Daily Advice 1.14.21

[readoldthings]

In the comments, we've been discussing Sun Tzu's ideas in light of political and astral conditions here in the US. Chapter 1 of the Art of War closes with some more advice on the use of deception in warfare. I want to share some of these, and suggest a way of applying them to our present situation.

All warfare is based on deception.

Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is superior in strength, evade him.

If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.

Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.
 

Let us assume that we are in a war-- a spiritual war. The enemy is a plague of demons. You can take this as a metaphor, if you prefer. In that case, the "demons" are metaphors for toxic memes, collective insanity, political cults and the madness of crowds. It works either way. What do they want? Demons are characterized by intense emotion, particularly wrath and hate, intense desire, and an absence of reflection.

When people abandon their reasoning faculties and lash out at one another like animals, they are possessed by demons. (Again, this can be a metaphor, if you like.) This is the demons' goal; it feeds them. Mob violence, dehumanization, fear and paranoia, terrorism and conflict all feed them. What they want is to feed; when you give in to them, they feed on you. That's what they want, and that's how they win.

What do we want? Many things, but they can be boiled down to: "To live in peace." To live in peace doesn't refer to Pacifism. I am a martial artist and not a Pacifist. It refers, rather, but rather to a state of consciousness in which our spirits, rather than our passions, are in control of our faculties, and the same can be said for the people that we spend our time around. We don't need to worry about flying into a frenzy of rage or terror, and we also don't need to worry about people being provoked into rage and terror by images they see in the glass screens that are gates to Hell. 

Let's assume all of these things, and then one thing more. Let's assume that even though they can't reason or reflect, the demons are smart. They are older than we are, and they got here ahead of us. They're smart enough to know strategic thinking, and to apply it against us. 

If so, they are already making use of all of the foregoing points of advice from Sun Tzu. 

If that is the case, how does that modify your response to the situation? 

"Hold out baits to entice the enemy." Has anyone-- or rather, anything-- ever done that to you, on the television news or social media? "If he is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him." This goes back to the discussion of Seneca's De Irae. Anger is a poor general, and will always lead you badly. "Give him no rest." Does your phone give you a chance to rest? Does the 24-hour news cycle?

Right now the enemy is superior in strength. We would do well to evade him. 

Comments

[violetcabra]

I appreciate this meditation Steve, thank you! I wonder to what extent we can simply rise to an impregnable position through religion. Let's say that the demons operate through the Lower Astral Plane, the realm of passions. If we work to move consciousness to the Upper Astral Plane --- the plane of Beauty & Love --- to what extent can any being operating on a lower plane touch us?

Here though, I confess, that one has to adopt a radical viewpoint to life & death in which it would be better to die, to literally die, than to succumb to dark passions. The way that the partisan propaganda gets underneath people's skins is to scream: "YOU WILL SUFFER AND DIE". But it's entirely possible to accept suffering in an ethical and moral manner and entirely possible to choose death over degradation. So this sort of choice appears to me to be entirely possible but radical and incredible.

Once one embraces suffering and learns to work with suffering, than one can really work in earnest with the Lower Mental Plane, the Plane of Meaning. I think that meaningful suffering is the key that opens up the possibility to simply evade demons by going to a place where they can't traverse. Once one can answer all the fearful imaginings with the foreknowledge that one can work with the suffering constructively towards the interests of one's soul, spirit, and patron deity, malign beings lose near all of their power, since they work through suggestion, insinuation, and other indirect means.

As one sees suffering as crucial to the development of the soul in service to the patron deity, this sort of insinuation becomes impossible. When combined with a deep consciousness of human frailty, baseness, and cheapness that helps to counter the risk of any ego-inflation. For instance, I spend a good amount of time harvesting garbage to turn into pots to plant in and I like to remind myself the extent that I, too, am garbage, I too am a disposable shell, that I, Violet, am a single use item soon to be discarded. This polarizes my ego with my higher faculties in a healthy manner. My ego is just a husk, my body is just clay, and my soul can indeed rise to higher levels than the lower Astral, and polarize with the suffering of husk & clay towards the Higher.

[readoldthings]

"Let's say that the demons operate through the Lower Astral Plane, the realm of passions. If we work to move consciousness to the Upper Astral Plane --- the plane of Beauty & Love --- to what extent can any being operating on a lower plane touch us?"

Well they can't at all-- provided we're existing at all times on the Upper Astral. Which we can't do until after we've achieved release from the Material Plane. Which I guess is the whole point.

"I think that meaningful suffering is the key that opens up the possibility to simply evade demons by going to a place where they can't traverse. Once one can answer all the fearful imaginings with the foreknowledge that one can work with the suffering constructively towards the interests of one's soul, spirit, and patron deity, malign beings lose near all of their power, since they work through suggestion, insinuation, and other indirect means."

This is excellent. The power of rising through suffering is something that has only recently really become apparent to me. But you're right... once you can learn to accept suffering, any kind of suffering, and allow it to propel you upward, there is nothing that can hurt you.

Of course, saying that is much easier than doing it...

[violetcabra]

Many thanks for your kind response! Of course working constructively with suffering hurts and it's far easier to talk about than to do . That said, I feel that as with anything else practice hones one's skills and it's a good thing to practice because I imagine that once mastered it would open up enormous vistas I could as of now barely conceive of...