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Daily Advice 1.16.21
Jan. 16th, 2021 10:43 amLet's look at The Art of War, Chapter 2.
Sun Tzu tells us:
Sun Tzu is certainly right that countries do not benefit from prolonged warfare. But it is worth noting that one side will invariably have the ability to prolong a war beyond that of their opponent, and that is the side that is going to win. This is why the North Vietnamese won the Vietnam War despite superior American firepower, and why the Taliban will ultimately win in Afghanistan.
How can we apply Sun Tzu's points both to (1) our personal goals and to (2) the spiritual warfare that we have been discussing?
I'd like to suggest the following for consideration.
(1) If you want to accomplish anything at all, persistence is critical. If you want to write a novel, the novel is your goal, and an unwritten novel is your enemy. (How many half-finished novels do you have stored on your computers, writers? I know I've got at least a half dozen.) The Enemy will use every device to outlast you, to damp your ardor and exhaust your strength. But every day that you outlast him, you weaken him and strengthen yourself.
On the other hand, when it comes time to publish your book, haste-- though not stupid haste-- is preferably to a long delay. A Christmas recipe book will not sell very well if its release is delayed until February.
Perhaps we should break our goals down into two types: Those that resemble training, and those that resemble combat. In those that resemble training, discipline, patience, and persistence are key. The head of the tai chi lineage that I've been training in for a number of years recently accepted me as an instructor. I was able to get to that point thanks to daily practice over the course of seven years. When I started, I was terrible, and I couldn't make it through a form without hurting myself. On the other hand, when I start teaching public classes, swiftness is preferably to delay. Hemming and hawing won't bring in any students!
(2) Applying these thoughts to the spiritual war, how can we make use of them?
One way to think of the ongoing crisis is as a build up of energy in the Lower Astral Plane. This happens from time to time. It dissipates when the pressures in the Lower Astral are discharged into the Physical Plane. Unfortunately, that discharge is never pretty; it takes the form of war, death, natural disaster, conflict, plague and so on. We're clearly in the middle of that phase right now.
Outlast the enemy. Demons may be smart, but Patience is a virtue, not a passion. When you find yourself pulled into the conflict, give the enemy nothing. Pray. Do a banishing ritual. Go outside. Work on something truly important to you-- something that expresses the highest part of yourself, not the lowest. Do it every time. And do it quickly. Don't linger over your anger; do something else right now. If whatever triggered it is actually important, you can come back to it later, when you are calm; chances are it isn't, though.
Remember that your psyche is your territory; the Enemy is an invader. Outlast him, and give him nothing that will feed him, and he will be forced to retreat in dismay.
Sun Tzu tells us:
When engaged in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.
Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.
Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been associated with long delays.
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.
Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.
Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been associated with long delays.
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
Sun Tzu is certainly right that countries do not benefit from prolonged warfare. But it is worth noting that one side will invariably have the ability to prolong a war beyond that of their opponent, and that is the side that is going to win. This is why the North Vietnamese won the Vietnam War despite superior American firepower, and why the Taliban will ultimately win in Afghanistan.
How can we apply Sun Tzu's points both to (1) our personal goals and to (2) the spiritual warfare that we have been discussing?
I'd like to suggest the following for consideration.
(1) If you want to accomplish anything at all, persistence is critical. If you want to write a novel, the novel is your goal, and an unwritten novel is your enemy. (How many half-finished novels do you have stored on your computers, writers? I know I've got at least a half dozen.) The Enemy will use every device to outlast you, to damp your ardor and exhaust your strength. But every day that you outlast him, you weaken him and strengthen yourself.
On the other hand, when it comes time to publish your book, haste-- though not stupid haste-- is preferably to a long delay. A Christmas recipe book will not sell very well if its release is delayed until February.
Perhaps we should break our goals down into two types: Those that resemble training, and those that resemble combat. In those that resemble training, discipline, patience, and persistence are key. The head of the tai chi lineage that I've been training in for a number of years recently accepted me as an instructor. I was able to get to that point thanks to daily practice over the course of seven years. When I started, I was terrible, and I couldn't make it through a form without hurting myself. On the other hand, when I start teaching public classes, swiftness is preferably to delay. Hemming and hawing won't bring in any students!
(2) Applying these thoughts to the spiritual war, how can we make use of them?
One way to think of the ongoing crisis is as a build up of energy in the Lower Astral Plane. This happens from time to time. It dissipates when the pressures in the Lower Astral are discharged into the Physical Plane. Unfortunately, that discharge is never pretty; it takes the form of war, death, natural disaster, conflict, plague and so on. We're clearly in the middle of that phase right now.
Outlast the enemy. Demons may be smart, but Patience is a virtue, not a passion. When you find yourself pulled into the conflict, give the enemy nothing. Pray. Do a banishing ritual. Go outside. Work on something truly important to you-- something that expresses the highest part of yourself, not the lowest. Do it every time. And do it quickly. Don't linger over your anger; do something else right now. If whatever triggered it is actually important, you can come back to it later, when you are calm; chances are it isn't, though.
Remember that your psyche is your territory; the Enemy is an invader. Outlast him, and give him nothing that will feed him, and he will be forced to retreat in dismay.
