Soul Searching with Seneca

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The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle V. On the Philosopher's Mean. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_5

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle V. On the Philosopher's Mean. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_5

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle V. On the Philosopher's Mean. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_5

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle IV. On the Terrors of Death. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_4

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle IV. On the Terrors of Death. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_4

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle IV. On the Terrors of Death. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_4

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle IV. On the Terrors of Death. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_4

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle IV. On the Terrors of Death. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_4

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle III. On True and False Friendship. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_3

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle III. On True and False Friendship. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_3

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle II. On Discursiveness in Reading. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_2

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle II. On Discursiveness in Reading. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_2

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The reading in this episode comes from Seneca's Epistle II. On Discursiveness in Reading. You can read it here: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_2

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

Quote from this episode:

"The primary indication, to my thinking, of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company." - Seneca

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

Epistle I. On Saving Time

Greetings from Seneca to his friend Lucilius.

1. Continue to act thus, my dear Lucilius – set yourself free for your own sake; gather and save your time, which till lately has been forced from you, or filched away, or has merely slipped from your hands. Make yourself believe the truth of my words, – that certain moments are torn from us, that some are gently removed, and that others glide beyond our reach. The most disgraceful kind of loss, however, is that due to carelessness. Furthermore, if you will pay close heed to the problem, you will find that the largest portion of our life passes while we are doing ill, a goodly share while we are doing nothing, and the whole while we are doing that which is not to the purpose.

2. What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed. Whatever years lie behind us are in death’s hands.

3. Nothing, Lucilius, is ours, except time. We were entrusted by nature with the ownership of this single thing, so fleeting and slippery that anyone who will can oust us from possession. What fools these mortals be! They allow the cheapest and most useless things, which can easily be replaced, to be charged in the reckoning, after they have acquired them; but they never regard themselves as in debt when they have received some of that precious commodity, – time! And yet time is the one loan which even a grateful recipient cannot repay.

4. You may desire to know how I, who preach to you so freely, am practising. I confess frankly: my expense account balances, as you would expect from one who is free-handed but careful. I cannot boast that I waste nothing, but I can at least tell you what I am wasting, and the cause and manner of the loss; I can give you the reasons why I am a poor man. My situation, however, is the same as that of many who are reduced to slender means through no fault of their own: every one forgives them, but no one comes to their rescue.

5. What is the state of things, then? It is this: I do not regard a man as poor, if the little which remains is enough for him. I advise you, however, to keep what is really yours; and you cannot begin too early. For, as our ancestors believed, it is too late to spare when you reach the dregs of the cask. Of that which remains at the bottom, the amount is slight, and the quality is vile. Farewell.

Translation: Richard M. Gummere

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events.

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To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The passage quoted in this episode is taken from Seneca's Consolation to Helvia.

"For how little have we lost, when the two finest things of all will accompany us wherever we go, universal nature and our individual virtue. Believe me, this was the intention of whoever formed the universe, whether all-powerful God, or incorporeal reason creating mighty works, or Divine spirit penetrating all things from greatest to smallest with even pressure, or fate and the unchanging sequence of causation – this, I say, was the intention, that only the most worthless of our possessions should come into the power of another. Whatever is best for a human being lies outside human control: it can neither be given nor taken away. The world you see, natures greatest and most glorious creation, and the human mind which gases and wonders at it, and is the most splendid part of it, these are our own everlasting possessions and will remain with us as long as we ourselves remain. So, eager and upright, let us hasten with bold steps wherever circumstances take us, and let us journey through any countries whatever: there can be no place of exile within the world since nothing within the world is alien to men. From whatever point on the earth surface you look up to heaven the same distance lies between the realms of gods and men. Accordingly, provided my eyes are not withdrawn from that spectacle, of which they never tire, provided I may look upon the sun and the moon and gaze at the other planets; provided I may trace their risings and settings, their periods and the causes of their travelling faster or slower; provided I may behold all the stars that shine at night – some fixed, others not travelling far afield but circling within the same area; some suddenly shooting forth, and others dazzling the eye with scattered fire, as if they are falling, or gliding past with a long trail of blazing light; provided I can commune with these and, so far as humans may, associate with the divine, and provided I can keep my mind always directed upwards, striving for a vision of kindred things – what does it matter what ground I stand on?" - Seneca, On the Shortness of Life

To join The Walled Garden, go to thewalledgarden.com and use the promo code SENECA to get 30% off a Caretaker membership for life. Code available until July 2022. On The Walled Garden, you'll get access to over 100 unreleased episodes of Soul Searching with Seneca, and you'll have the option to attend weekly Soul Searching with Seneca meetups, as well as other exclusive events. 

To purchase Simon's book, The Poet & The Sage, go here: https://thewalledgarden.store/products/copy-of-the-poet-the-sage 

To listen to The Walled Garden Podcast, go here: https://thewalledgarden.com/the-walled-garden-podcast 

The book mentioned in this episode is called Dying Every Day by James Romm.