“God is in the details.”
Gustave Flaubert (1821-80)

The Details of Achieving Ataraxis

Details are important when trying to get anything right. It does not matter whether you are trying to perceive reality accurately and objectively or if you are trying to achieve ataraxis. Attending to details, as difficult as it can be, often makes a huge difference.

What follows includes a section on (1) thinking to avoid and (2) thinking to cultivate. The section on thinking to avoid includes prescribed thought patterns to avoid as well as a discussion on feelings. The section on thinking to cultivate includes prescribed thinking to cultivate and a discussion on staying in the present.

The prescriptions that follow are the core of guiding you toward ataraxis. Practicing them takes discipline and persistence. Whether you find this practice easy or hard is foremost a function of your perspective. You can view it as a challenge, a burden, an opportunity, or as a combination of all three. It is up to you. In the hope of enticing you to do the work, we start with a description of the benefits of achieving peace of mind.

It is certainly not a given that achieving peace of mind or ataraxis will be a goal in your life. Perhaps you will be blessed with unusual peace of mind and rarely feel the pull of anger or sadness or worry.

On the other hand, if you are like most, you will have had moments when you tremble with anger or feel the burden of sadness and worry. Hopefully these moments and the associated feelings will be manageable and not debilitating. Even if they are manageable and infrequent, it is still in your best interest, in my opinion, to learn how to achieve ataraxis.

The benefits of ataraxis are numerous, even without the mystical payoffs described by some authors. In addition to implied emotional serenity and all its rewards, achieving ataraxis promises physical health, vitality, and the quality of being at peace with most others you meet. Not bad when compared to the average grumpy middle aged or older man (or woman).

It is because of these benefits, that I am writing this book (and blog). My plan is to convince you of the benefits of ataraxis and then to layout a path for you to follow. I have done my best to give you ample reason for the journey and some counsel on the path to take. My hope is that my efforts accelerate your journey – sooner than later in your life.

In the pages (and posts) that follow, I will describe and prescribe strategies for achieving and maintaining ataraxis, followed by strategies for maximizing physical and emotional health.

The strategies for maximizing physical and emotional health are not afterthoughts. They are components of a holistic approach that encompasses all aspects of being human including the spiritual self, the physical self, and the emotional self.

Being physically healthy and emotionally happy are interrelated with each other as well as with the spiritual aspects of achieving ataraxis. They all influence each other synergistically.

Finally, I will address the implications of ataraxis for being in relationships with others, for being a parent, for being at work, and for being a leader.

Before closing, it is worth noting, that peace of mind or serenity is typically viewed as a prerequisite for connecting with your spirit or your “soul”. In some views, achieving peace of mind opens “space” or room for a connection to your spirit as well as to powers greater (or higher) than you or anyone else can fathom (for example, God or Allah).

This book is not primarily about the spiritual connection you might establish with a higher power or a universal energy, however. Although my observation is that achieving the state of ataraxis is a gateway to feeling in harmony with self, others, and your surroundings, I find that the full meaning of the feeling of being in harmony is inexpressible without limiting it through the mechanism of a belief system.

So, I will describe strategies for achieving peace of mind or ataraxis but I will not describe the more spiritual or mystical elements of the experience.

This does not mean that I do not think of the spiritual or mystical elements of the experience as being important. Indeed, I think of attending to your spiritual self and your spiritual connections to a higher power as being critically important. I just cannot describe the details of spiritual connections without expressing a belief system that you are better off exploring for your self, after learning how to achieve peace of mind.

Certainly there are plenty of belief systems to choose from, including those inherent in all forms of religion and those expressed by individuals, examples of which include authors such as Dan Millman (for example, Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior), Eckhart Tolle (for example, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment), and Alberto Villoldo (for example, The Four Insights: Wisdom, Power, and Grace of the Earthkeepers)–to name but a few. The point is, there are plenty of belief systems out there–all sharing some themes while being unique in other ways.

A word of caution, belief systems, no matter how comprehensive and elegant and inspiring, are still creations of human beings. Explore them, but keep in mind that they are all interpretations of what is likely beyond anyone’s full understanding.

Finally, my hope is that you will ask questions about what you read here. So don’t be afraid to take me to task. I’m sure it will help both you and me, deepen our understanding.

With Best Regard,

R. Brad Lebo, Ph. D.