Attention [prosoche] is the fundamental Stoic spiritual attitude. It is a continuous vigilance and presence of mind, self consciousness which never sleeps, and a constant tension of the spirit. Thanks to this attitude, the philosopher is fully aware of what he does at each instant, and he wills his actions fully. Thanks to his spiritual vigilance, th stoic always has “at hand” [procheiron] the fundamental rule of life: that is, the distinction between what depends on us and what does not.
–Pierre Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life
[Judaism] is an asceticism, like the training of a fighter. It is acquired and held, finally, in the particular type of intellectual life known as the study of the Torah, that permanent revision and updating of the content of the Revelation where every situation within the human adventure can be judged.
–Emmanual Levinas, Difficult Freedom
“Train wholeheartedly” is the 54th lojong slogan in Tibetan Buddhism.
