The Death of Soleimani

 

  ((((((    The death of Qasem Soleimani proved the theory of war. He was being aimed at, listened to, his daily life was recorded to a minute detail, his route was mapped, and his every activity was watched, everyone who had met him was duly followed. His fate is certain. It could be an activity happened for years, yet he had done almost nothing to prevent things happen. Your enemy would have pulled the trigger if he has the chance.  ))))))

Zhuang Zi Art of War (new version)

Zhuang Zi   

Art of War

1 Attack

2 Mind and Mind Business

3 Method

4 Basics 1 2 3

5 Level

6 Situation

7 Knowledge and Forms of Wisdom

 

 1   Attack

The beauty in the art of war is in attacking. Life is a continuation of attacks. From infant to death, every process is an attack. Just like a baby bird coming out from the shell, the bird must first attack the shell. It is his first action.

A defender is deemed to be a loser.

Attacking is a basic attitude, it is not a strategic nor technical term. Attacking is a positive action.  A small grass needs to break the soil, it is the same with a volcano. A volcano needs to break the soil too. Both are positive. If there is a choice granted for you, you can always choose to act or not to act.  A grass is an action, while a flower is an attacker. She is fighting to enter your eyeball. The attitude of attacking is the basic design of the Universe. Sometimes, an attacker chooses to wait. He is not giving up his basic attitude, he is only waiting for a chance. Like a buried seed. The seed can wait years for the suitable weather. Then the seed would draw his blade and find a way to grow. A seed will not wait forever. A seed will live peacefully with his friends and brothers. And all plants know, they need to fight for their survival.  Sometimes they are waiting, they are waiting for their chance to grow.

Winners are those who choose a correct attitude.  All winners bear in mind one fact:  That there were enemies, enemies will push you to the other world. This is very old teaching, but many would not believe. They think they can enjoy life with kind hearted and friendly enemies surrounding. They are losers. Losers will provide good lesson for the next war.

Nobody wants to fight, everyone wants peace. But it is war which push people ahead, and guaranteed the progress of human civilization. Its fine to keep peace in mind, it is wisdom to know there will be war. Only the well prepared will survive.

Should I love my enemy?

Yes, I love them. They are same as you and me. They are given a choice to live peacefully with us. But if they choose war, we are well prepared. We love them. Even though we have to fight with them, but still, we love them, we will never hate them.

Hatred is a kind of human feeling which cannot be denied, 

However, some people will avoid bad feelings to hinder their thoughts. Treat the people of your enemies well and you will be rewarded. The side-benefit of a loving mind is that you will not go astray with ill feelings blurring your mind. And please be reminded that you are not choosing love for the side-benefit, but you are choosing love because you have the feeling. 

 

2  Mind and

 Mind Business

Mind is extremely important in war. Winners are not winning by their weapons, but with minds. Though this is common sense, but in the material world, people are always losing their battle because of losing their mind. They thought the determine factors of war were only resources. However, that is not necessary so. Resources can change hands easily, and mind is easy to change too, collective hypnosis happens always. Minds are easy to be captured. However, it is your own mind and your own wisdom which is the most important. Mind your mind business always.

It is interesting to see, whenever people are rich, they are very likely shadowed by the curtain of wealth. Wealth is too important to them, when they are busy keeping up with their wealth, they would forget everything about mind. They would put the important business of mind into the hands of unreliable agents. They thought a good agent can take care of the mind business for them. How funny yet it is the reality of tragic failures. Those who failed to keep the minds of people, all their wealth will be lost.  No one can care the mind business on your behalf. Only you and your honored self can use that most sacred machine to handle mind matters. It is your mind. If you are giving up leadership of your mind business, no one can save you. That is why the mind should never be forgotten.  That is why you should study history as well as philosophy, plus some literature and music. Science and Economy, Medicine etc. are also important, but they are your tool and your wallet, not your mind.

Minds are connected with ideologies, theories, religions, and philosophies. Minds are the result of wisdom. There are different minds in the world. Some of the minds carry positive energy, while some negative.  Sometimes a negative mind wins, though people had found it difficult to believe. It is because, winning and losing are not determined by polarity, but by the strength of mind.

A strong mind can unite other minds. When all minds are united together, the war is won. A good leader is the light house of everyone. That is because he is bright, he knows the total situation. He is the energy source of his followers.

There will be different wars on the planet recently.

For example, if Korea is to have a war with the Japanese, should the Korean strengthen their own mind and capture the minds of the Japanese people first? It is vise-versa. The Russian with NATO plus America; The Chinese with America; and the complicated Middle East, etc. They all need to capture the enemy minds, and they all need to build solidarity with their own country people.

For the Chinese part, they have a painful lesson to remember. It was during the war years in the Warring State Period in ancient China. One bigger power of Qin wanted to eliminate the other six smaller powers. Qin swallowed them one by one. There was only one lesson to learn by the famous historian writer Su Xun. He said, "The failure of the six smaller powers were that they all wanted to keep good relation with Qin." All tried to bribe Qin instead of fighting. They sent gifts and lands to please Qin. They wanted to build friendship and mutual trust with Qin. What they had got in return was complete destruction.

What is the problem?

The problem is in their mind. They had lost the war of minds before their destruction.

Same history will present itself again. If Hong Kong is to be swallowed alive, the Chinese will have a good lesson to learn. They will say, oh no, Hong Kong can never be swallowed. Hong Kong problem started from the mind. Had they not lost the mind business in Hong Kong long ago before the turmoil started? 

Future historians will tell you the fact. If your mind is lost, your land follows. It's a golden law to be respected. It was said China can never be destroyed. But leaders will. Different leaders come and go, and the country is weakened. The golden law of mind is set up for all the planet, no one is excluded. If anyone insisted that they will be safe forever, there will be one question for him: Why do you think so? Can you support your country without the support of your people?

    

Now is the main and most important question:

"How do I build my own mind?"

It is a question seldom anyone would care of. Ordinary people would like to sharpen their skills and make more money instead. Leaders would like to buy more weapons and try to be friendlier with their enemy instead.

However, this is the most important issue Zhuang Zi had raised in his writing. We shall make it clear in this small volume for those concerned, wise people will have never missed this chance to win their wars.

If you had successfully built your own mind, that means, you will keep your country survive, no matter what happens in the coming conflict.

You will first have a mind, and then you will have your mind business. You will never have any mind business if your mind is not there. 

What is the most important part in your mind business?

It is not the minds of your education, nor the minds of your media, nor the minds of your army, nor the minds of your religion. 

The most important part is in your inner team of executives. 

That is the determine factor of your success. And this is the weakest point in many countries. It is of no use to have lots of weapons to protect your country if the inner teams are bribed.  They would become enemies around you. Even though they are not bribed, it is natural for them to try to take over the leadership, if they do not share the mind with the country. That means you must have a one-minded leadership. The leadership must be pure. And you must be pure yourself to have the total support from your team.

This is the thought from a higher level. Things are bound to happen like this. Lower level people will try every means to check out the bad elements in the leadership, yet they cannot see the trend and cannot eliminate them all. 

Upper level is the level of a higher angle, while the lower level people can only see things from a short distance. That is why they have to check every detail of the items. A good leader can make use the both of them. Please refer to the chapter of level in this book. 

If you have built up a strong mind and a strong team sharing the same mind, you will have a healthy leadership. With a healthy leadership, bad elements are not easy to grow. 

