Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 7: 36 "He treats tumult with calm. This is the Master of Mind."

Tumult, calm, mastery of mind. Who thinks about such things? Sure, martial artists do, they have to. And yes, warriors of every type do, there's no way not to. War is tumult. Strategy? Tactics? The call for calm master of mind.

Look around your life. I don't know if you're anything like me or not, but I find tumult everywhere. I adore my wife and queen, @KateScopelliti. I don't think, in 38 years so far, I've gone a single day without pissing her off to the point of tumult.

@KateScopelliti That she still is with me is testament, I brag, to my calmness of mind. Ha! I look at her gorgeous face, surrender wherever I can, and with mastery of mind, retreat in the face of her righteous rage. Damn I love that girl.

@KateScopelliti Honor is due. She raises children better than I do. They worship her, and she is the very center of gravity in our family drawing everyone back together after the forces of dissension and separation have pulled us apart. Her love draws everyone in.

@KateScopelliti And when I say "children," I don't mean merely our own, I mean our grandchildren too. I make our grandchildren laugh, and they love me. I'm a great grandpa. But I'm nothing compared to her. They worship, adore and listen to her. That is calmness in the face of tumult.

@KateScopelliti Tumult? We have this one who hasn't spoken to that one in years and years. We have the other who judges that one to be unworthy of our family. We have hatred rising, but never as much as love underlying. And me, I'm just slave to them all. And a happy slave at that.

@KateScopelliti No one has ever accused me of any special form of calm. I rage and fume and yes, shout and yell. I am, I confess, a yeller. I have a hair trigger of rage. Nothing causes me more shame or regret. Master Sun laughs at me over this, all the time. I hate him. He's calm.

@KateScopelliti Are you calm? Even in the face of tumult? Then you, my friend, enjoy mastery of mind. There is no greater challenge of leadership than to exhibit mastery of mind, calmness, in the face of tumult.

@KateScopelliti We must dive deeper still. Mind. Consciousness. It is one of today's greatest scientific mysteries. As artificial intelligence rises, the question of consciousness itself is perhaps the greatest challenge we face. How does anything become conscious?

@KateScopelliti Who knows? But we do know that battle is tumultuous. And we do know that mind must be calm. Let's go pragmatic. Do you know how to breathe, purposefully, consciously, and in the face of tumult?

@KateScopelliti Just in case, allow me to show you. Start out wherever you are, and breathe in, slowly, fully, until your lungs are full, but try to NOT overfill to the point of coughing. Just full enough.

@KateScopelliti Now, hold the breath in, but only comfortably. Do NOT try to hold it in too long. As soon as you need to breathe it out, let it go. Still, keep calm control as you exhale. Keep a smooth flow outward as long as you can, till depleted completely.

@KateScopelliti So now, 1 time, you have breathed in and out, completely. That's one. Now, with all your air out, let it rest for a moment, and then begin breathing in your second breath. Only until your lungs are comfortably full. Gently hold, and then commence calm breathing out number 2.

@KateScopelliti I can absolutely assure you, there is nothing in the world that so effectively calms the mind in the face of tumult as mastery over breathing. You, yourself, live inside your body, and your body lives by breath, by oxygen. You must breathe and master the art of breathing.

@KateScopelliti To complete our study, consider the idea of mastery, and of mastery over something so automatic, so seemingly simple as breath. To breath with purpose is essentially no different than to live with purpose. We're all alive, until we die. You're still alive. What's your purpose?

@KateScopelliti My purpose is, first, to provide for my family. That has been my purpose since 1981. I have done so, better and worse, from then till now. I have NOT yet done so to include my family's needs after I pass on. I will but have not yet.

@KateScopelliti But in 2016 I discovered that my nation called out to me, and that my family would never be safe as long as our nation remained at risk. That, as I know you know, is the ultimate basis of the #SunTzuForMAGA mission. America needs Master Sun.

@KateScopelliti Breathing, and with what calmness of mind I can muster, I study Master Sun, and share with you, in hope that one day my family will be safe from tumult.

@KateScopelliti 189 verses completed, 233 to go.

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