Stoicism Cured His Depression | A mini documentary

Some things are up to us, some things are not up to us. It’s amazing how simple the sentence sounds, right? But it’s so true. If you can live it, if you can accept it, you will have less stress in your life.

In Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, I spoke with Henry Manampiring; author of a book about Stoicism called ‘Filosofi Teras’, which became a national bestseller and Book of the Year 2019. This short documentary explores why many Indonesians seem to be interested in an ancient philosophy from the West. I met Henry in a restaurant in one of Jakarta's business districts, where we enjoyed some authentic Padangnese dishes.

But before we even shook hands, our Stoicism was already put to the test. One of the major obstacles in Jakarta is traffic. Especially during rush hour, the metropolis turns into one big traffic jam. Even though I felt some agitation because my taxi arrived too late in order to drive to my destination with the speed of a snail; I quickly remembered that the traffic nor the arrival at my destination nor Henry's reaction to me being late is within my control. Therefore, it is futile to worry about these things.

But, Henry was late as well. Also because of the traffic, that turned out to be dysregulated because of student protests. Funnily enough, he told me that Stoicism helped him to cope with Jakarta's traffic that he has to confront on a daily basis. Jakarta’s traffic is notorious. I used to get mad, like, literally mad, all the time if I got stuck in traffic. I’ve become much calmer now. Traffic no longer bothers me.

Filosofi Teras - the title of Henry's book - is Indonesian for Philosophy of the Porch. So, my intention was to make the first popular book; very accessible in this language - not very academic - for general Indonesian laymen to have a taste of the Stoic philosophy. And the reason why I wrote it is exactly because no such book has existed before.

In the middle of a clinical depression, Henry discovered Stoicism. When he put this philosophy into practice, he managed to overcome his depression. So, about two years ago, I was diagnosed with a depressive disorder. That’s clinical, like, real clinical definition of depression, and I was on medication. And actually during the course of therapy when I discovered Stoicism - first from Massimo Pigliucci’s book ‘How To Be A Stoic’ - that’s how I feel that the philosophy helps me greatly, to the point that I recover so fast I can be off medication very quickly. Even my psychiatrist was surprised.

The popularity of Henry's book intrigued me, mainly because Indonesia's religious circumstances seem to make it unlikely. The country is home to the largest Islamic population in the world, that lives alongside Catholics, Protestants, Hindus, Buddhists & Confucianists. Religion plays a very important role in Indonesian culture. Blasphemy is illegal.

I fully realized when I wrote that book whether there will be concern. Concern is already a very soft word. There is nothing - at least as far as I could see - there is nothing against the most common religious teachings. In fact, it has to be compatible because I don’t see any religion that forbids people to be less angry, to be less violent, to be less stressed, to be less jealous of your neighbour. I mean: those things are good, right? And I guess until now, it’s almost a year, since the book first came out, I haven’t got any protests. Seriously.

The fact that a book about Stoicism became a national bestseller indicates that many Indonesians are open-minded enough to welcome a Western philosophy that is alien to the current religious landscape. I focus especially on the ‘ethics-side’ of the philosophy, which is how we should live. In particular, how you manage negative emotions. So I think managing negative emotions is a very universal subject. I think a lot of people want to know more.

And here is a source that is not based on religion so anyone - anyone from any background - can access it. A lot of these teachings are a matter of practice. So yeah, I think that’s why a lot of the rea...