With a two-party leadership like the United States, the other party will not share the same mind with you. However, if the leader can build a strong mind around the country, the other party has no choice but to follow.  

With a one-party leadership, the party is bound to split into secret leaderships. Thus the mind system is far more important for them. If a strong mind is absent, the country would fall into deep crisis sooner or later. It is the weakest point of the country and the easiest target for the enemy. That is unavoidable. And you will never know how much the enemy had invested in such weak points to beat you.  Where ever there is a mind, there is a chance for your enemy. It is absolute important for the country. Mind is the real wall to protect the country. Mind is the true power to beat your enemy.   

Yet we seldom know what is mind.

What is mind?

It is very confusing about the mind. And it is not easy for anyone to tell what a mind is. A mind is more than a thinking tool. A good mind can have insights, and it can communicate with another good mind, without using language. A good mind can communicate with the nature. It can predict disasters sometimes. It knows before the earth quakes. And it was believed by many that a good mind can communicate with the unknown. All these features of a mind are so confusing that it is difficult to define what a mind is and what a mind is not. And we can believe that the functions of a mind are developing in time. We can expect humans need not a mobile to call one another in future. We can use our mind to do it. We humans are far from perfect in this era as we don't even know what we have in our major ability, though we admitted that we do have minds. 

For the meantime, at least we need to know the difference of a mind and a spirit.  

    

A spirit is the content dwelling in your mind. And the Chinese Spirit is not the same with the American Spirit. 

A Chinese mind may be more or less the same with an American mind, but they do have different spirits dwelling in their minds.

You cannot tell exactly what a mind is, but you will know a lot about your spirit. The spirits are not in written theories nor proclaimed documents but in actual deeds of the people. The good spirits are in heroes, the negative spirits are in evil personalities, and the major trend is in the general public. You need only to search about the heroes from ancient and modern China and you will know what is Chinese Spirit. And there are so many heroic figures in modern China, it is not difficult to locate them. Some of the spirits were mentioned in other books by the same writer. In the earliest story about the father of China, you can see the original spirit of China is in the pursuit of wisdom. The hero tried to chase the sun and see where would the sun go. Spirits can be found in the minds of new and old heroes. 

Human spirit is in the form of a cycle. We can see how the American spirit woke up from the puritan hardship a few hundred years ago and they announced to have a right to pursue happiness, then the cycle turned completely from a spiritual and puritan past to a money-oriented present. The cycle had been a long history since the American built their country. 

The Chinese had a similar cycle from the Cultural Revolution to the open-market economy now. It is far shorter and in a different scale.  

If the American people can wake up from the bad dream of happiness pursuit to wisdom pursuit, they will find no enemy in the world and will be truly happy forever. President Barack Obama may be the only president who has some aware of this. He did not mention one word of love in his inauguration speech, and when he found someone had a comment on it, he changed. He was an enthusiastic promoter of love in his speeches since. President Donald Trump had never shown any interest about love in his tweets.

It is not easy for the American people to aware that they are in the cycle of spirit. As they had proclaimed that is their most treasured "core value". If the talented leadership can find out the real situation of America now, American people will find themselves happier still.  

 

3   Method

Zhuang Zi has mentioned two methods only. The two methods are designed according to the basics of the Universe.

Method one:

That you should use your mind to see, not your eyes.

This is a method too simple to understand. The military writer Sun Zi had said similarly. Sun Zi said if you can only see the sun and the moon, you cannot be said to have a good eye-sight. However, Sun Zi might have been neglected that many a time, situations at war are so obvious like the sun and the moon, but still many cannot see it. They are not seeing with their mind, nor their eyes. They are blind-folded. In the cases of a life and death fighting for the country, one has to be very careful and humble. The most important thing is quietness. When you are quiet and silent, you will have a clear mind. When you are always busy, be alerted, a warning has been given you. When you are always talkative, be reminded, failure is near.

Method two:

Use a sword of no thickness to strike into the hollow.

The sword is so sharp, that it seemed to be in no thickness. You will not find out where the blade is with a magnifier. It is only a sword of no thickness could strike into the hollow.

There seemed to have no hollow in the defensive walls most of the time.  How do you strike into their hollow when the hollow doesn't exist? However, from a point of no thickness, there are lots of hollows.  The determining factor is in your own side, if you are in the situation of no-thickness, you will find out the hollow and win.

What does Zhuang Zi mean by this?  It meant everything. Do not enter with a stupid force. Enter with a delicate bladeless sword. It meant you knew it all. It is everything. It is a law of everything, including different studies in many fields.

If you are so sharp, so talented and you are in such lucky situation to know everything, be alerted, you keep yourself not as nothing, but only in a situation of no thickness. You are not to have no ideas, no choices, no dimensions, and no insists, etc. You are not nothingness. But you are no thickness. You need to stand in a higher lever to observe this. Nothingness is not no thickness. Only when suddenly you saw the hollow, then you would become a real sword to enter that point.

The Universe is a complicated combination of levels and layers, it is far more than the so-called multi-dimensional situation. Some people maintained that there are two sides only. It seemed that the Universe are compositions of only me and my enemies. They can never enter into the beauty of levels.

We have finished the methods discussion here. Many would pick up the point quickly and tried to use it to fight their enemies. However, the writer wishes to remind them, these methods are for upper level people, those who do not have the courage and wisdom, can never make use of them. It could turn out as a tool of self-disclosure. You will expose your weakness with a stupid use of the two methods. 

 

4   Basics 

1, 2, 3

The art of war is in several principles here.

Basic No.1:  Oneness

It's a must for every leader to know his real situation:

'Me and my Universe are one. We are born together.'

That means you are not only an individual, you can see all the situations from the point of a whole. The picture is clear enough for you to take the right action. However, it is never an easy task to see things as a whole. Too many leaders failed here. Quietness is extremely important when you feel puzzled. People will be too eager to draw pictures for you. But it is you yourself who should draw the picture.   Rely too much on provided materials, is asking to be cheated. Important sources will be omitted by cheaters.

For many short-lived leaders, they have never had the sense of a unity whole, fame and fortune are important for them, they are bound to fall. More serious cases are in the talented leaders. Material influences are not a problem for them; however, they are too busy to remain in a silent stance. And that brings big problem. Working too hard and too concentrated are fatal. Many would exclaimed: "How do I handle the whole world with a single pair of arms?" It's a must to search deeply into the layers, with your mind, not your arms. One single arm can move the globe.

To search the layers, need to have a special instinct and lots of hard work. No one have the luckiness of Alexandra the great. He had Aristotle as his teacher for seven years. When he died after building a super empire over Asia, Africa and Europe, no one could succeed him. It is never a simple thing to have a mind like Alexandra. Those who had grabbed power from the death of Alexandra lost it in a short time.

The question is: Who is the next Alexandra on earth? That is a painful question to quest.

How do I build my whole picture?

A born leader is a man who loves everything in the Universe. Everything is new and interesting under the sun. He is keen on every aspect of life. He would like every subject his hand can reach. He would never be a pure scientist or pure businessman. He is never a dull and single interest person.  He is multi-directional and multi-leveled. He is not a single cell in the plant. He is the plant. And he is more than the plant, he is the soil, he is the globe, he is the Universe. And it is not a dream, yet he is the dream. It is in such a context that one could have the fitness to fit in the picture of the whole. The picture of the whole has been a single image in his brain cell.

