It so happened that Epicurus had a garden very close to Athens. He, too, was one of the rarest people, just like Chuang Tzu. He did not believe in God, he did not believe in anything, since belief is nonsense. Only stupid people believe. A person's understanding is faith, not belief. Faith is something completely different. Faith means believing life, believing it so absolutely that you are ready to go with it anywhere.
... He had a small garden, and he lived there with his students. People thought that he was an atheist, an immoral person. He did not believe in God, he did not believe in the scriptures, he did not believe in any temple, he was an atheist. But he lived so majestically! His life was excellent, magnificent, although he had nothing, although they were very poor.
The king heard about them and wanted to see how they lived and how they could be happy without beliefs.
If you cannot be happy even with a belief in God, how could these people be happy without God?
So one evening he went to visit the garden of Epicurus. He was truly surprised, shocked - it was a miracle: they had nothing, almost nothing, but they lived like emperors. They lived like gods. Their whole life was a holiday. When they went to the river to swim, it was not just a swim, it was a dance with the river, it was tuning in with the melody of the river. They sang and danced and swam and jumped and dived.
Their food was a holiday, a feast, but they had nothing - only bread and salt, not even butter. But they felt such gratitude that just to be was already enough, nothing more was needed.
This made a very big impression on the king, and he asked Epicurus:
“Next time I come, I would like to bring you something as a gift.” What would you like?
Epicurus said:
- Give us time to think, we never thought that someone could give us gifts. After all, we have so many gifts from nature. But if you insist, then bring some oil and nothing more. Just do this.
Life can be a celebration if you know how to live without worries. Otherwise life becomes a long protracted illness and suffering that ends only in death.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru