Daily Reflection 6.01.21
Jun. 1st, 2021 09:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readoldthingsSun Tzu closes out Chapter 11 with a few principles, starting with the following:
Regarding the first part, the later commentator Mei Yao chien says,
One of the ideas that I keep returning to in meditation is the difference between desires and choices. Desires, in general, come from the body-- we want food, we want a nap, we want a drink, we want to have sex. At higher levels, where the body interfaces with the mind, we want comfort, money, or power. But choice is something else. Choice doesn't come from the body, and it isn't the same as desire; choice comes from the will. Someone who chooses to become a priest chooses to forgo their desire for food during fasting seasons, for money and comfort if their order includes a vow of poverty, and for sex during either certain prescribed times or for good. Someone who chooses to join the military might forgo any desire, even the desire for life itself, for the sake of choice.
Sun Tzu's warlike prince isn't looking for allies-- he has chosen to forgo the all too human need for friends and companions. The warlike prince has a goal: to conquer a powerful enemy to enlarge his own kingdom. To do so, he starts by dividing the enemy's forces. In the same way, we can accomplish large goals by breaking them up into smaller increments.
On yesterday's Magic Monday, JMG recommended to one reader a recent book entitled F*ck Your Feelings by Ryan Munsley. I don't usually like contemporary motivation-psychology books, but I had a look at this one, and I'm enjoying it a great deal so far. Munsley shares this approach to large goals. Borrowing an image from American football, he uses the concept of "moving the chains."
In case anyone here isn't familiar, in football, a team has 4 tries (downs) to get 10 yards. Most of the time, you punt the ball on 4th down, so that really only means 3 tries. A football field is 100 yards long, but 10 divided by 3, rounded up, is 3.4-- so all a team has to do to retain possession of the ball is to get 3.4 yards every down.
(As an aside for football fans, the best example of this I've ever seen was the 2007 playoff game between the Steelers and the Patriots. The Patriots were unbeatable that year, on account of they're cheaters. But the Steelers had the ball to start, and the game began with an 8-minute long, yard-by-yard opening drive to the endzone. The Steelers lost in the end, but that game has always stuck in my mind.)
In the same way, even the largest goals can be broken into small pieces-- small enough that we can take a single action toward their accomplishment every day. Do this, and be willing to forgo the desires of the flesh and the need for companionship, and you will accomplish much.
When a warlike prince attacks a powerful state, his generalship shows itself in preventing the concentration of the enemy's forces. He overawes his opponents, and their allies are prevented from joining against him.
Hence he does not strive to ally himself with all and sundry, nor does he foster the power of other states. He carries out his own secret designs, keeping his antagonists in awe. Thus he is able to capture their cities and overthrow their kingdoms.
Hence he does not strive to ally himself with all and sundry, nor does he foster the power of other states. He carries out his own secret designs, keeping his antagonists in awe. Thus he is able to capture their cities and overthrow their kingdoms.
Regarding the first part, the later commentator Mei Yao chien says,
In attacking a powerful state, if you can divide her forces, you will have a superiority in strength; if you have a superiority in strength, you will overawe the enemy; if you overawe the enemy, the neighboring states will be frightened; and if the neighboring states are frightened, the enemy's allies will be prevented from joining her.
One of the ideas that I keep returning to in meditation is the difference between desires and choices. Desires, in general, come from the body-- we want food, we want a nap, we want a drink, we want to have sex. At higher levels, where the body interfaces with the mind, we want comfort, money, or power. But choice is something else. Choice doesn't come from the body, and it isn't the same as desire; choice comes from the will. Someone who chooses to become a priest chooses to forgo their desire for food during fasting seasons, for money and comfort if their order includes a vow of poverty, and for sex during either certain prescribed times or for good. Someone who chooses to join the military might forgo any desire, even the desire for life itself, for the sake of choice.
Sun Tzu's warlike prince isn't looking for allies-- he has chosen to forgo the all too human need for friends and companions. The warlike prince has a goal: to conquer a powerful enemy to enlarge his own kingdom. To do so, he starts by dividing the enemy's forces. In the same way, we can accomplish large goals by breaking them up into smaller increments.
On yesterday's Magic Monday, JMG recommended to one reader a recent book entitled F*ck Your Feelings by Ryan Munsley. I don't usually like contemporary motivation-psychology books, but I had a look at this one, and I'm enjoying it a great deal so far. Munsley shares this approach to large goals. Borrowing an image from American football, he uses the concept of "moving the chains."
In case anyone here isn't familiar, in football, a team has 4 tries (downs) to get 10 yards. Most of the time, you punt the ball on 4th down, so that really only means 3 tries. A football field is 100 yards long, but 10 divided by 3, rounded up, is 3.4-- so all a team has to do to retain possession of the ball is to get 3.4 yards every down.
(As an aside for football fans, the best example of this I've ever seen was the 2007 playoff game between the Steelers and the Patriots. The Patriots were unbeatable that year, on account of they're cheaters. But the Steelers had the ball to start, and the game began with an 8-minute long, yard-by-yard opening drive to the endzone. The Steelers lost in the end, but that game has always stuck in my mind.)
In the same way, even the largest goals can be broken into small pieces-- small enough that we can take a single action toward their accomplishment every day. Do this, and be willing to forgo the desires of the flesh and the need for companionship, and you will accomplish much.