Second class leaders rely on reports. They kept requesting for reports. Reports came all over the globe for him. He studied the reports every day until midnight. The first Emperor of Qin was like that. His reports were written on bamboo, he had to finish several extra-sized baskets of them every day. People keep praising him a good leader. But he is secondary. Because he is fed more than sucking. First class leaders are suckers. They are interested in everything. They knew the whole. He would know what to neglect and what to insist. He has got the keenest feeling on the planet. Each time, he would sip a little and he knew what is going on and he knew what to do. Avoid fighting with such leaders.

To be in such high level is not easy. Because he is not selfless. If there is not a self, then there won't be a whole either. He is only forgotten about his self. This is a minor difference between the selfless and the self-forgotten. But it is total difference of a real leader who could achieve historical demand, while a selfless guy can only be selfless and cannot move an inch of the globe with his total might.

Its philosophical to discuss about selfless and self-forgotten. But in the fields of war, self-forgotten is far more effective than selfless. Because, a selfless guy doesn't have a part in the whole, if they have become leaders, they would be indirect leaders. But it is only a direct leader can win the war. He is directly involved. He doesn't rely completely on reports, but he will go directly into the place where he can try the taste. It was said with the new mobile technology, that a doctor can treat a patient through phones. However, please note that such treatment can be harmful. A real doctor who presents himself in front of the sick bed can acquire much more information directly. He can use his senses. He can see and he can feel. It was his mind that is busy working on the subject. But through a mobile phone, he can only use indirectly measured figures. The mobile computer is thinking for him.  Good leaders get in touch of the people directly.

If you are to plan a space project, you need not to fly the rockets yourself, but you must be highly interested in the space, you feel it and you touch it before you throw billions into it. What does it mean by direct leaders?

It meant he is one with the whole. He has got a part in it. Therefore, he is not selfless. He is functional.

We had come to our finding here, that being a good leader needs to be whole hearted, and it needs to have two features in his inner mind. One is interested in everything, the other is completely dedicated. We didn't mention about love. Because love is the result of interest and dedication.

Can a self-forgotten guy dedicate himself for the whole? 

Some of the self-forgotten people are only temporary. They can fight fearlessly towards a goal of something for a short time.  However, when the situation changed, they would become selfish as many other mediocre people. 

That means their dedication is groundless. 

You need to know what is life and what is the aim of your own life and are willing to fight for that aim with your whole life without any regret. 

What is a life? Life is a tool you can use to work on something valuable and you cherish that value that much that you are willing to work for it with all your might. And such thoughts are the result of your long term thinking and final decision. It is wisdom. 

A true leader is suitable to be a leader with the above build-in features in his noble mind.

More elaboration on the different levels of Oneness later.

Basic No. 2:  Freedom

One of the basic theories of Zhuang Zi is freedom. What he meant was a kind of absolute freedom. It is philosophical; however, we can understand the absolute freedom in a simple way. It is not the same freedom we used to agree with. The ordinary freedom is in a sphere of limitation. And most of the time, the ordinary type of freedom is only a lie to hypnotize people. You have to do according to the limits of your civilization, your law and your many limits, yet you think that is sacred. Actually, you can do nothing and you can move not even a brick from the whole establishment, yet they told you it is freedom. It is a lie for ignorant people.

However, as a human being, we are entitled to a kind of absolute freedom, we can do anything we like, there will not be any limit for you. You can jump from an airplane high on the space to the ground, and you can do anything you wanted to do. It is a free gift from the Creator of human being. Though you may never want to jump in a height like that, because you have been allowed another privilege, that is your wisdom to choose. You can choose to do it or not do it, if you can think. And more importantly, you can choose the way of success or failure. It is your own sacred choice.

What is the point of freedom to do with the art of war? Does it mean I can do any special things at war?

Please remember a war is not any other daily matter you need to handle. A war is a collective action concerning the life and death of your country and your civilization. It needs special talent to handle it. With a brain of absolute freedom, you will have no limit in your thinking and you are free and, you are talented and you are gifted. That means you are entitled to have a power to move the country for the ultimate good for your people.

What is the freedom of thought?

People always comment about certain great leaders in history, they were usually regarded as mad.

Were they really mad or only in a state of total freedom of thoughts? Madness and fearless is more or less the same. They are very similar.

We must remember, absolute freedom is for everyone. Anyone can do anything, only that if he chooses to do it or not. Nothing can prevent anyone to do anything, if he chooses to do anything, it is his freedom. It seems to be very terrible, if anyone chooses to shoot or to kill, he is free to do so. In the general idea about freedom, there is always a law to govern everyone, but there is no human law in absolute freedom, there are only results, and there is only law of the nature. You can do anything if you can accept the result. Even the law of nature cannot stop you. It is only this feature can save human being from final destruction. We have a talented mind and we shall find a way and be saved.

One last question here: How can I be so mad to think without limitation?

It will be more easily in wars to create madness or, talents.

If you are completely dedicated, you shall have no limit in your thoughts. Because you are fearless, you can dedicate your complete life into the cause of the people.

There must be many sources for the state of fearlessness. A stupid person can be fearless also, yet a stupid guy can never think as free as a normal man. And many a time, extremely greedy person can be fearless also. He is mad to grab money, and he is fearless to risk his life. He is creative to think in many ways to make money, and he could be very rich. And it is fair for the creator to create human beings with the same feature in them. The sun shines on good people and bad people together. They shared the same sunshine. The only difference is that he is dedicated to rob your money, and you are dedicated to work for the people. Who will win the war by the end?

Please do not worry about this too much. We have mentioned before, that a real leader is not an individual, his mind is shared with the whole. He has got a much higher position to observe the complete scenario of the world. He would be in a higher level to see everything.

It meant, with a complete whole at your back, your motivation power is limitless, and you are much more powerful than any selfish guy.

It is all about the power of your brain function.

If we say I am free to think, that means, you are moving inside your brain freely. Your thought needs to go from the far East to the far West, what is the important things we need here? You might need a map, or a vehicle to ride on, and you need to have no obstruction, and finally, you need some power to go ahead.

Now we can see how important freedom is. You are free to go anywhere without obstruction. But you need power. Power doesn't come from freedom, but from the basic no.1, you need to be one with the Universe to gain power. And that is not enough. A flower in the garden is one with the Universe. She is happily enjoying her sunshine, and that, cannot be a power of much use for a human leader.

As a leader of something, you need to have a much bigger power. The power to push your brain function and to think.

We had mentioned two kinds of power. One is within yourself, the other is exterior.

It's the inner power that pushes your mind, and then the world, not external power.

How can I be fearless and free to think? IF you are thinking in terms of a whole, then you might be fearless. And if you are thinking with a complete dedication in mind, you will be free. There will be no obstruction in your way and you can go.

Chinese people are very familiar with such thoughts. Because they have a hero in their mind. It is the Monkey King in the old teachings of literature. The magic of the Monkey King is limitless, and he can fly. He can fly instantly from one end of the Universe to the other end. It is a parable of absolute freedom. Anyone can achieve such talent with a whole in their mind and are willing to completely dedicate themselves.  

Absolute freedom is only madness without wisdom. And absolute freedom is real when it is supported by wisdom. 

