Je suis en guerre contre moi-même. Cette guerre... terrifiante et pénible, mais en même temps je sais que c’est la vie... donc je ne peux pas dire que j’assume cette contradiction, mais je sais aussi que c’est ce qui me laisse en vie, et me fait poser la question, justement: “Comment apprendre à vivre?”
(I am at war with myself... a terrible, pitiful war... that’s life. But I cannot say that I can solve that contradiction; although it is this riddle that keeps me alive and moves me to bring forth the question: How can one learn to live?).-- Jacques Derrida
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With a little help from Derrida's quote above, let's take Sun-Tzu's Taoist strategy of battle inside of ourselves. It's the endless struggle of becoming...
9 comments:
I don’t think one can learn to live because we do not choose to be born, but I do think we can learn to cope and adapt with what we are given. When one thinks of identity and how we are the same, but constantly changing, the idea of inner war is within an arm’s length; like a flame that constantly struggles to keep burning with the little reserves it is given while at the same time dance with the wind in order to survive just a little longer (the reserves like within our bodies and minds [free will and every conflict that comes along with it] while the wind is outside sources like friends, family or society). It’s possible for our to burn too brightly and extinguish, so if we don’t let the mind wander aimlessly and achieve mental discipline, we can learn how to tame the flame that is life and have a better understanding of others as well.
How can we learn to live, if we dont even know what the true meaning of life is or what is our true essesance here is all about. (Placing my personal beliefs aside) Are we placed here by a divine being which we call God or are we simply a mere mathematical anamoly of atoms and cells that just happened to form over millions of years. This concept by Sun-Tzu that we are at constant war within ourselves is quite interesting. I will have to say that this battle is somewhat due to our lack of mental discipline, as adam said which is something we must achieve. We struggle so much because of the fact that we really dont show what we are truly underneath. Everyone in society that has not achieved true mental discipline, cannot show what they really think of society and issues because then there would be total chaos and havoc around the world. This is because people will simply act on instinct. To me in reality this struggle is what ultimately controls that beast within us. But my question is, how much can we take or to what point can we absorb till we finally take off our mask?
This passage echoes a critical part of the human condition. I have always known that I would find no greater opponent than myself, that my greatest battles would be fought on the inside. It is very fitting to hear these words from Derrida because I think that in order to answer the question he poses we must, in a way, deconstruct ourselves. Like peeling the layers of an onion, we must cut away the outer layers of the self until all that is left is the pure, unadulterated, essence of who we truly are. It is in that moment that we can find peace.
Inner conflicts are more similar to external conflicts than we sometimes think and while reading Sun-Tzu I found many passages that could be applied to resolving conflicts within ourselves. The following was one of my favorites:
“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”
I've always felt a bit sorry for women when they're on the verge of bearing a child. The pain they go through, the war within their own body to get that baby out, is terrible. But the fruit of their blood, sweat, and tears is something altogether lovely.
The struggles that we encounter in life are of a similar nature. Although in the time of struggle, it may seem that we are in "a terrible, pitiful war", what we get out of it should be something worthy of envy, not pity. Of course, there are those who seem to have lost this war. They walk around sulking in their defeat. But the challenge lies in being a person who will fight this inner battle and come out victorious.
When this battle is over (and I think it'll only finish on my death bed)I want to come out with a stronger sense of who I am and what my purpose is in this world.
-daniel
Alejandro: Welcome back.
To the ordinary eye, the Art of War may be seen simply as a book of rules one must follow to win over the enemy. Yet what few fail to recognize is that the enemy is our self. That is the hardest war. In class I remember Prof. Triff commenting on the silent response to the questions posed, and he wondered if this was due to the difficulty or denial of the matter. I believe it is. To turn towards the inside and re-examine oneself is bound to unravel things that we may not necessarily like and thus are difficult to accept.Thus the war commences as the two selves fight. I am at war with myself everyday,and I can feel it inside of me as I continue taking on things to do...some would see it as a form of masochism, why put yourself through all that stress and pressures? because there is nothing better than accomplishing them all and winning the war over the self that thought couldn't do it...and in turn I feel myself stronger. As I continue the war, I constantly uncover new strategies and both enemies and friends within myself. C'est une idee trop bizarre.
being in a state of war can mean different things. to me war represents life. to be able to succed in war we have to be able to understand ourselves. we have to be conscious of our actions and even our thoughts. according to the book, if we want to succed in war we have to be who we really are but we have to portray the opposite in order to trick the enemy. like he said, if fast appear slow, if slow appear fast. and if he can completely manage this technique, we will not only learn about ourselves but we will learn about everything else too, even our enemies. the way you act shows a lot about yourself, behaviour is a big issue in war times. we have to understand our behaviour to understand ourselves
It is hard for me to accept that we all live by strategy; that we always want to win. But unfortunately, sometimes that is the case. War may seem inevitable, and the war within us… is constantly shaping us and moving us in directions that may be unexpected.
I once read a book called “El Guerrero de la Luz” or “The Warrior of Light” by Paul Coehlo, and through it, I was reminded that although we are facing a constant struggle in life, we can bring light and pave a road full of victories. Victory, according to the book, doesn’t necessarily mean material or monetary gain. Sometimes the greatest triumphs in life cannot be seen and may be intelligible for many.
Life is not easy and if we want to survive, strength, strategy and a good attitude towards defeat are necessary. We cannot win every battle, but we can definitely learn a new lesson by accepting that if “it” happened to us, it must have been for a reason.
On the surface, living does not seem like something one can merely learn to do. Some flow through their lives without a care or question; and others consider simplifying this idea to their continuous maintenance of good health or happiness. However, there is certainly a deeper meaning in this concept of living in which those, who chose to, endlessly seek throughout their lives. This is our inner struggle to find ourselves, to learn our true identity, to actually know who we are. Will we ever be satisfied with this ultimate form of knowledge? How will we ever know?
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