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Daily Reflection 1.29.21
Jan. 29th, 2021 01:38 pmLet's continue to look at the ways in which, Sun Tzu tells us, a ruler may bring misfortune upon his army.
Our translator appends to this the following notes from later commentators:
The point of all of this is to understand the situation that you're in and act appropriately. You can't govern an army as a kingdom, and you also can't govern a kingdom as an army.
How can we apply these ideas to our goals in general, and the specialized topics we've been discussing?
For general goals, the lesson is, again, to govern our conduct according to the situation that we are in. Different virtues are appropriate to different circumstances. This morning I was attempting to write this post and my 1 year old daughter grabbed hold of my pantleg and started screaming. Now if anyone else had done that-- a random person at a coffeeshop, say-- the appropriate conduct on my part might have involved a physical confrontation; since this is a toddler we're talking about, the appropriate response was to change her diaper!
In a similar way, many people from more or less difficult backgrounds-- ex-cons and addicts, or people who grew up in poverty-- who attempt to transition into a law-abiding, mainstream way of life find that the virtues that served them well in their former life are hindrances now. A willingness to fight is a ticket to safety on the street and termination in the office.
The same lessons apply when we approach the spiritual life, especially in its practical applications. One of the most amusing things to me about modern paganism is just how thoroughly Protestant most of it is. Go find any popular pagan internet forum. You'll almost always find a bunch of people getting saved by Odin, Zeus or The Goddess, and then spending half their time insisting that they and they only are practicing the right form of Paganism, as proven by a bunch of references to contemporary academic scholarship.
There is, in fact, one religion which comes down to us from the ancient world which bases its beliefs on getting saved by a rigid adherence to a series of texts compiled by scholars of dubious sincerity, but its name is not "Paganism."
At the more practical level, this kind of mixed-up approach to the spiritual world can cause serious problems. Different types of spiritual beings have different requirements from those that work with them. If you're going to work with demons-- I'd prefer you not, but if you are going to-- you will be well-advised to use all of the binding and protective methods found in the old grimoires. On the other hand, if you're going to work with angels, those kind of methods are not at all advisable. I once read a book of Christian magic which involved commanding the obedience of saints and angels, and even the Archangel Michael! At that point, why not just command God himself? Needless to say, this is not at all an appropriate way to work with higher beings. They may at times respond, in the same way that I respond to my cat when he scratches at the door, but this isn't the same as obedience, and the effect on one's own ego of playing God in this way can be disastrous.
Finally, there is the matter of the ongoing Spiritual Warfare that I've been discussing here.
This is one area, it seems to me, where it would be very easy to make exactly this mistake. I'm referring to it as "warfare"-- but really "warfare" is just a metaphor. We could just as well refer to it as "Astral Weather Conditions." I prefer to say "war" because that makes it sound and feel more interesting to me-- my favorite movies include Patton and Braveheart, but you'd have to pay me to watch Twister. That said, there are right and wrong ways to approach this war, appropriate and inappropriate virtues for the spiritual warfare.
In an ordinary conflict, the martial virtues are critical. We've said that many of our fellows, and often enough ourselves, are obsessed or possessed by evil spirits. To the extent that this is the case, the martial virtues are often entirely counterproductive. Getting into an online debate, a screaming match, or, worst of all, a physical confrontation with a demoniac will usually do nothing but inflame your own passions and feed the demon. To the extent that actual conflict of any kind is necessary-- and it sometimes is-- it should be conducted quickly, decisively, and passionlessly. It should aim at a specific goal-- the removal of a person from an internet forum or your living room might be examples-- and it should cease entirely once that goal is attained. The person in question should then become an object of prayer.
In the Spiritual Warfare, the virtues of patience and endurance, religion and philosophy, compassion, and even humor, are as important as courage and discipline, and perhaps more so. And in order to achieve victory, we need to conduct ourselves and discipline ourselves according to these virtues, and to discipline ourselves accordingly.