Basic No. 3:   Possibilities

Nothing is impossible for a true leader who had a whole in mind and who knows the secret of freedom, and most important of all is that he has got the mind to dedicate completely. With such feature at hand, he would be loved by his own people, and the support of all, that means he would be all powerful and can achieve.

But this is not enough.

Anyone with a faith like this, is just like a blind man walking inside the jungle. It must be solved philosophically to know exactly the point. That means, the talented leader needs to know what is possible and what is not possible.

If you insist to say, anything is possible within the Universe, then you must answer the question why.

From the point of Zhuang Zi, the first question is:

Is it possible to know the Universe?

The answer is yes from Zhuang Zi. And it is straight forward and directly answered:

That we are one, that we are in the same body, that any unit within the body is possible to communicate with another unit, therefore, we can know each other. Like your finger knows your toe, and your toe knows your finger, it is as simple as that.

That means, anything is knowable in the Universe. If you cannot know it today, one day you will know it. All secret will expose itself in a matter of time. It's a common faith in Christian doctrine in the West, and Zhuang Zi believed the same.

If you know each other, then you can work together.

Then you can say, nothing is impossible in the Universe.

Anything can happen, it is a very basic faith in the art of war. It can happen to your counterpart, and it can happen to yourself.

You can win, and you can lose. It is simply possible. Nothing is impossible, from this sense, it is true.

It is simply possible, and it is the reason of humble.

You will be stronger with a humble mind like this.

Finally, please take very good care to see the following points here:

What is the difference with the hot atmosphere many would encounter in the everyday life when people shouted: "I can do anything" or, "Nothing is impossible", or, "Just go ahead"? They are everywhere.  You can observe this kind of words has become cliché and meaningless. And now in the discussion about war and you say the same.

It is all because, your thought is from a very high angle of philosophy and its deep into your blood, not a commercial advertisement. It's the difference of shallow and deep thought. Only a really deep thought coming from within would bring you to victory in wars.

With the possibilities in mind, we would presume the possibilities are not for a single person nor a single generation. We are all blind man without vision and can only feel the elephant with our hands. With thousands and thousands of hands and with the work of many generations, we can finally come closer to see the real image of an elephant. We can work and we could be wrong. And that meant the other guy or even your enemy may be more correct then you are. A humble and loving mind and sometimes forgiving mind is very important. 

Yes, everything is possible for all of us in the terms of time and space. We shall finally reach our goal in the planet.

 

5   Level

We shall start from "Level", which is more difficult and not easy to achieve. You need to have some talent and work hard to achieve it. And the second is "Situation", which is much easier but it is always neglected by the leaders, if it is neglected, you are dead. It's very unhappy to die in shallow waters.

We are living in different levels. It is just like a small tank of goldfish. The goldfish is living in the water, water is her level. She can never go up one level to the air. Now you are fighting with the gold fish. You are in a much higher lever to observe the fish.

What then?

You can observe the fish in a very clear vision. No matter where the goldfish will go, she cannot hide herself from you. Because you are in a higher level.

And suddenly you felt a chill from your back. It's good for you to feel this. You know there must be another level upon you. There must be some people watching you from a higher level like you watch the goldfish. He would understand you more than yourself. You have no way to escape. You will lose the battle if the guy attacks you.

There will always a higher level upon you. Be humble and be ready to learn new thing. Open your mind. Do not refuse to study. Refusing is the moral for losers, not you.

And luckily the guy is not in an upper level. He is in the same level or even a lower lever from you. He is just watching you from a remote camera and a wired phone. That means he is in the same level with you. Though he has secret connections with your friends and your peers, they will provide information for him.

And you can release yourself now. He is only a spy; he needs not to be a superior.

A spy can never see true picture at wars. Leaders must be very concerned about this. Do not rely on reports. A spy can provide report, but not the real picture. You can use the reports as a second channel, but your own channel is more important.

A spy is not to be afraid of, but a higher level is what you must watch out.

It is all because, if you are in a higher level, even though your enemy can spy on you, but you know him more then he knows you. Because you are seeing him from a level, and he is seeing you from the same field.

"How can I go up one level?"

It's not a university degree that you can spend several years to achieve one. It is the total of your wisdom and your knowledge. One can easily grow up from a child to an adult. A child is outside the level of the adult world. A child is not yet in your level, he cannot know what happens in you. You need to completely involved in a world to get into your present level. That means your total understand of your present situation. And if you are willing to come to such believe that, you are still a child, there must be a level more complicated to your understanding, it is the first step any one needs to raise up himself.

For the upper level people, you are a child only. If you refuse to believe it, you will fail in the coming war.

How can I go up one level?

The answer is in one line only:

"Seek, and you shall have it."

This is the famous answer from Jesus Christ, he is right.

All is in the inner intention of the mind. Many ordinary people never seek in their whole life, and they will not be in the next level to look at the present situation. But a real intention is not easy. You need to find out the breaking point. Many people don't even have a question in their mind. They will not have the answer either.

But from a life threating situation, you need to think for a while.

One last question about level is that there will be lower levels and any one is possible to fall into a lower level without his own knowledge. Because, when people cannot choose wisdom, they choose foolishness instead.

A guy is selling candies for some time, his business is always the same, not too good and not too bad. He thought to himself, how do I earn more? I don't like situation like this. He tried to renew his formula to make candies. He put in false sugar for the new candies. He did have a better business for a short time. And his failure is certain. He is too stupid to do that, yet he cannot avoid his fate. Lots of people had been choosing this way for their final destruction. They are going downwards in their levels. They must had been warned before they did that, however, many people never take warnings seriously. There will always be a lower level waiting for them.

And the point here is for us to ponder: If the guy is to fall into a lower level so easily, can I go up one level like this? And the answer is definitely yes. If I am selling candies like the guy, what shall I do to go up a little? Can I open my mind in his situation?

It seems to be not difficult at all.

 

6   Situation

It is like living in a small fish tank. The upper level people are looking at you very clearly, but you feel the small tank a huge jungle. You find it difficult to go from one place to the other, and to search the way is not easy at all. You cannot know what to do and where to go. The tank is too complicated for the common people. They can never understand the sophisticated combination in the tank. They don't feel safe. They choose to live in a smaller space, like the conch. They will never leave their home. It is dangerous out there.  They will stay in the same old place, until one day some other fish come and eat them.

If you are not in the upper level, then you must handle your situation.

You are in the fish tank, but it seems like a jungle. And you cannot see it clearly from an angle outside the fish tank, you need to know your situation within the tank.

First of all is to find out your major threat. That is the first question.

What is a threat? A threat is more than an enemy. The threat can be economy, or weather, or illness, or anything threatens your existence, and it is more than your own life, it is your country and your culture.

It needs a careful mind to detect the threat. When Julius Caesar suddenly found out, his real threat was not the enemies he was fighting but trusted friends inside his inner circle, and they were more than one. All of them were his enemies. It was too late for him to discover the fact. The blade had already been entered into his body. Shakespeare had re-written the scene in his play, Caesar's last words were: "Et tu, Brute? (And you, Brutus?) he simply could not believe it was true.

And it is never an easy task to detect a threat or an enemy. Mother nature will not lie to you, but human enemy will. It is important to study your situation.

Because, a situation will tell the truth, but your enemy will disguise. He will show you how friendly he is. He will give you his sweetest smile. And the most dangerous situation was group liars. You can never know their true intention, until one day all knifes are stabbed into your body together.

