Stoicism and asceticism: an odd love in the time of corona

It's July 2020, and we are in the middle of what is conceivably the most devastating period in world history.

We are experiencing health deterioration not seen since the 1918 flu pandemic, economic distress comparable to that of the Great Recession, unemployment levels reaching almost as high as Great Depression levels, and social unrest mirroring the momentous unrest of the 1960s (think Civil Rights Movement, anti-Vietnam, Hippie culture, and May 68). While governments signal panic alarms in forlorn attempts to bring order back to the frail world, the responsibility falls on our shoulders--the people--to survive this era.

This understandably marks an opportune time to instate 'stoic' attitudes within us. To many people, the word 'stoic' has been thrown in conventional English usage to denote a characteristic of resiliency. A 'stoic person'* is one who, under immense pressure and distress, does not buckle down, and holds his or her head high. From the looks of it, this type of resiliency is obviously one that we can easily benefit from: to help us keep our mental composure at a period whilst our physical composure inevitably deteriorates.

And upon investigating the philosophical roots behind our conventional usage 'stoic,' it seems even more apparent that, now more than ever, this virtuous philosophy can play a crucial role in our lives. Stoicism is rooted as a school of thought founded by Zeno of Citium in the 3rd century BC. Central to its thought is the belief that 'virtue (moral excellency) is the only good,' and that reason should be prioritized over emotions to accept one's place in nature.

It is not merely an attitude, but a schema. What's the difference? An attitude is reactive and temporary: if we find out that we have been cut from our employment, a 'stoic' attitude would help us remain optimistic rather than sully over our losses. However, a schema is proactive and permanent: the Stoic retains this optimism for extended periods of time by expecting such losses, and thereby being okay with these scenarios prior to their happening. Think of it like a mental insurance: not only do you get the reactive 'stoic' attitude, in that you are mentally insured whenever something bad happens, but you also have the peace of mind that should something bad come, you accept whatever is to come. And especially in a fragile and unpredictable period such as this, we ought to adopt this schema.

Sounds good, so what's the catch? Well, a central consequence to Stoic thought is that, since 'virtue is the only good,' the Stoic should be indifferent to material or societal goods (money, fame, sex)--since by their inherent nature, material goods are not virtue, and therefore are not good. But there are some Stoics that have interpreted this tenet quite extremely to say that material goods are bad. This, ladies and gentlemen, is where we introduce our second main character: the ascetic.

Now, we traditionally associate asceticism with monks and highly spiritual and/or religious people--and rightly so. Asceticism, as its core, is a renunciation of all material belongings and possessions, in favor of a life dedicated to that of a higher purpose, being, or plane of existence. Notable examples of ascetics include Simeon Stylites, a Syrian Christian who lived on top of a pillar for 37 years; Siddhartha Gautama, who abandoned his high-ranking luxurious lifestyle to pursue one of religious teaching; and Digambara monks, who forego even all clothing in favor of three items: a feather whisk, a water gourd, and scripture.

After reading through these examples, you may be a bit shocked, even doubtful, at the extremism of which these ascetics adhere to. And that is because, if you are involved in any modern-day society which has adopted elements of capitalism (which is effectively almost every country in this world), asceticism is completely antithetical to your schema of the world. Capitalism is inherently a system in which material benefits are rewarded to those who work hard and persevere. And so, asceticism at its core is a renunciation not only of these rewards, but of the extensive progress that you have made by working hard. Though the material benefits are inherently attractive (money can buy things, fame can stroke ego, and sex can sate our id), our aversion is psychologically attached moreso to what we have done to get to this point.

And maybe that is the point of asceticism in these capitalist societies where asceticism is much more esoteric: it is a signal to us society-members that such a dependence on material benefits (psychologically or physically) is harmful. Especially during this tenuous period where it seems as if everything around us is falling, it is much more important that we understand this signal for what it literally means, and therefore abandon such a dependence lest another crisis were to happen.

However, recall how I wrote that the ascetic is one who interprets Stoic thought extremely. The reason I make this relationship between Stoicism and asceticism very clear is that, even though their execution and goals differ, the underlying lessons between the two are inextricably connected. Because asceticism is indeed an extreme (and experiential) approach, the ascetic can be said to have willingly adopted its lessons much more intensely than the Stoic, therefore placing some merit unto the ascetic lifestyle. That being said, this need not be the case. For ordinary people who may be perverse to radical life changes, or people who find no higher calling, these lessons can be learnt too.

If we harken back to the fundamentals of Stoic thought, it suffices for us to simply accept what happens in this world as is. Once again, the ascetic schema is an extreme form of this concept, in which we accept what we are naturally (instead of societally) given. However, this acceptance can also be done by simply adopting the Stoic schema mentioned much earlier: the one where we learn to expect losses, so that once they come, we are not surprised by them. Stoically, this would be done through the pursuit of virtue as a good--but that does not mean we should renounce everything else.

And from this approach, we are able to reap the true benefit of Stoicism and asceticism in the time of corona: the idea that we are not dependent on material benefits. My hope is that, in this unstable time of change, we can at the least ensure our mental sanity before working on rebuilding or physical sanity.

*Stoic also works as a noun to refer to a stoic person.