to make ourselves fortress-like, but to be vulnerable more wisely.