Daily Reflection 6.11.21
Jun. 11th, 2021 08:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
readoldthingsToday we're going to wrap up The Art of War with some closing thoughts.
Sun Tzu doesn't give us any sort of conclusion in Chapter 13, like a modern author would. He finishes his discussion of spies and sends us off without so much as a fare thee well. We could do the same thing, but I want to end this series with some sort of conclusion.
To my mind, the most important lessons of The Art of War are as follows:
1. Intention.
Let me say it again.
Intention, intention, intention, intention, intention, intention.
Before you undertake anything at all, have a clear image in your mind of what you want to accomplish. When you formulate a plan for action, ask yourself, "Will that accomplish my purpose?" Someone offends you, so you lash out at them. What did that accomplish? Are they less likely to offend you in the future? If it's a stranger, maybe; if it's a family member, you've probably made the situation worse. You gratified your passions for a moment and in so doing lost your cause. What do you want to accomplish? That's your question, and it must be asked before any undertaking.
2. Knowledge.
Before any undertaking, you need to know as much as you can about what you're getting into.
I've repeatedly discussed The Art of War as applied to what Eliphas Levi calls the Great Work: The conquest and mastery of our own souls. To do this, you need knowledge of the terrain, which means that you need knowledge of a. souls in general and b. yourself in particular. A is provided by a map of the soul, and there are many of these; my personal favorite is the tripartite model provided by Plato in the Republic and elsewhere. B requires reconaissance, which means self exploration, which means meditation.
Self-mastery is the great work, but it is not the only work. Whether you're looking for a job or a date, once you know what you want in general, you need to know the particulars of the situation. Are they hiring? Is she available? What is it like to work there? What does she want in a man?
3. The Spiritual Life
Sun Tzu regularly talks about allies, about the sovereign, about the general. There are different ways to look at each of these terms, but to my mind the most important thing is that no man is an island. We can't do it alone. Levi talks about the conquest of our souls and the mastery of our wills, but how is this to come about? It's my view that we ourselves are mere generals, in need of a sovereign. the highest part of the soul is called the nous in Plato. Eastern Orthodox thinkers describe the nous as "the eye of the soul." An eye, let's note, is a receptive instrument: It sees. What does it see? Light. What is the light which is seen by the soul? In Platonic terms, the light is the Idea of the Good, emanated by the eternal spiritual Sun, which is the Good itself; in Christian terms, the light is the Light of God; both of these are the same and are the Sun of the alchemists. Seeing the Good, or God; the nous is divinized; divinized, its command of the lower faculties is perfected, the will is conquered, the self is mastered. Read spiritual texts, pray, meditate and study. What you contemplate you will imitate; what the nous gazes upon will manifest in your life. Let the general follow the commands and the purpose of the sovereign, and in this way accomplish the Great Work.
Sun Tzu doesn't give us any sort of conclusion in Chapter 13, like a modern author would. He finishes his discussion of spies and sends us off without so much as a fare thee well. We could do the same thing, but I want to end this series with some sort of conclusion.
To my mind, the most important lessons of The Art of War are as follows:
1. Intention.
Let me say it again.
Intention, intention, intention, intention, intention, intention.
Before you undertake anything at all, have a clear image in your mind of what you want to accomplish. When you formulate a plan for action, ask yourself, "Will that accomplish my purpose?" Someone offends you, so you lash out at them. What did that accomplish? Are they less likely to offend you in the future? If it's a stranger, maybe; if it's a family member, you've probably made the situation worse. You gratified your passions for a moment and in so doing lost your cause. What do you want to accomplish? That's your question, and it must be asked before any undertaking.
2. Knowledge.
Before any undertaking, you need to know as much as you can about what you're getting into.
I've repeatedly discussed The Art of War as applied to what Eliphas Levi calls the Great Work: The conquest and mastery of our own souls. To do this, you need knowledge of the terrain, which means that you need knowledge of a. souls in general and b. yourself in particular. A is provided by a map of the soul, and there are many of these; my personal favorite is the tripartite model provided by Plato in the Republic and elsewhere. B requires reconaissance, which means self exploration, which means meditation.
Self-mastery is the great work, but it is not the only work. Whether you're looking for a job or a date, once you know what you want in general, you need to know the particulars of the situation. Are they hiring? Is she available? What is it like to work there? What does she want in a man?
3. The Spiritual Life
Sun Tzu regularly talks about allies, about the sovereign, about the general. There are different ways to look at each of these terms, but to my mind the most important thing is that no man is an island. We can't do it alone. Levi talks about the conquest of our souls and the mastery of our wills, but how is this to come about? It's my view that we ourselves are mere generals, in need of a sovereign. the highest part of the soul is called the nous in Plato. Eastern Orthodox thinkers describe the nous as "the eye of the soul." An eye, let's note, is a receptive instrument: It sees. What does it see? Light. What is the light which is seen by the soul? In Platonic terms, the light is the Idea of the Good, emanated by the eternal spiritual Sun, which is the Good itself; in Christian terms, the light is the Light of God; both of these are the same and are the Sun of the alchemists. Seeing the Good, or God; the nous is divinized; divinized, its command of the lower faculties is perfected, the will is conquered, the self is mastered. Read spiritual texts, pray, meditate and study. What you contemplate you will imitate; what the nous gazes upon will manifest in your life. Let the general follow the commands and the purpose of the sovereign, and in this way accomplish the Great Work.
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