But a total situation was there already waiting your study, if you can read them. You will know how things will go, you will know what will surely happen and you will be prepared. Because you are acting on the base of a trend. You know the situation and you know the real intention of your enemy and you need not wait to see his next gesture.

Sometimes, you feel weak and not strong enough to fight your enemy. You choose to smile, its ok for a while. But the basic trend is still not changed. He will attack you as soon as he finds out your weak point.

Don't smile at your enemy. You have never seen a cat smiling at an attacking dog. You will not gain time by smiling, you can gain time through fighting only.

By situation, we meant a total situation. If the internal situation is neglected, now you can never again neglect the external situation. It is your last chance to survive.

For a first-born small fish in the ocean, there are major threats everywhere. Only a handful can escape and grow up healthily.  As for human situation, threats are far more severe. It is like a type of special cells most of the time. It could be everywhere and suddenly you are announced last stage of a development. All your organs were occupied, it seems you can do nothing but surrender. If you look carefully into the cells, they were not only external, but also internal. They were everywhere, and they were linked up to the same brain in your head. To remain healthy, you must re-format or replace your own brain.

In ancient China, Cao Cao had been advised by a physician to do a brain surgery. Few would think it was a parable in the contest of a historical story. What he needs is a new brain, not a new mind. A brain and a mind need not be the same.

It is unacceptable, but the only hope is there always. Cao Cao later killed his physician, but it helped nothing.

It is a must to be alerted. And the funny side is, you need a quiet and relaxed mind to be alerted.

You need to know the situation.

Now we have a new example in the history of situation wars.

Hong Kong was a British colony for more than a century. When the Chinese wanted to have it back, the British did not refuse. As they knew it very clear they cannot win the Chinese in another colonial war. And the Chinese seemed had never read the works of Machiavelli. Some of the leaders did not like reading, they thought it was more practical to act then to have theories. And they were satisfied to remain in the old level. How should you handle a newly captured city? The Chinese leaders did not consider Hong Kong was a city, but a commercial organization that they can manager it through agents. They had set up monitor points in Hong Kong, however, the city was allowed to run by foreign agents, who need not be loyal to the Chinese. The Chinese trusted them.

And to the amazement of the future historians, the agents were running Hong Kong by a Chinese method. The had setup a big underground party in Hong Kong. It is a secret everyone knows in Hong Kong, but not the leaders in Beijing. The underground party used various method to recruit members. No one can refuse their recruitment. They were using a network to do all the things. It is your business, they can give you convenience to earn money, and it is your career, you can have a better place in the place you like, and it is your marriage, they can give you a spouse if you needed it. And the most important of all, you must be willingly hypnotized in a certain kind of Western democratic theories. And you must believe that the Chinese were a people of evils, the Chinese Government had long been devilized. Yet the Chinese had seldom to take any real action to tell the world how civilized were them. The Chinese are working hard to build a peaceful world and avoiding hard to irritate their Western counterparts. And all the important organizations in the colony were used in this purpose to re-capture Hong Kong, and to beat China. They include almost all the medias, all radios, all TVs, all schools, all churches, all religions, all publication houses and even the other businesses like medicine and daily commercial shops were under the hands of the underground party. And the Hong Kong people are allowed to setup different parties and societies, and the societies had in turn keep the underground party growing. What can a naïve young man do is such situation? You don't have even a religious leader to trust. And you cannot buy books, anything against the rule of the underground party will be disappeared. It is absolute Westernized dictatorship, yet the Chinese people had never realized it. It's a painful question to ask: why.

And sometimes you will win the war not because of anything else but the foolishness of your enemy. Please do not feel happy if such things happen, though it will happen quite often.

And some people would think it is the Chinese-US war in Hong Kong. Yet the US leaders still feel weak in such situation. They had not enough faith to win the war. That is why they had used hatred as an element to push masses and crowds. By using hatred, people can be mobilized more quickly and easily. Slogans were everywhere to promote hatred and to irritate the emotions of the youngsters. 

However, hatred is the opposite of reason and love, that is the fatal point of the US led movement in Hong Kong.

It is normal for the huge party to build their branches. From smaller groups of almost all the foreign workers in Hong Kong to other countries.  They are everywhere all over the world, including Macau and Taiwan, Indonesia and lots of the Western countries and the most important of all, mainland China. They have been given lots of resources and conveniences from the Chinese Government. Green lights are turned on for them.  Later developments are expected in the imminent future. This is a situation not to be neglected.

 

7   Knowledge and

Forms of Wisdom

What is knowledge? It seems easy, some believed knowledge can be created. Maybe it is wrong. Knowledge is from nature. It is for us to discover.

Knowledge is not knowledge if it is fed and not pursued. The famous US faith is to pursue happiness, however, if knowledge is pursued, a better future is near.

And good American people will know sooner or later, happiness is same with emptiness if it is built upon money.

And wisdom is not wisdom if it is remained in the books of lonely writers. A true wisdom must be the thinking habit of all the people.

With knowledge and wisdom, the country can standup and help others in the whole world. You will win all the wars.

(The End)

    (Copy Right is Free; anyone can keep and circulate this book without charge.)

 

THE BET

(A Short Story)

The rich man told the poor giant, "I will take all your children."

The poor giant didn't believe him. 

The rich man said, let us bet: "If I can take all your children, you give me your country. If I cannot take your children, I will give you my country." 

The poor giant said, "You are going to lose. Because my children will not trust anyone except me."

The rich man said, "Before I take your country, first I need to make your poor country rich, do you agree?"

The poor giant said, "If you are going to make me rich, I have no objection." 

The rich man said, "I will send a genius to help you get rich quickly. Because there are some technological problems you need to learn before you get rich. Will you like to meet him and learn how to get rich?"

The poor giant said, "I will never reject learning. But who is this genius?" 

The rich man said, "He is the king of the rich island near your country. Will you like to visit his rich island and learn some of the know-hows in getting rich?"

The poor giant said, "I agree." 

When the plane of the poor giant touched down in the rich island of the genius, he was amazed to see, it was a rich island indeed. All the highways were straight and wide and bright like golden, and the houses were as clean as diamond. Rich people in the island welcomed the poor giant, they rolled out a red carpet to receive him, they treated him with highest quality food and drink for a king. 

The genius greeted the poor giant and they embraced.

Next day, there was a hot news in the media around the globe: 

"Small Island rolled out red carpet for a Most Honored Guess."

The poor giant said to the genius, "I am amazed to see your country is running very well." 

The genius replied humbly, "Oh no, your country is. Your country can be far better than us. You have so many scholars and learned young men, we have only an island with poor resources."

The poor giant said, "You are really a genius to get rich without resources. We need to learn from you."

The genius said, "To be rich is easy and there is no secret, you only need to……."

The poor giant was suffering from poverty for a long time. He wished to know how to get rich for his children. And he has got the patience to let the genius say more. He only smiled and waited. 

The genius said, "Yes, you need to control everything. That is the first priority."

The poor giant was puzzled, "Control everything?"

The genius said more humbly, "Sir, you are my senior and you know it all. We have a special way to control my children here."

The genius waited a second and say more: "We separate them into two groups, one is for me, and the other is against me. Both of them are under my direct control. "

The poor giant felt interested: "Well?"

