The Eagle and the Wolf
Once upon a time, a Navajo sage sat down with his grandson to teach him about life. The conversation went as follows:
“My soul is a battlefield. On the one hand there is a majestic Eagle; all her actions are full of truth, love, peace, goodness and beauty. She flies above the clouds, and although sometimes she goes down to the valleys, she always lays her eggs on top of the high mountains.
But inside me there is also a terrible Wolf. He is full of anger, envy, greed, arrogance, and resentment. He represents my dark side, my Ego. He is amused by my falls, and he justifies his presence by saying he is also part of me.”
The grandson thought about it for a moment, and then asked:
Which one wins the battle, Grandfather?”
The elder replied:
“The one I feed every day.”
I am not sure whether the story originates from the Navajo people. Many attribute it to the Cherokees, calling it the “Two Wolves” parable instead. Whether it is “The Eagle and the Wolf” or “The Two Wolves” doesn’t matter much to me, although I admit my preference for the Eagle due to her majestic allure and her flying capabilities. Hence “The Eagle and the Wolf”… 😊
In any case, what matters is how this story captures the essence of our internal battle between good and bad. It highlights the importance of our conscious choices in shaping our character, and ultimately our life. To me, this story is as true and beautiful as it can be.
I love it because it helps me visualize my internal struggle. I picture my own Eagle, and my own Wolf, trying to rule over my thoughts, words, and actions. Whenever I help somebody, I witness my Eagle. When I crave for outer acceptance or recognition, I see the Wolf, and so on. My Wolf is, in 99% of cases, my unsecure, unwise and needy Ego.
Another reason for my love of the story is, it could have been written by my favourite philosopher, Epictetus! The sage teaches his grandson that the choices we make everyday determine which spirit grows stronger within us. This is exactly what Epictetus taught his students, that we become what we practice, what we put our focus on.
“We become what we give our attention to” – Epictetus”
Epictetus has inspired me to consciously focus on feeding my Eagle, to embrace failure as an opportunity for growth, and to persist in the face of setbacks. I owe so much to my beloved disabled slave born c.50 AD in present-day Turkey. A slave who conquered his freedom and taught philosophy in Rome. Well… until the Roman emperor banished all philosophers, when he moved to Epirus (Greece) to found his own school.
Epictetus’ ideas – written by his student Arrian – are a wonderful compass to feed our Eagles, to build a meaningful and fulfilling life, in ancient words, an Eudaimonic life. His ideas are very important, and incredibly contemporary, because happy individuals make harmonious societies. Just as the wellbeing of our bodies depends upon the wellbeing of our cells, the wellbeing of society depends upon the wellbeing of its members.
Building a virtuous character and striving towards arête
For Epictetus, the benefits of philosophy were twofold. Firstly, by focusing on improving our character, we feed our Eagles, obtaining inner peace, freedom and happiness. Secondly, and consequently, we inspire others to follow suit, having a positive ripple effect on them, and contributing to make the world a better place. This was the whole point, building a virtuous character for the benefit of others!
Epictetus knew it was not easy. For him, and for his fellow Stoic philosophers, building a virtuous character meant striving towards excellence – towards arête – in the moral and reasoning realms, and in that of natural philosophy (natural science at the time). We needed to excel at (1) reasoning, the ability to think logically, critically and clearly, (2) natural philosophy, studying the workings of the universe and our place within it, and (3) morality, using reasoning and understanding to contribute to the common good.
Cultivating the three dimensions, the Stoics built their character, a virtuous character aimed at becoming individuals who were wise, just and deeply knowledgeable of the natural order. As the Navajos and Cherokees would put it, they fed their Eagles.
I wish this were still the case today, where ethical considerations are clearly lagging behind rational thought and scientific understanding. Remembering Epictetus words – we become what we give our attention to – I wish we gave more attention to building virtuous characters, and a culture of character.
Because we are at an inflection point in human history, where those of us trying to make our Eagles flourish are winning the battle of ideas, but are losing the war of meaningful action.
We have a designed an actionable roadmap with a holistic framework to promote sustainable development, equality and environmental stewardship: the 2030 Agenda. However, implementation is the Achilles’ Heel in this agenda. Our future is threatened by war and climate change. We live in societies struck by anger, anxiety, depression and loneliness. Homo Oeconomicus is our behavioural role model, on which we design our economies, our societies, and even our education systems.
The crisis of our time is a crisis of consciousness, underpinned by an epistemological and moral crises. Crises of values, where a purely rational, scientific, materialistic and technocratic worldview leaves values and ethical considerations behind. We are masters in scientific and technological development, yet unable to foster peace, happiness, equality and sustainable development.
Echoing Martin Luther King Jr’s words: Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.
Building a better world requires re-integrating ethical considerations into the core of how we think and what we do. What Epictetus, Socrates, Aristotle, and many other pioneering thinkers of our Greco-Roman tradition taught us over 2000 years ago.
The new roadmap ahead needs to be built with the power of science, industry and innovation – our head – alongside strong values that bring us into closer emotional connection with the world – our heart –, for our actions to be guided by our Eagles.
“If virtue precedes us, every step will be safe”. Seneca
The ancient Hellenic, Vedic and Indigenous traditions viewed philosophy as a way of life. Philosophy (philo: love and sophia: wisdom), the love of wisdom, was aimed at learning the art of living. Its aim was self-transformation, improving character towards the ideal of wisdom, and relieving unnecessary suffering. In simple terms, building the best possible version of ourselvesfor our own benefit and – most importantly – for the benefit of others.
This is the philosophy I love, the one aimed at feeding our Eagles, at building character and cultures of character. Philosophy with a capital P. The philosophy that can enrich our existence and tackle the root causes of our complex, interdependent and intertwined problems. The philosophy we can tap into to make our Eagles grow strong and fly high while our Wolves hibernate for months, for years, ideally for life.
