I wish you happiness and peace this Eikas! I recently published my commentary on syggenis hedone (Epicurus’ doctrine of congenital pleasure), comparisons of this doctrine with Buddhists doctrines, and an essay on Vatican Saying 41 as a set of practices for systematically awakening our pleasure potential.

• Commentary on Innate Pleasure – Provides a basic outline of the Epicurean conception of pleasure as an innate ethical faculty
• Comparing Syggenis Hedone and Buddha-Garbha – Evaluates some shared basic features of innate pleasure and Buddha-nature, particularly as it is interpreted in the hongaku (original enlightenment) discourse in some lineages of Japanese Buddhism
• The Activities of Vatican Saying 41 – Breaks this saying into 5 precepts that teach us to find our voice, to practice philosophy and laughter at one and the same time, and other precepts. This essay focuses on the word “ama”, which stresses the simultaneity of cause and effect / activity and pleasure in our practice of philosophy

The three essays were written together and are meant to be studied together. I also strongly encourage sincere students of Epicurean philosophy to write or compile their own outlines and meleta / commentaries on these ideas.

On other literary updates: Our friend Nathan recently published the page Twentiers.com. Please check out his many pages of resources for students, including ancient writings by Lucian (the very first work of science fiction ever True Story, and Alexander the False Prophet) and hard-to-find passages from the works of Philodemus (On Anger, On Property Management, On Piety, On Death, On Frank Criticism, Methods of inference). He even compiled various hostile or critical sources. This page is a great resource for students who wish to delve deeper.