"Take media as an example, I have a team of media people who are against me, and the other team for me."

"What? Those who wrote against you are actually your friend? I thought you were in trouble when so many of them wrote to attack you? Were they not your real enemy?"

"Oh never," The genius laughed: "It's only a show. I control everything. I have my secret army like your secret party members."

"Well, "The poor giant felt a bit uneasy, as the genius had mentioned something he didn't like to talk about, "It seems you know everything."

"They are my network of secret members, I let them control everything and push my orders to carry out properly. I depend on them more then my open army."

The poor giant didn't reply. He was reluctant to get into such topics. However, they have a happy evening together. They remained good friends from then on. The poor giant was happy to know secrets from the genius. He felt happy as he knew the genius had trusted him and let him know secrets to run the country. It seemed easy; you just divide your secret army into two opposing groups.

No one on the planet had ever told him, that this secret, was a lie. It must be carried out without the knowledge of his own children. And worse thing would happen in a lying situation. A liar is easily to be cheated. And the poor giant was too excited, he couldn't find out the real nature of the secret. It was a plot to make him become a liar. Any strong person, whenever they had determined to lie, would become weak. That was why the poor giant was cheated in many ways, and he had never realized it. 

And he was confident about himself as usual. He thought it was a good idea, to create a false enemy, was just as easy as presenting a daily drama. It was fun to see them fight each other. He believed it could work. 

The genius had told him many methods in getting rich, which is not important at all. They included economy and finance ideas as well as political ideas. The poor giant showed himself a true learner. 

And he had ordered his people to come to the island to study the method of governing, as well as the art of lying. Groups and groups of people had flied to the island. Planes kept coming and going. The genius treated them like his own secret members. 

And the poor giant never doubted about their loyalty. He knew they will never betray him. He thought everyone was sharing the same ideal with him. All were for the people, even though lying was necessary for the people. 

The poor giant was happy to find out he was getting rich. He decided to try out the control method in one of his small provinces.

The poor giant failed to notice, his secret network of control, had changed hands gradually. Little by little, his secret network was not his secret network anymore. Extra branches were built without his consent. They were under leadership of the rich man. He was not the boss of his own country, but the rich man was. 

Now, he would try the genius method in his selected province. 

The first move of the poor giant, was to buy medias in the province. He knew the importance of medias, he wanted to buy them all. And it was not difficult for him. As he can pay good money. He preferred to save in other places. He wanted to spend important resources in the media. He had brought TVs, Radios, and Newspapers. And he had them divided. Some were for him, some against him. All were under his secret control. He had got secret network members everywhere, like the genius.

However, he had never knew, what he had spent big money to brought in, were only useless shells. The inner cores were tightly on the hands of the rich man. 

The situation was getting worse and worse. And the worst of all was his health. He was old and weak now. 

One day, the rich man came to visit him. He was in his sick bed. 

The rich man said, "You are becoming rich, do you?"

The poor giant said, "We are only picking up a little."

The rich man said, "Do you still want to honor your promise in our bet?"

The poor giant said, "Why not? I am still alive. I still have plenty of time."

"Ha," The rich man laughed, "I must advice you, I have taken lots of your children. You have not much time left."

The poor giant said, "I don't believe it."

The rich man showed him an article from the papers, it was about some of his children. Lots of the schools, universities, churches, even the Government were not necessarily his supporters. They had turned against him. 

The poor giant said, "Have you counted your harvest?"

The rich man hesitated. 

The poor giant was old and weak, but firm. He said, "If you have not counted, I have. You had controlled only 5%. "

The rich man laughed again, "Ha, you said 5% only? Do you know they were all leaders and they occupied all of your key positions in your stupid province?"

The poor giant was silent. He could hardly breathe any more. But he still managed to answer the rich man, "Let us see if your 5% can beat the rest of my good children?"

The poor giant had died shortly after the visit of the rich man. 

And all his children were eager to see, whether the 95% can beat the 5% or not. 

The bet was still going on.

              (The End)

A note

The writer will be going to Dongguan City, China for two days from tomorrow.

china trip

The writer will be going to Nanning, China for a week from today till December 20, 2019

莊子兵法 第 七 章 知識 和智慧的形態

Zhuang Zi  Art of War,

Chapter 7
   Knowledge and
               Forms of  Wisdom

(  Chinese Translation )

(Detail Version)





莊子兵法  第 七 章
            知識 和 智慧的形態

 什麼是知識呢? 似乎這是很容易的問題。 在香港，有些中國人相信知識是可以創造出來的。這是 無知的論點，很難期望這樣的人還可以站出來作一點事情。

餵養出來的不是知識，追求得來的才是知識。 美國人的信念是要追求快樂，導致了今日 。如果所追求的是知識， 未來必定更加美好。

智慧不會存在於孤獨作家們所寫的書裡。真正的智慧必須要是民族全體的思想習慣。

有了知識和智慧， 國家才會真正站起來，並且幫助其他國家。如果要打仗， 也會勝利。

這一本書寫到這裏，暫時告一段落了。 錯漏當然是難免的， 但我想警告各位讀者， 這裏的錯漏未必是小錯漏，也可能是大錯漏 。因此請你非常小心的去看。 期望你百戰百勝 。更加期望你憑藉這一個錯漏，找到你自己的路。

莊子兵法 第 六 章 形勢

Zhuang Zi  Art of War,

Chapter 6    Situation
(Chinese Translation)
(Detail Version)




莊子兵法   第 六 章    形勢

在金魚缸裏面活著， 是不會很愉快的 。上一層次的人能夠很清楚地看見你， 你卻覺得這一個小小的金魚缸， 好像是一個大森林。 你要從森林的這一頭走到另一頭，是很不容易的。 找尋道路非常困難 。你不知道應該怎樣做， 也不知道往何處去 。金魚缸裏面的形勢太複雜了，全不知道裏面的各種複雜，一點也不覺得安全。 有些人就選擇了好像蜆殼螺那樣的生活 。永遠都呆在相同的地方， 因為外面實在是太危險了。 直到有一天， 一條外來的魚 ，把他們吃掉為止。

當我們尚未能夠上升一個層次的時候，就必須謹慎審察形勢。

第一是要看到最主要的威脅在哪裏?

什麼是威脅? 威脅可能不只是敵人那樣簡單。 威脅可能是經濟 ，氣候 ，疾病 或任何危害生存的力量。而生存也不只是個人的生存，是國家和文化的生存。

所以應該用很清醒的心去了解威脅在那裡。羅馬帝國的凱撒大帝，最後一刻才發現威脅並非外面的敵人， 而是他最可信任的朋友，是他的親信。他的知己原來都是他的敵人。而第一把劍已經插進他的身體裏面 。莎士比亞曾經把這場面寫在劇本裡。 凱撒的最後一句說話是:

 Et tu, Brute?(還有你嗎，布鲁圖特斯?)

