Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 7: 3 "Take a roundabout route, and lure the enemy with some gain."

Do you? That is, do you ever take a roundabout route? Or do you always cut straight to the chase, attack the juggler, make your point directly and without camouflage or dissimulation? If you're not always quite so direct, why not? Wouldn't it be more honest?

I wasn't planning to quote the entire, long verse, but checking on it again just now, verse 1: 15 applies 100% here, and is so powerful!

"The Way of War is a Way of Deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying the troops, appear not to be.

"When near, appear far; when far, appear near.

Lure with bait.

Strike with chaos.

If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him. If his men are harmonious, split them."

"Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected."

If you've studied Master Sun's counsel from the beginning, this would have to be at minimum the second time you've read that verse. Can you remember your reaction the first time you read it?

And, if you've been following along here, my hope would be that reading it again now has a different impact. A deeper one, one more natural, maybe even beginning to approach the obvious, just the way you think. If not, no worries, it takes a while. But if so, you're progressing!

One of the things I've found in teaching Master Sun's counsel to others over the decades, is that he allows for no split between conscious and subconscious minds in the Skillful Warrior, while 100% counting upon that exact split within the enemy's mind.

In everyday life, where we engage in friendship, family and love, lying is rightly to be discouraged. Perhaps with a bit less exactitude, we often think of ourselves as more honest than we are, submerging awareness of conflict or competition among friends and family.

We've worked on this before, but I'm happy to restate that the path of the Skillful Warrior requires a solid bridge connecting conscious and subconscious mind. A key component of that bridge is embracing enemies as such, that we embrace the moral mandate of deceiving enemies.

We can't dive deeply into the topic of ego psychology today, perhaps in another lesson. It's got many strange twists and turns. Is the ego good, is it bad, to be suppressed, to be built up? A simplification is needed here. Let's look at the negative side of the ego.

Let's look at the ego as the part of you most powerfully competent at deceiving yourself! This breaks one of the most fundamental laws of a healthy psyche. You're supposed, always, where possible, to be your own best friend. What does it mean when you're lying to yourself?

It means you're split into being both your own friend AND your own enemy. The line is truth. Friends tell friends the truth (not always, but always when it counts!), and enemies tell enemies lies. The more you let your ego tell you lies, the worse friend you are to yourself.

So, when you're looking into the eyes of the man in the mirror, what's he saying back to you? Is he taking the roundabout way round? Or can you count on him to level with you on the straight path of truth, even harsh truth? Now, let's get back to Master Sun. Are you a Warrior?

Can you set a meeting with an enemy and then just not show up? Would that be too obvious? Okay, how about showing up a half an hour late, when otherwise, you're always exactly on time if not early? Can you prepare an agenda for a meeting that completely hides your true purpose?

Let's go after the morality of that, more. I would NEVER, not to ANY enemy, recommend carrying a false white flag of truce, peace or surrender. If you did that to me, I would not only never again trust anything you said, I'd decimate you utterly first moment I could, no mercy.

To me, a white flag is sacred even and especially amongst enemies. There are always lines. If you look for them, you can find them. Within those lines, and for your combat, you actually need BOTH the roundabout and the direct routes. Direct to force combat at your own timing.

Roundabout in order to create the conditions of victory. You remember, you must SEE those conditions with certainty BEFORE you step one foot on the field of fight.

That's plenty for today. Consider, though, assessing your own self-friendship and self-enmity on the line of truth.

157 verses completed, 265 to go.

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