#208 | August 2024 Recap: Stoicism, Buddhism, and a Literary Novel for the Ages

episode SUMMARY:

Douglas Vigliotti recaps the month of August 2024, discussing the Stoic classic "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius, the literary novel "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan, and the foundational Buddhist text “The Dhammapada” translated by Eknath Easwaran. With quick summaries, insights, and key quotes from the episodes, this recap is a great starter for new listeners and readers seeking inspiration. Good books await!

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Welcome back to “Books for Men”, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So as always, what these recap episodes, the first thing I like to do is send a big thank you to all of you, the listeners, because without you, this wouldn't be much fun. I'd be talking into a void, right? So thank you so much for being a listener. If this is your first episode, thank you for tuning in today. I wanted to remind you that the best way that you can support this podcast is to subscribe on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on because that's what lets the algorithms know that people are actually tuning into the show and in return, it puts it front of new and more listeners. So it's the best way to inspire more men to read. So if you can find it deep down inside of you to hit that subscribe button, I would greatly appreciate it.

(01:05)

And then the other thing that I wanted to remind you before I jump into the recap for the month is that this podcast does have a companion newsletter that goes out at the end of every month, or actually it's the beginning of the month coming up, and it just summarizes the previous month. So it rounds up all of the episodes from that month with full book and author information. All of the episode summaries, all the best quotes, or my favorite quotes I should say, as well as newsletter-only book recommendations. If you are interested in that, you could sign up for it on the website BooksforMen.org. Alright, so let's jump into the recap episode for the month of August 2024. So it was a three-episode month, two works of nonfiction, one work of fiction, and the first episode was “#205 | Exploring Stoicism: The 3 Pillars of Stoic Philosophy That Underpin Marcus Aurelius’ ‘Meditation’”.

(02:06)

So sort of says it right in the title, but in this episode, I dive into the timeless wisdom of “Meditations” by Marcus Aurelius, a book that has gotten a lot of attention over the last, I don't know, 15 to 20 years. That's something that I talk a little bit about in the episode, but I did want to mention that the addition that I am speaking about in the episode is the translated version by Gregory Hays. And I think with any ancient work or any translated work in general, it's important to mention who the translator is because there are differences in interpretation a lot of times with older translated work. But in the episode, you will learn the three core tenets of stoicism and I explored the life philosophy of Marcus Aurelius, specifically the principles of willing acceptance, unselfish action, and objective judgment. I think it's great for anyone who wants to live with purpose and resilience.

(03:09)

There is one quote that sort of summarizes all of that I shared in the episode, but I'll share it again here, and it's, Everywhere, at each moment, you have the option: to accept this event with humility, to treat this person as he should be treated, and to approach this thought with care, so nothing irrational creeps in.” So that leads us into our first work of fiction for the month. And it was a novel or maybe a short story collection or an essay collection, depending on how you look at it. Most call it a novel. And for good reason, I think it is a novel as well. This is something that I talked about in the episode, but it was “#206 |Times a Goon, Right?—Jennifer Egan Explores Impermanence and the Passing of Time in Her 2011 Masterpiece”. So as the title suggests, I discuss the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan.

(04:07)

And as I alluded to in that brief little recap there, it's basically 13 interconnected stories that mostly center around New York City and rock and roll. But the book explores some really heavy topics, I would say like lost innocence, change and impermanence. And I really can't speak highly enough about Egan's ability to weave together different voices, perspectives, styles, and timelines, to really create a compelling and emotionally resonant narrative and exploration of the passing of time. On that note, I'll share with you a quote from the book that is probably most reflective of the title, “A Visit from the Goon Squad”, and it's just a bit of dialogue in the last chapter that goes: “’Times a goon, right? You're going to let that goon push you around.’ Scotty shook his head. ‘The Goon won’”. And then that led us into the final episode for the month. And I thought that it paired really well with the first nonfiction episode of the month.

(05:13)

So that was on Stoicism and episode # 207 was called “From Suffering to Serenity: What Is Buddhism, Really? Philosophy or Religion? As the title suggests, I talk a lot about Buddhism, and the reason why I say I think it pairs well with stoicism is I do see a lot of similarities. And of course that's not to say they're the same thing because they're very different. But like I said, there is some crossover. And that's one of the things I explore in this episode actually, is the crossover effect, as I call it with Buddhism and so many other philosophical methodologies, really, whether they're religious or more life philosophy like Stoicism. The book that I explore in the episode is called “The Dhammpada”, and more specifically the translated edition by Eknath Easwaran. So “The Dhammpada” is really the foundational text for Buddhism. And in the book it is split up in two parts really, and there's an introduction by him on Buddhism. And then there is the 423 verses that represent the Dharma.

(06:24)

In the episode, I talk about the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path and offer insights into the mythology of Siddhartha and the applicability of Buddhist principles. For anyone asking the question, is Buddhism more of a philosophy or more of a religion? In the episode, I share a lot of quotes from Buddha and a lot of passages from the book. And I think that ultimately it just offers a perspective on how to relieve suffering and pursue wisdom and inner peace in your life. Perhaps my favorite quote from the episode and the book is: “More than those who hate you. More than all of your enemies. An undisciplined mind does greater harm.” And so that was our three episodes for the month. If you are interested, I would definitely go back and listen to the episodes individually because I go into much greater detail about everything that I mentioned in this recap episode.

(07:38)

But I wanted to thank you one more time for tuning in and listening and remind you that if you want to support the podcast please hit that subscribe button on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on. And lastly, if you are interested in listening to my 2021 poem collection, it's called “mini heartbreaks (or, little poems about life)”. It's raw, it's unorthodox, and it's available on the podcast “Slightly Crooked: Good Stories, Told Well”. The link for that will be in the show notes. So again, thank you so much for listening. And, if you want more on this podcast, remember, you could always visit BooksforMen.org.