他簡直不能相信這是真的。

要知道誰是敵人，是絕不容易的。

大自然不會欺騙你 ，但你的敵人會騙你。所以研究形勢是很重要的。可以從形勢裏面看到真相。人類常常都會偽裝，他們會扮作友善， 給你最甜蜜的笑容， 說他是你的好朋友。 而最危險是集體欺騙者 。他們串好了來欺騙你 ，你是不會知道他們的真正意圖的。 直至有一天， 他們一起亮出劍來，同時插進你的身體裏面。

但大形勢 卻會讓你看到敵人的意圖。形勢永遠在等著你的研究----如果你能夠閱讀形勢的話。 你會知道 事情會怎樣走， 你會知道什麼事情一定會發生， 你會有所準備。 因為你是依著形勢行事的 ，你清楚形勢 ，你了解敵人的真正意圖 。你不需要等待看他的下一個表演姿態，就已經看到了他的想法。

有的時候你感覺軟弱， 覺得不夠強壯去應付敵人。 你選擇微笑 。那只能在短時間裏有效， 但基本形勢一點也沒有改變 。一旦對方看到了你的弱點， 他就會立即進攻。

所以不要對著敵人笑。 貓不會向著狂吠的狗笑。 發出笑容不會令你爭取到時間， 只能夠用鬥爭去爭取時間。

當然歷史也不會是絕對的。例如越王勾踐不就是利用笑容消滅了吳王夫差嗎 ?但請留意一點:   許多人永遠學不了越王勾踐 ，他們只是吳王夫差。 他們只是無原則地接受敵人的賄賂。


這裏所談到的所謂形勢, 意思是一種全面的形勢。由於種種原因，假設你已經忽略了內在形勢， 那就千萬不要再忽略外在形勢。這是生存的最後機會。


在海洋裏， 初初出生的小魚， 需要面對巨大的威脅。 只有少量的小魚能夠逃過威脅， 健康成長。 至於人類的形勢，其實是更加嚴重的。

有點好像一種特殊的細胞。這些細胞能夠隨處生長， 可能在任何地方出現 。發覺的時候 ，往往已經太遲， 已經來到了發展的最後階段。 所有的器官都被侵佔了，似乎你什麼都不可以做 ，只能夠投降。 你細心觀察這些特殊的細胞， 這些細胞不但只是外在的， 更可能是內在的。 他們到處都是， 而且他們和你的大腦相通。如果要保持健康 ，你可能需要格式化你的大腦 ，或者更換一個大腦。

在遠古的中國 ，曾經有一位英雄人物曹操。他患有頭風病 。一位醫生為他診治。 醫生說， 需要進行腦外科手術。 很少人想到這不是歷史 ，而是一個寓言。 曹操需要一種新的思路，不是一個新的策略。腦和心 是不同的，但他不可能明白。他更不知道，這些細胞，來自於「 心」。 曹操絕對不肯接受這一種治療方案 ，後來他就把醫生也殺掉了， 但這是毫無用處的。

所以提高警覺是非常重要的。有趣的是，你需要在一種寧靜放鬆的心情下提高警覺。

以下是形勢戰爭的一個 新的例子。

香港曾經是英國的殖民地。 後來中國人要求收回殖民地。英國人也並沒有拒絕， 大概是他們知道不可能 打勝中國。但中國人似乎從未曾觀看馬基維利的書。有一部分的中國領袖，不喜歡閱讀 。認為實際行動比理論更加重要。 他們寧願停留在舊的層次底下。 怎樣處理一個重新歸來的城市呢?  這些中國領袖們並不以為香港是一個城市， 他們以為香港只是一個商業機構。而這個商業機構 是可能 透過代理人去管理的。他們在香港 也建立了監察點。 這特殊的商業機構，是讓外人管理的。而這些外人 也並不需要忠於中國。 中國人幾乎是無條件信任他們。

歷史學家可能會大感詫異 ，這些代理人是用中國方法去秘密統治香港的。他們建立了一個特大的地下黨。這是一個在香港人人知道的秘密，但北京的領導人不知道。這地下黨用了不同的方法去招攬黨員 。沒有人可以拒絕他們的招攬。因為他們是用網絡的便利去做這件工作的。 這是你的生意，他們可以給你方便去賺錢 。這是你的前途 ，他們可以給你職位，放你去你喜歡做的崗位上。 他們甚至可以 為你安排婚姻 ，如果你需要配偶，就給你一個。 你唯一需要做的事，只是 自願接受催眠，放棄用腦 ，自願相信這一種西方的民主理論。 你必須相信中國人都是壞的 ，都是妖魔。中國一向都是被妖魔化的， 但奇怪中國人也很少採取什麼行動 去告訴這個世界，他們 不是妖魔， 而是很有文化的。 中國人很努力的去為世界和平努力， 也 盡量不去 刺激西方的官僚政客。在這種情況下，所有香港的重要機構， 就都被逐步接收了。 變成了打擊中國的機構 ，變成了在未來 重奪香港的工具 。這些機構 包括了幾乎全部的傳媒機構，幾乎全部的電台 全部的電視，幾乎所有的學校，所有的教會 ，所有的宗教 ，所有的出版機構 ，並且許多與文化無關的機構也同樣被接收了。 香港也是允許成立各種政黨和社團的。這些社團轉過頭來更加促使地下黨發展 。在香港，一個率真的青年人 很難找到出路 。思想一定是苦悶的 ，因為 連宗教的慰藉都不可能得到 。如果要看書也找不到 好書。因為都被出版機構把持了， 任何對抗地下黨統治的企圖， 都會消失 。這完全是西方式的獨裁統治 ，但是中國人一點也不知道 。這是一個很奇怪的問題， 也是一個很痛苦的問題。 為什麼他們不知道呢?

值得留意的是， 在戰爭之中， 有時你會打勝仗， 但那不是出於你自己的智慧，而是 出於敵人的愚蠢 。如果有這樣的事情發生， 請不要感覺得太高興。 悲劇是時常發生的。

有人以為這只是 中國和美國 在香港的戰爭。 但是領袖們依然感到力量不足 ，他們對於這一場戰爭可能打勝的信心不足 ，所以他們利用仇恨 去推動群眾。 因為提倡仇恨 很容易，而且收效也快 。所以你在香港 看到仇恨,  目標是要刺激青年人的情緒。

但是仇恨是理智和愛的相反。這是這一場運動的致命之處。

一個特大的地下黨 要擴充分佈是很正常的 ，連外來傭工 都組織起來了 。勢力也伸展到其他地區 。許多地區都可以發現他們的蹤影 ，包括了澳門和台灣，印尼，還有很多西方的大城市 。但最特別的是在中國大陸。 中國政府曾經給了他們很多方便， 綠燈對他們長期開放 。

這一件事將會有意料不到的發展，是一種不可不注意的形勢。

莊子兵法 第 五 章 層次

Zhuang Zi  Art of War,

Chapter 5   Level

(  Chinese Translation )

(Detail Version)




莊子兵法  第 五 章  層次

層次不容易瞭解。 層次之下是形勢。 形勢似乎容易一點。 但其實仍然是常常遭受忽略的。 忽略了形勢，就是失敗。在淺水的地方淹死， 是很不愉快的。

我們都是活在不同的層次裏面的。層次就好像一個小小的金魚缸 。金魚在水中活著， 水就是他的層次 。金魚是不能夠升上一個層次來到空氣中的。 你的層次可能比金魚高一級，金魚的一舉一動，你瞭如指掌。你完全明白。

這時，你的背部可能不由自主地出現一種寒意。能夠感到寒意是很好的。因為你知道， 你的上頭還有更加高的一個層次 。可能有人正在看著你， 好像你看金魚那樣。 他明白你 ，他比你自己更加明白你自己。 你簡直是無路可逃 ，如果這個人攻擊你 ，你會戰敗。

