The Introverted Thinker Newsletter #011
Exploring more Eastern philosophy, a book I re-read for the third time, and a mystical audiobook!
Hello everyone, welcome back again!👋
This week I spent a number of days by the seaside which was very relaxing (and a big change from London). Admittedly I didn’t get a lot of work done this week, but having laid-back weeks is sometimes a good thing! Here’s a pretty beach pic.🌊
This week’s newsletter is very philosophy-focused! I’ve included a section of an article on Taoism and two other philosophy resources. From next week, I’m going to be trying to diversify the topics I write about because I’m burning myself out with all the philosophy!
Anyway, enjoy. ❤️
An Underrated Taoist Principle That Has Simplified My Existence☯️
Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy that came from the writing of the 4th-century philosopher Lao Tzu. There is something about Taoism that feels like it is perfect for the 21st-century world, where we have approximately 35,000 decisions to make a day, phones in our pockets that send us into a frenzy of digital addiction, and enough instant gratification to fry our dopamine receptors.
Taoism is about fitting in with the flow of the natural world. It requires you to let go of all the forceful tensions you experience in daily life and just go with the flow. Yes, it’s as simple as that. It teaches you how to embody the slogan of “go with the flow” in the simplest and most effective manner. This is why it’s become one of my favorite philosophies.
“T’ai Hsü”: “The Great Nothing” — Less Is More
Now if a philosophy I was interested in was telling me to literally do nothing, I’d think it was a diabolical demon sent to snatch away everything productive I had going for myself. But again, my typical Western attitude failed me, I was wrong.
In Taoism, there is something mysterious and magical that contributes to ultimate fulfillment and achieving ‘The Way’, and it is what Taoists call ‘The Great Nothing’.
When we leave behind the concept of effort and do nothing with a greater purpose, the Taoists believe we can achieve peace, and I agree. Why does everything always have to be so hard? In my opinion, it goes back to the faults of Capitalism. Our society is made for us to work hard and finally reap the benefits after retirement.
But what if we were doing it all wrong, and in reality, we should have been following the example of some wise Chinese men from 2,500 years ago called the Taoists?
Chuang-Tse describes the great nothing in a short story, where the emperor has lost his pearl in the mountains and sends Knowledge, Distant Vision, and Eloquence to find it. Well, all three of these qualities didn't find the pearl, but there was one who did.
“Finally, he sent Empty Mind, and Empty Mind came back with the pearl.” — Chuang-Tse
Another quote that for me sums up the benefits of just thinking and doing nothing and just going with the flow comes from Chaung-Tse again and goes as follow:
“To have no thought and put forth no effort is the first step towards understanding the Tao. To go nowhere and do nothing is the first step towards finding peace in the Tao. To start from no point and follow the road is the firsts step towards reaching the Tao.” — Chuang-Tse
Emptiness:
To achieve this Taoist principle of The Great Nothing and actually apply it in your daily life right now, you must understand that emptiness will get us there.
Everyone nowadays is afraid of emptiness because they relate it with the dreaded loneliness. In bids to not be lonely, they seek the opposite of emptiness and fill up their lives with unnecessary crap; they fill their appointment books and leave the TV running in the background.
The truth is that the greatest ideas come from nothing. If you go back and back and back and try to find the source of your most proud idea, it comes from nothing. So in reality, we shouldn't be afraid to seek out utter emptiness, because it is only there — when we empty our thoughts and minds — that we can benefit from the world around us. It’s a revolutionary approach.
A Book I Listened To By My Favourite Philosopher:
The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are By Alan Watts
If you have been in this community for longer than a week you’ll know that I can’t stop talking about Alan Watts! He is my favorite philosopher. He was a British-American philosopher born in 1915 who was heavily influenced by Zen Buddhist traditions and other Eastern philosophies like Taoism.
This book was short yet very dense to listen to. Alan has some very wild ideas with extensive arguments and philosophical pondering about them. This book was written in the ’50s to introduce a Western audience to Eastern thought and Metaphysics, and it does this excellently!
The book is about this unwritten taboo of the ego, the illusion that the self is separate from the physical world and is trapped inside a bag of skin. It’s very hard to discern just what this book is about but it is well worth the short read. His ideas will send you into another dimension of thought, literally.
A Book I Am Re-Reading For The Third Time:
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
The Stoic bible.
The most famous work of original philosophy.
The inspiring writings of the Philosopher King.
Meditatios by Marcus Aurelius is all of the things above plus more. This book is the original writing of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, taken from his personal journals 2,000 years ago.
It’s probably the most read work of philosophy ever! And for good reason.
I prefer the translation by Gregory Hays, the others for me are too hard to understand. The reason why I re-read this is because of how much of an impact it can have on you on a practical basis. I’ve been meaning to re-read this for months, and now that I finally got round to it, my love for this book has been sparked once again.
I do find it quite hard to read books that make you think as hard as philosophy, but if I can get in the right headspace, this book will work magic. I usually read one book every week, but I am going to take my time with this one to dissect the key ideas and really do some good hard thinking.
To anyone wanting to read this, I believe there is only one way you should. With a pen and a highlighter, and plenty of annotations. Simply reading this book will do nothing for you, you need to dissect the ideas and break them down, so you can store them in your head for future use. Ryan Holiday talks about it in this video, which I 100% recommend watching before reading the book.
Here’s a nice quote I highlighted and annotated that really stuck with me this third time around. It’s the idea that our life is controlled by our perceptions, and how we experience reality is down to this:
“The things that have no hold on the soul. They stand there unmoving outside it. Disturbance comes only from within - from our own perceptions.”
“The world is nothing but change. Our life is only perception.”
The Thinker of the Week
Every week, I include a key historical thinker who has impacted the world through their thoughts and actions. They can vary from philosophers, artists, designers, psychologists, sociologists, writers, eastern meditators, and political theorists.
Niccolò Machiavelli: 1469-1527🇮🇹
Niccolo Machiavelli was born in Florence in 1469 to a wealthy lawyer, so he received a high-level of education and instantly became an influential figure in the city.
The word “Machiavellian” derived from Machiavelli himself, is often used to describe shameful political behaviour. The writings of Machiavelli suggest that no one should ever be surprised when they see politicians lying nor think of them as bad people.
For Machiavelli, a good politician is not someone you’d think of, like a person who is kind and honest. Instead he thinks someone who is dark and cunning will be better, because they know how to defend countries and enrich the state.
Whilst I don’t totally agree with this, Machiavelli’s point was that once we comprehend this standard, it will be easier to find good politicians that we want.
The works of Machiavelli were concerned with a singular central problem: is it possible to be both a good person and a good politician together?
In 1513, Machiavelli wrote The Prince, his most famous work. This was about how to maintain power and the things it took to make a person an effective leader. He said the ultimate prince had to defend the state from inside and outside threats and that he must be able to fight, maintain his reputation, and control those around him effectively.
Machiavelli openly preached against religion and the Catholoc Church. His works were banned for 200 years simply because he argued that being a good Catholic was impossible alongside with being a good leader.
Overall, Machiavelli’s insights proved to be very insightful for everyone, particularly those who intend to be in power. His main message was that we cannot be good at everything, we have to pick certain areas where we can excel, and pass the rest on to others.
Thanks for reading, I cant explain how much it means to me that people like you make it all the way to the end of these newsletters!😁
I’ll be back next week, but until then, have a happy and productive week and don’t forget to find the time to relax!
As always, please comment or reach out to me if you want to engage in conversation about anything, the comments are always open.🙏
See ya! ❤️