> Aurelius definitely seemed to be talking about curbing both the positive AND the negative emotions I think you're right about this. But there's nothing to s

> Aurelius definitely seemed to be talking about curbing both the positive AND the negative emotions I think you're right about this. But there's nothing to say you couldn't take the useful aspects of a particular philosophy and discard the rest. For example, Cato the Younger adopted the fortitude of stoic principles to filibuster the senate, though I believe he didn't behave in the manner of the stoics during his lifetime. But, as you say, Aurelius was particularly proud of his ability to forgo pleasure, especially when it was readily available to him. I don't think this is at-all necessary to forgo pleasure in order to reduce one's own suffering. That a buddhist monk can sit still while being set alight seems to be strong evidence that pain can be assuaged by mind training alone. Edit: I looked up self-immolation, and it turns out 'self-mummification' is a thing too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokushinbutsu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokushinbutsu