Human Flourishing, Eudaimonia and our Highest Good
The Stoics saw Eudaimonia as a state of inner peace, tranquility, and self governance to be attained in the face of outer turmoil.
The U.S. was founded on the principles of Natural Law and the supposed separation of church and state, leaving the religiosity of the founders to be deciphered through the abundant masonic symbology and illuminati dollars they left behind. However, the spiritual elements of Natural Law still remain hidden in plain sight throughout our founding documents. Without the knowledge of these sacred, spiritual, and quasi-religious guiding principles and their resultant morality all of our beloved government systems will devolve into madness as we’re collectively witnessing right now. So, what are the spiritual over pinnings of Natural Law?
To unbox the spiritual origins of America and ourselves we must consult our most important secession document, the Declaration of Independence, where we are once again pointed to the ancient maxim of Natural Law, “to pursue one's own happiness.” As I’ve written previously, Thomas Jefferson and the founders who drafted the declaration were influenced by Sir William Blackstone. Both Blackstone and Jefferson defined "happiness" as eudaimonia¬—the ancient Greek concept of human flourishing or well-being. Eudaimonia connects us to our “higher self”, or as Emerson called it our “over soul”. In order to flourish as humans we must act in accordance to our highest good hereby establishing an inner, natural morality.
The Stoics saw Eudaimonia as a state of inner peace, tranquility, and self governance to be attained in the face of outer turmoil. By focusing on the things that are within your power and not obsessing over the things which aren’t such as health, death, the actions or opinions of others, natural disasters, ect – he attains inner peace, or eudaimonia of the wise and just man. Once one is made conscious of the reality that one must do the inner work before being able to meaningfully change the outer world, he is initiated into the fundamental precept of Eudaimonia and will then be able to ask “Am I acting in alignment with my highest good?” before he acts. This higher self, over soul, or “daimon” as the Stoics called it, can replace the repressive overarching dark shadow of government in one's life replacing it with meaningful self governance in accordance with Natural Law, as our founders and ancient philosophers intended.
When plugging into our higher selves we become aware of the lower and higher aspects of ourselves. Our lower self may be overly concerned with sex, money, power and accumulating material possessions. He may even justify doing unconscionable things, bringing harm to others or their property to achieve these ends. The lower self believes it's wise to act only in his own self interest as long as he doesn’t get caught. The higher self is our bridge to our divine power, reason, the inner mirror which defines our meaning or logos. One must become conscious of his higher self in order to act in accordance with his highest good. In doing so he learns who really pulls the strings in his world.
As every scientific law is built on a theory, every societal system like our justice system is built upon a foundational philosophy to pursue one's own happiness, or Eudaimonia. These timeless spiritual traditions are the bedrock of classical civilization which anyone can voluntarily ascribe to attain inner peace and it’s subsequent human flourishing. Without the admittance of this spiritual philosophy man will continue to fall deeper into the dystopian dogma of a purely material existence. Instead, how about we connect with our higher selves and grab ahold of the golden thread which weaves the fabric of human existence just as the ancients and founders did before us.