Sun Tzu's Art Of War & Inner Conflict Meditation

A live online workshop recording of a brief 2-minute talk about Sun Tzu's Art of War and how this military manual can be applied to how we deal with our own inner conflicts/obstacles, i.e. the voices in our heads, the parts of ourselves that we fight against. How do we find peace in the midst of inner polarity? Tune in for a short contemplative practice inspired by the Art of War using breath, guided visualization, and music.

Transcript

Good morning,

Good evening,

Good afternoon,

Everyone.

How's it going?

This is Johnson.

This meditation is going to be a short 15-minute meditation about diffusing the eternal war within.

So go ahead and get yourselves set up.

And yesterday I had Judae Rie Allouay on Truth Within Freedom Conversation.

So if you didn't check her out,

Feel free to check her out.

We were talking about Sun Tzu,

The art of war,

Which,

Of course,

Inspired this week's theme on conflict.

And we're always at conflict with ourselves,

Whether we are conscious of it or not conscious of it.

And the interesting thing about the art of war,

If you haven't read the text,

Sun Tzu's Art of War,

I highly suggest you do.

It's a very short read.

It's short little aphorisms,

Phrases that have a lot of wisdom,

But very few words.

And one of the things that Sun Tzu says about war is that all warfare is based on deception,

Which is very similar to a lot of the spiritual texts,

Like the Bhagavad Gita,

Which translates in Sanskrit as the Song of God,

Which is actually based around this whole epic war of Krishna and Arjuna,

Which really are the manifestations or personifications of man and God.

You have many epic poems.

You look at the Greek mythologies,

A lot of the lessons,

The morals,

The fables,

All of them contain lessons that are in some sort of conflict and that there's always some sort of realization that comes out of this inner war.

We're constantly battling these parts of ourself,

The victim part of self,

The wounded part of self,

The part of self that felt like they were disenfranchised,

Whatever it is,

Right?

The ego self,

All of these things.

And another thing that Sun Tzu says is the good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

So now if we apply that in a military sense,

Great,

So strategic.

If we put that in more of a personal context with our inner conflicts,

It makes a lot of sense.

So the good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat.

So that really speaks to the mindset,

The mentality that we approach a situation.

Are we very much fixated on the result or the solution as something that is influenced directly from a product of the past?

And if we are stuck in that mindset and that energy,

Then of course we're going to repeat the past.

Sun Tzu is saying that we need to go beyond the possibility,

Go beyond our imaginations,

Our ability to conceive a new outcome,

Right,

Of defeat,

And then wait for the opportunity of defeating the enemy.

So then after the good fighters went beyond the possibility of defeat,

Then in that wait,

Which really translates as stillness,

It's the pause.

It's not rushing into action.

It's sitting with it,

Even if it feels awful.

So we sit and we wait,

Pause,

Breathe,

And then the opportunity will arrive.

It's all about patience.

So that's what we're going to do today.

We're going to look in,

See what kind of conflicts are arising,

And sit with it.

So when you're ready,

Go ahead and sit up tall wherever you are and close your eyes.

Start to take a deep breath in through your nose.

Exhale,

Sigh through your mouth.

Inhale deeply in through your nose,

Arriving into the space.

Exhale,

Sighing through mouth.

Three more full-bodied breaths to arrive here altogether.

And as we all arrive into this present moment,

Very simply start to observe what is most alive in you right now.

What is most charged?

You might notice that as physical sensation,

It might be a train of thoughts,

Ideas,

Or perhaps a circle of emotions that you are in.

And whatever it is that is coming up in your field of awareness,

Sit with that.

Notice that there is a polarity to whatever it is that you are observing.

There is one aspect of that which you're observing that is moving toward something,

And there's also another aspect of that same thing you are observing that is moving away from something.

And that is the ability to move towards something.

And that is the ability to move toward something.

And that is the ability to move toward something that is moving away from something.

