readoldthings (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
readoldthings) wrote2021-05-11 08:21 am
readoldthings) wrote2021-05-11 08:21 am
Entry tags:
Daily Reflection 5.11.21
A few notes from Chapter 10 of The Art of War:
This is a very simple but very, very important passage. It is a reminder, above all else, that we must keep our goal in mind at all times, and act in ways to advance it-- regardless of the opinions of other people.
And this is where the hard part comes in. I sometimes say that a human being is a ghost driving a monkey. What I mean is that there is a tiny part of us which is a spiritual being with self-will and self-control, and this part can grow and increase in strength if we work at it. Most of us, though, is a big, dumb ape. We are, above all else, social primates. Our instincts, passions and emotions and most of our thoughts are things we share with chimpanzees. The monkey is always with us-- always. And the thing that monkeys want above everything else-- even more than bananas and lady-monkeys-- is to run the monkey-pack.
If you watch people with this in mind, you'll see that nearly every act that human beings do has this as an ulterior motive. We want power within our group, and we want to protect our turf from the monkey-pack next door-- and to go and take their lady-monkeys and their bananas, if we can manage it. Every monkey-pack has its own Boss, and he's usually surrounded by a couple of Under-Bosses. After the Under-Bosses come a whole bunch of Everyday Monkey Boys, and after them, a few poor Monkey Outcasts. Typically there's one Boss for the boy-monkeys and one Boss for the girl-monkeys, and the two systems of Boss-hood don't really overlap with each other, though they can, especially in online settings where you can't always know who's a boy-monkey and who's a girl-monkey. But the point is, the Boss is always there, and the monkey within you is always going to try to curry favor from the Boss and the Under Bosses; to try to become an Under-Boss or even a Boss yourself one day; and to avoid, above all else, become an Outcast.
This same system of Bosses, Under-Bosses, Everyday Monkeys and Outcasts exists everywhere. It exists in music scenes, corporate boardrooms, high schools, churches, and internet forums. You can't avoid it, unless you can avoid dealing with human beings altogether. And if you allow yourself to succumb to it, it will completely derail any hope you ever had of conquering your own soul and gaining mastery over your life and your destiny. Because there will always come a time when you have to be willing to accept the Boss's disapproval and become an Outcast in order to pursue your true goals. This is hard, but you have to do it; if you pass it you have passed your first test. But then another test will come, and it will be even harder. Once the monkeys see you don't care about being an Outcast, they will come to you and offer to make you Boss. And this will be very tempting: You will have power, and lady-monkeys, and all the bananas you like. But this is a trap, because no matter how powerful the Boss seems, he's actually the least free of all. He has to constantly work to maintain his power, and he has to constantly give his Under Bosses and Everyday Monkeys what they want-- otherwise they will abandon him, and he won't be Boss anymore.
So the first test is to accept Outcast-hood.
The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.
This is a very simple but very, very important passage. It is a reminder, above all else, that we must keep our goal in mind at all times, and act in ways to advance it-- regardless of the opinions of other people.
And this is where the hard part comes in. I sometimes say that a human being is a ghost driving a monkey. What I mean is that there is a tiny part of us which is a spiritual being with self-will and self-control, and this part can grow and increase in strength if we work at it. Most of us, though, is a big, dumb ape. We are, above all else, social primates. Our instincts, passions and emotions and most of our thoughts are things we share with chimpanzees. The monkey is always with us-- always. And the thing that monkeys want above everything else-- even more than bananas and lady-monkeys-- is to run the monkey-pack.
If you watch people with this in mind, you'll see that nearly every act that human beings do has this as an ulterior motive. We want power within our group, and we want to protect our turf from the monkey-pack next door-- and to go and take their lady-monkeys and their bananas, if we can manage it. Every monkey-pack has its own Boss, and he's usually surrounded by a couple of Under-Bosses. After the Under-Bosses come a whole bunch of Everyday Monkey Boys, and after them, a few poor Monkey Outcasts. Typically there's one Boss for the boy-monkeys and one Boss for the girl-monkeys, and the two systems of Boss-hood don't really overlap with each other, though they can, especially in online settings where you can't always know who's a boy-monkey and who's a girl-monkey. But the point is, the Boss is always there, and the monkey within you is always going to try to curry favor from the Boss and the Under Bosses; to try to become an Under-Boss or even a Boss yourself one day; and to avoid, above all else, become an Outcast.
This same system of Bosses, Under-Bosses, Everyday Monkeys and Outcasts exists everywhere. It exists in music scenes, corporate boardrooms, high schools, churches, and internet forums. You can't avoid it, unless you can avoid dealing with human beings altogether. And if you allow yourself to succumb to it, it will completely derail any hope you ever had of conquering your own soul and gaining mastery over your life and your destiny. Because there will always come a time when you have to be willing to accept the Boss's disapproval and become an Outcast in order to pursue your true goals. This is hard, but you have to do it; if you pass it you have passed your first test. But then another test will come, and it will be even harder. Once the monkeys see you don't care about being an Outcast, they will come to you and offer to make you Boss. And this will be very tempting: You will have power, and lady-monkeys, and all the bananas you like. But this is a trap, because no matter how powerful the Boss seems, he's actually the least free of all. He has to constantly work to maintain his power, and he has to constantly give his Under Bosses and Everyday Monkeys what they want-- otherwise they will abandon him, and he won't be Boss anymore.
So the first test is to accept Outcast-hood.
The second test is to refuse Boss-hood.
And then comes the third test.
no subject
Even when applying this war metaphor in aid of shaping and controlling our inner spirit’s successful interaction with the outer world, it may be helpful to recall that generals and sovereigns are, themselves, at the top of “monkey pyramids”. To the extent any being, metaphorical or material, rises in a social pyramid, it is only a trap if they become diverted from their initial goal in favor of strategies to rise ever higher on whatever overlapping Venn monkey pyramids they may belong to, simply for the act of rising for its own sake.
Very often success in one’s inner goals overlaps with outward rewards; and the rewards themselves, surveyed with strategic clarity, provide opportunities for further victories that would not be present otherwise. For instance, an actor getting a chance for the first time to play a lead role will suddenly be the center of attention and gain a huge (mainly etheric, it now seems to me, having some experience of the effect once upon a time) charge from it all along the whole process, not just in the actual performance. If they expend all this charge in partying and never actually learn their lines, the won a battle but lose a war; if they work hard but perform only to please, giving a shallow performance that wows certain audiences but ties them on a path of having access and opportunity only on the shallower end of the art, without connection for the inner sovereign’s artistic interests. But if they work hard, dig deeper tham is comfortable, follow their inner muse and not only wow the audience, but move them with artistic truth, they not only gain in reputation and reward; they also have opportunity, access and choice in choosing more interesting projects that might allow them to express their soul’s deeper will.
In the metaphorical sense of our inner army, outward successes bring us access to new troops and resources to wage our battles. The tricky part— where the trap lies— is that the higher goal of the war should always stays the top priority. Seeking to attain new troops and resources can never come at the expense of the higher goal, and if the qualities of the troops or resources are not right for the battles at hand (e.g. more food when what you need is fortification, more archers when what you need is scouts) then it is detrimental to your cause to seek them.
By the way, when you wrote that last sentence, did you actually have a third test in your mind, or were you just trying to provoke thought?