Philosophical Exercises

Embrace what increases political comprehension and reject what doesn’t. (3 minutes read, or skip to the list of resources) It is easy to feel stressed and maybe even overwhelmed by politics. When we do, our stress is all about how shocking we find the behavior of our political adversaries. It leads to feelings of indignation, disbelief, grief, resentment, etc. And it is difficult to decide what to do with those feelings or how to respond to a given situation. At bottom, the question we are wrestling with is this: what should we make of the shocking thoughts, words, and deeds of our political adversaries? What should we think of this situation and what should we do about it? Today, what I would like to offer you is a way to recognize the difference between answers that help and answers that don’t. The right answers to these questions allow you to see that “those who come to hold ...

(The plan? To try one new philosophical exercise every month. This article is part of a series. In the previous episode, we explored Spinozist Mindfulness & Loving Kindness ) For the month of April, I practiced a zen ceremony called “Soji”. Here’s how it was explained to me: “ In many Zen temples, there’s an activity called soji, a period of about 20 minutes where the whole community participates in cleaning up the temple and its grounds. It usually happens right after a bowing and chanting service, marking the end of the morning meditation schedule. The premise is simple. You are assigned a simple cleaning task (rake the path, dry the dishes, sweep the hallway), which you do silently and without ambition to finish. In other words, there’s no ownership of the task: Just pick up the broom and do the best job you possibly can sweeping the hall until it’s time to stop. After about 20 minutes, the work leader walks around ringing a bell that signals the end of soji. When you hear the...

The trustful approach is a philosophical exercise that teaches you peace of mind and confidence in the face of political disagreement and social discord. How can we live with the shocking behaviour of some of our fellow citizens? Everyday, people show commitment to beliefs and deeds that we think are wrong. When they are morally wrong, we feel utterly bewildered by their conduct: how can we make sense of it? “What are they even thinking? How dare they?” From our point of view, the minds of the people who engage in those wrongdoings feel strange, incomprehensible, and hostile. While thinking about how far they have fallen, we feel powerless. It seems impossible to get through to them. And over time, all of this wears us down. We need tools to address how stressful this experience is. Like many negative experiences, it can come to dominate our lives, if we’re not careful. This can make us the worst versions of ourselves, leading us to betray our own values, including the values we a...