And whether it's a thought or a sensation in your body or a stream of emotions,

The ability to move toward something is innately creating a conflict,

An opposition,

A pulling apart,

A breaking away from the center.

Without trying to fix anything,

Without trying to rectify,

To correct,

Which really comes from the left brain,

The ego,

Wanting to regulate,

Allow these next few moments to simply sit and observe the conflict.

Like two enemy camps sitting across from each other,

And they are just sitting and waiting.

And by you,

We mean that aspect of you that you are observing.

Is it the innocent part of you that you are observing?

Is it the limited part of you moving away from the limitless part of you?

Is it the desiring part of you moving away from the empty part of you?

Is it the desiring part of you moving away from the empty part of you,

The one who flows?

What part of you are you observing?

And as you continue to sit here with these two polar opposites,

Take a moment to observe how that plays out in all aspects of your life,

Your work,

Your relationships with your family,

With your friends,

Your loved ones.

How does this impact you?

How does this energy of polarity affect your mind,

Your emotions,

Your health,

Your energy levels,

Vitality,

Your expression,

Your creativity,

Your truth?

Just watching that change in your life,

In your life,

In your life,

In your life,

In your life,

Just watching,

Not trying to fix.

And as both quote unquote enemy camps are staring each other down,

What kind of actions are both sides contemplating?

What do they want from each other?

Observe that.

Observe that.

What do they need in order to feel fully safe,

Secure,

Aligned?

Again,

We're simply observing.

There's no need to fix anything.

There's no pressure to push anything on.

And imagine as if you are zooming out,

Way out,

As if moving into outer space,

Gaining even more clarity,

More scope on what it is that you are observing.

And wherever it is that you are,

Take a deep breath in through your nose.

Exhale,

Sigh through your mouth.

Inhaling through the nose.

Exhale,

Sigh through the mouth.

Three more full-bodied breaths like that.

Letting it go,

Washing the slate clean.

And when you're ready,

Slowly come back into your body,

Come back into your room,

And open your eyes in your own time.

So another thing that Sun Tzu says is the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.

Without fighting.

And that is a big key in this seemingly military manual.

It's really also a spiritual manual on how we approach conflict within ourselves and with life.

And so how do we engage with ourselves in ways that are nonviolent?

Confrontational,

For sure.

Confronting is great,

But not violent.

Without having to fight the good fight.

Which is a condition that we have been entrained into by our society.

To strive,

To grasp,

To cling,

To achieve,

To become something significant or otherwise.

If you found that difficult to observe polarity within yourself and to allow it to exist in that pause and the stillness.

Or if you found yourself gravitating more to one enemy camp,

The positive charge versus the negative charge.

Or if you found yourself starting to label good and evil and you had a tendency to move one way or the other.

And it was very challenging to stay in that space in between the camps.

That neutral middle ground space.

That's okay.

It just takes a little bit of practice coming into this place of neutrality.

And again,

Neutrality doesn't mean you don't care.

It means you care enough.

You care a lot that you don't want to get involved in that way anymore.

To get entangled in the old ways.

Thanks so much for tuning in and I will talk to you soon.

Bye.

Reviews

Very powerful 👍🏽

Great although the music in the background got me a little hectic

So revealing. Thank you. 💚

Loved it

Beautiful! The tone, the voice, the content, the music in the right moment. I really want to read art of war now! Thanks a lot!

I'm a big fan of Sun Tzu and I'm so glad to have found this meditation. Thank you!

Exploring inner conflict with a war lens seemed odd but I’m glad my curiosity took me here today. A very effective way to help move me towards peace.

Love all of Johnson’s meditations. Thank you again 🙏

It is truly new way of thinking: using Sun Tzu ideas as meditation guide. This inner conflicts are worst part of my depression, and this meditation was something that makes me cry and bring relief.
Thank you.

Fantastic, as always. I love that you linked this with the Art of War. An art form, I’m still working on. One to come back to for sure.