The Wisdom of Hypatia: Ancient Spiritual Practices for a More Meaningful Life (10 page)

So also with hunger. In all these cases, if you desire more than is necessary to satisfy the need, then this excess desire is still natural, but it is not necessary.”

“Yes,” Timocrates interrupts, belching, “but as the old saying goes, ‘The stomach is insatiable.’”

“And I bid you remember,” Epicurus replies, pointing at Timocrates:

The stomach is not insatiable, as most people say;

instead the opinion that the stomach needs unlimited filling is false.33

“Nevertheless, my brother has a point,” says Metrodorus, “for people go to great

trouble and expense to stuff themselves with delicacies.”

Epicurus nods. “The desire for gourmet food or drink is an example of a
unnec-

essary but natural
desire, since it is merely unnecessary variation of a natural desire.

Unnecessary desires are not self-limiting because they are not removing a bodily pain or mental discomfort, and so you run the risk of over-indulgence, for they can exceed what is
sufficient
and have the potential to cause pain. So if you eat too much or too rich food, you may get indigestion, and if you drink too much, a hangover. Less obviously, you have to work harder to earn the money to buy expensive food. Remember:

Nothing is enough to one for whom enough is very little.34

“I am not saying that you should avoid all unnecessary pleasures, for all pleasures

have an inherent goodness—that is the teaching of the Garden—but they should be

enjoyed in moderation. The sage weighs the likely pleasures and pains and makes a

prudent choice.”

“In other words,” Leontion remarks, “we should remember the sacred Delphic Max-

im, which is inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi:

Nothing too much! 35

“Indeed,” Epicurus nods. “Now the non-natural desires are those that are not essen-

tial to our human nature. For example, the desires for wealth, power, and fame. These are matters of opinion, not facts of our biological nature. Certainly, all pleasures are good, but some pleasures bring greater pain in their pursuit or in their wake—especially those pleasures born of non-natural desires or even of natural but unnecessary

50 seeking tranquility in the garden

desires. Therefore remember the following slogan; when you are feeling desire, use it to help decide how to address the desire:

Among desires, some are natural and necessary,

some are natural and unnecessary,

and some are unnatural and unnecessary,

arising instead from groundless opinion.36

We all desire many things. What Epicurus has taught us is a technique for becoming more conscious of the sources of our desires and their consequences. Then we can make wise choices about which to pursue and which to forgo, so we can live happier lives. Here is an exercise to give you some practice in classifying your desires:

Classify Your Desires:
List all your desires, or at least your strongest desires. These can range from the most basic, such as food, to more abstract desires, such

as love, knowledge, enlightenment, power, or peace. Part of the practice, of

course, is to be honest with yourself, so try to list your actual desires as op-

posed to those you think you ought to have. Try also to be specific, so if you

have a special craving for chocolate or books, list it. Now classify each desire

as (1) natural and necessary, (2) natural but unnecessary, or (3) non-natural.

This will require some thought, and not everyone will agree. For example, the

desire for sex is certainly natural, but is it necessary or not? On the one hand,

many people think sex is necessary for a normal life, but on the other, you’re

unlikely to die of sex starvation! This exercise can be a good topic for group

discussion. In any case, record your thoughts in your journal.

After reading this description of Epicurus’ ethics you may be thinking, “Well, that all sounds very good, but does it mean I should get rid of my smartphone?” Not necessarily (although I doubt Epicurus would have one, were he alive today). Obviously, desire for a smartphone in itself is non-natural, but a smartphone can serve other desires that are natural, either necessary or not. For example, you can use your smartphone for personal safety, which is a natural desire, or for keeping in touch with your friends, which is also natural.

seeking tranquility in the garden 51

The point is to be clear about the costs and benefits. How much do you have to pay for the smartphone itself and for smartphone service? What are alternative means for satisfying your primary desires (e.g., keeping in touch with friends)? Of course, this calculation will depend on your wealth: paying for an expensive smartphone will cause less financial “pain”

for a rich person, but then you must consider the effort of becoming and staying wealthy.

Therefore the Garden does not provide ready-made answers to all the decisions of life, but it does provide ways to think about them. Epicurus suggests:

Evaluate each of your desires by this question:

“What will happen to me if that which this desire seeks is attained,

and what if it is not?”37

In my own life, when I want something that is expensive or will take a lot of hard work to get, I think about it in terms of Epicurus’ three-way classification and ask myself that question. This guides my action and helps me do what will actually make me happier in the long run and avoid the pain of “buyer’s remorse.”

Modern Conveniences:
Take the smartphone or some other modern convenience that

“you can’t live without” and apply the Epicurean calculation to it. First, decide

whether it is natural and necessary, natural but unnecessary, or non-natural.

Next, investigate what other desires it serves, and whether these are natural

and necessary, natural but unnecessary, or non-natural. Weigh these benefits

against the costs. For example, for a computer, as well as the obvious purchase

cost you should include the time to keep it working, the frustration when it

doesn’t, and the time you regret wasting online. Record your conclusions in

your journal. Even if your analysis does not incline you to give up some gad-

get, it should give you a clearer understanding of what you are getting from it

and at what cost.

Tranquility

Epicurus distinguished pleasures that require activity from those that don’t.
Static pleasure
is when you are suffering from neither pain nor desire; body and soul are comfortable; it is