Epicurus

The Greek philosopher Epicurus created a recipe to leading the happiest life, the Tetrapharmakos, “the four-part cure,” which states: “Don’t fear god, don’t worry about death; what is good is easy to get, and what is terrible is easy to endure.” This recipe is well thought out and is an amazing concept to apply to one’s philosophy or perspective on life since, as humans, we wonder how to live and be satisfied.

To those who are religious or are agnostic, “Don’t fear god.” The main purpose of religion is on how to live a good life and achieve eternal happiness—a philosophy. But, as Christopher Hitchens believes, the case of religion creates an omnipotent being who followers must love and be scared of, portraying a dictator-like figure, creating fear for its followers; do as god says or suffer for the rest of eternity. The intent of each religion is good (sometimes) but when someone is threatened their mentally changes. But think about it, is it possible that there is a supreme being that can watch our every move and hear all our thoughts? Is it worth the time to worry and stress about the unknown? If one spends a good part of their life worrying about an invisible being stalking them and judging them when their time comes they lived to please the church and god but not themselves.

Probably the hardest of all the steps, “Don’t fear death.” From personal experience, I had a fear of dying. Why? Because one doesn’t know what happens exactly after we die: if there is an afterlife, one reincarnates, one is judged by god and hopefully get accepted to paradise—religious fears—or simply nothing. Now though, I started to overcome my phobia slowly due to Marcus Aurelius’ view on death in the Meditations which supports the Tetrapharmakos, death is natural and there is no point in fighting nature. From the time one is born to the day one dies, one must simply find the best way to use the time we have in between to live instead of rejecting death, fearing it, and trying to live forever.

“What is good is easy to get,” most who hear this without thinking about it would disagree and in modern society (especially the United States, land of materialism and consumption) it is hard to grasp the concept. We believe to live good one must work hard to get money to buy more and more. But the popular saying “money can’t buy happiness” supports the Tetrapharmakos. To have a great life one simply needs basic necessities—shelter, clothing and food—and the most powerful force in the world, love (sounds cheesy but it’s fact).  Everything else is a luxury and one can live with just the bare minimum and little wealth.

The final part of the recipe is “What is terrible is easy to endure.” Sounds like a lie or as if Epicurus didn’t experience enough. The matter of fact though is that he is right and it’s possible. Everyone goes through bad times: pain, stress, injury, illness, depression, heartbreaks, etc. Coping with negativity or moving on seems difficult but isn’t it temporary? Haven’t others gone through the same? Keep in mind that nothing lasts and time heals all wounds. Following or thinking about the Tetrapharmakos can lead to living better and worrying less. We live once and time flies, it’s never enough, so don’t fear the unknown, don’t fear nature. Don’t fear being human.