2. By attempting to govern an army in the same way he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier's minds.
Our translator appends to this the following notes from later commentators:
Tsao Kung's note is... "The military sphere and the civil sphere are wholly distinct; you can't handle an army in kid gloves." And Chang Yu says: "Humanity and justice are the principles on which to govern a state, but not an army; opportunism and flexibility, on the other hand, are military rather than civic virtues."
The point of all of this is to understand the situation that you're in and act appropriately. You can't govern an army as a kingdom, and you also can't govern a kingdom as an army.
How can we apply these ideas to our goals in general, and the specialized topics we've been discussing?
For general goals, the lesson is, again, to govern our conduct according to the situation that we are in. Different virtues are appropriate to different circumstances. This morning I was attempting to write this post and my 1 year old daughter grabbed hold of my pantleg and started screaming. Now if anyone else had done that-- a random person at a coffeeshop, say-- the appropriate conduct on my part might have involved a physical confrontation; since this is a toddler we're talking about, the appropriate response was to change her diaper!
In a similar way, many people from more or less difficult backgrounds-- ex-cons and addicts, or people who grew up in poverty-- who attempt to transition into a law-abiding, mainstream way of life find that the virtues that served them well in their former life are hindrances now. A willingness to fight is a ticket to safety on the street and termination in the office.
The same lessons apply when we approach the spiritual life, especially in its practical applications. One of the most amusing things to me about modern paganism is just how thoroughly Protestant most of it is. Go find any popular pagan internet forum. You'll almost always find a bunch of people getting saved by Odin, Zeus or The Goddess, and then spending half their time insisting that they and they only are practicing the right form of Paganism, as proven by a bunch of references to contemporary academic scholarship.
There is, in fact, one religion which comes down to us from the ancient world which bases its beliefs on getting saved by a rigid adherence to a series of texts compiled by scholars of dubious sincerity, but its name is not "Paganism."
At the more practical level, this kind of mixed-up approach to the spiritual world can cause serious problems. Different types of spiritual beings have different requirements from those that work with them. If you're going to work with demons-- I'd prefer you not, but if you are going to-- you will be well-advised to use all of the binding and protective methods found in the old grimoires. On the other hand, if you're going to work with angels, those kind of methods are not at all advisable. I once read a book of Christian magic which involved commanding the obedience of saints and angels, and even the Archangel Michael! At that point, why not just command God himself? Needless to say, this is not at all an appropriate way to work with higher beings. They may at times respond, in the same way that I respond to my cat when he scratches at the door, but this isn't the same as obedience, and the effect on one's own ego of playing God in this way can be disastrous.
Finally, there is the matter of the ongoing Spiritual Warfare that I've been discussing here.
This is one area, it seems to me, where it would be very easy to make exactly this mistake. I'm referring to it as "warfare"-- but really "warfare" is just a metaphor. We could just as well refer to it as "Astral Weather Conditions." I prefer to say "war" because that makes it sound and feel more interesting to me-- my favorite movies include Patton and Braveheart, but you'd have to pay me to watch Twister. That said, there are right and wrong ways to approach this war, appropriate and inappropriate virtues for the spiritual warfare.
In an ordinary conflict, the martial virtues are critical. We've said that many of our fellows, and often enough ourselves, are obsessed or possessed by evil spirits. To the extent that this is the case, the martial virtues are often entirely counterproductive. Getting into an online debate, a screaming match, or, worst of all, a physical confrontation with a demoniac will usually do nothing but inflame your own passions and feed the demon. To the extent that actual conflict of any kind is necessary-- and it sometimes is-- it should be conducted quickly, decisively, and passionlessly. It should aim at a specific goal-- the removal of a person from an internet forum or your living room might be examples-- and it should cease entirely once that goal is attained. The person in question should then become an object of prayer.
In the Spiritual Warfare, the virtues of patience and endurance, religion and philosophy, compassion, and even humor, are as important as courage and discipline, and perhaps more so. And in order to achieve victory, we need to conduct ourselves and discipline ourselves according to these virtues, and to discipline ourselves accordingly.