層次之上永遠有層次，總是有人比你高一層次的。 所以要謙虛一點，隨時準備學習新的事物， 開放心靈。 不要拒絕學習。 拒絕是失敗者的習慣 ，不是你的習慣。

此刻你是幸運的。因為在看著你的那個傢伙，他是跟你層次相同的。 可能他比你的層次還要低一級。 他只是用一個遙控攝影機來看你，用一個 連線的電話來聽你 。他是跟你相同層次的。雖然他還有秘密網絡，他能夠透過你的同伴和你的朋友去偵測你，你的資料，不絕流到他手上。

所以你此刻可以稍為放鬆一點了， 對方只是一個間諜，不是高層次的觀察者。

間諜是不能看清楚真相的。很多人都重視諜報，但不會依賴諜報。 報告不會是全面真相。 你只能夠把這些報告當做二手資源，只有你自己的資源才是最重要的第一手資源。

間諜無須畏懼，但高一層次的人，卻必須謹慎提防。

如果你自己是高層次，雖然你的敵人 不斷偵測你 ，但你卻了解他們更多一點 。因為你是從高層次觀察他們的。 你看他們就好像看金魚缸裏的魚一樣。 他們只能在相同層次裡觀察你。許多問題，他們不會明白。

怎樣才可以升高層次?

大學學位，只要花幾年時間， 就可以拿到手。但層次不是這樣提升的。 因為層次是你自己智慧和知識的總和。到了一種階段，提升了也不知道。

從一個孩子到一個成人， 是很明顯的兩種層次。 孩童世界不會了解成人世界。 孩子尚未達到你的層次， 他不會知道什麼事情正在你的身上發生。你需要完完全全地投入進去， 才知道自己現在是什麼層次。如果你願意保持這樣的信心， 知道你自己仍是一個孩子， 知道總是有一個更加高級更加複雜的層次， 是在你的理智範圍以外的 ，這樣 ，你就是已經預備好了， 你有升上層次的準備了。

對於一個高層次的人來說，你只是一個孩子。 如果你拒絕相信這一點， 你的戰爭一定失敗。

那麼我怎樣才能提升一個層次呢?

答案只有一句話:

「尋覓，你就會得到。」

 這句話是耶穌說的。他是對的。

提升層次是你的內在願望 。一般人是一生也不會想到這問題的， 他們也不會在高一層次的地方審察現在的情勢。內在的企圖是不容易的， 你需要尋找到一個突破點。 很多人是從來沒有問題的，當然他們也不會有答案 。在生死存亡的關頭，或者需要靜下來思考一會兒。

下降層次常常發生。 當人們不能選擇智慧的時候，他們就只會選擇愚蠢。

有一個賣糖果的小商人。他的生意時常都是差不多， 不太好也不太壞。 他就想，我怎樣才能多賺一點呢? 現在的情況太不滿意了。 他想到把糖果的製造方法修改一下。他用假糖去代替真的糖。 他的收入果然是好了一點， 但他的失敗卻是肯定的。 他太蠢了， 他無法躲過命運。 很多人都是這樣走向了毀滅之途， 總是向著下降的層次進發。  警告訊號曾經響起， 但他們聽不到。 更低的層次在等候他們。

這令人想到， 如果下降層次是這樣容易， 那麼上升難不難呢? 如果我也販賣糖果, 我怎樣才能上升一點?  我能否打開心扉 ?

好像是一點也不困難呢。

莊子兵法 第三章 方法

Zhuang Zi  Art of War,
Chapter 3   Method
(  Chinese Translation )
(Detail Version)



莊子兵法  第三章   方法

莊子曾經提到的方法只有兩個，這兩個方法是莊子觀察宇宙萬物的感悟。

第一個方法

請用你的心去看，不要用你的眼睛去看。

這是很簡單的方法，但難以了解 。軍事學家孫子曾經說過類似的話。 孫子說， 如果你看到太陽和月亮， 你未必就是有了很好的視覺。 孫子可能忽略了一點 :  有時,  戰爭的形勢是這樣明顯, 明顯到好像太陽和月亮, 但仍有很多人看不見。  因為他們不是用心去看，也不是用眼睛去看的。他們簡直是已經把眼睛蒙蔽起來，完全不看。 在民族存亡的生死關頭，一定要小心，更要謹慎 。最重要 一點是寧靜。當你寧靜的時候，你的心是清亮的。  當你時常都是覺得很忙， 那就要注意了。 警告訊號已經發出。 當你喜歡說話，總是滔滔不絕， 那就要小心了，失敗已經臨近。

 第二個方法

用一把沒有厚度的劍去刺中對方的縫隙。

這句說話的原文是 「以無厚入有間」。

 當你的寶劍是這樣的鋒利，似乎連厚度也沒有，不用放大鏡，幾乎看不到劍鋒。鋒利的劍，無影無形，一擊而中。

但對方的防守是這樣的嚴密，幾乎沒有縫隙，那麼你怎樣去刺? 如果從無厚的角度去看 ，形勢完全不同。

你根本沒有厚度 ，而對方的縫隙是從你自己的角度去決定的。是你自己決定對方縫隙的。 達到了無厚境界，你就找到縫隙，達到勝利。

如果真的找不到縫隙怎麼辦?總不成硬來吧?

如果不是無厚，就不要進入。

這是什麼意思? 為什麼莊子要這樣說? 這幾乎就是一切。所有的戰略；所有的技術；都在這一句說話裏面了 。不要用愚蠢的力量去進入對方。  絕不蠻來，永不盲動，就意味著你已經知到一切，徹底了解。 所謂一切，就是包括在所有範圍內的所有研究。

你是這樣鋒利， 這樣有天份 ，並且你還擁有了幸運，一切都知道了，你已經有所警惕 。但你並不是把自己看成是什麼都沒有。 你不是無我， 你只是無厚。你不是沒有意見， 你不是沒有選擇，你不是沒有角度，你不是沒有堅持， 你不是無我。你只是無厚。需要從較高的角度，才可以明白這一點。 虛無不等於無厚，無厚並不是無我。

當你發覺了對方的縫隙， 你就可以變成一把真的利劍刺進去。

宇宙是一種複雜的重疊層次。這種 情況遠比我們常說的多角度更加複雜。 有的人以為世界很簡單，只有兩個 方面，宇宙就是只有對立的雙方，宇宙只是我和我的敵人所組成的。 這樣就永遠無法了解層次或者縫隙之美。

最後，還要說一說，甚麼是幸運。  幸運其實即是智慧。路有一條，被你看到了，但你的敵人沒有看到。方法有一個，也被你看到了，你的敵人同樣看不到。  你可以說這是你的幸運，其實是你的智慧。 你只是謙虛，說是你的運氣，五福臨門。 謙虛，也是無厚之一。

有智慧才有幸運，沒有智慧，就一定沒有幸運。

莊子兵法 第四章 基本原理1 2 3

Zhuang Zi Art of War,
Chapter 4   Basics 1,2,3
(  Chinese Translation )
(Detail Version)






莊子兵法  第四章    基本原理123



以下是莊子兵法的幾個基本原理



第一 :   「一」的原理



作為一個領袖, 一定要知道自己的真實處境:   「我和我的宇宙是一個整體,  我們是一起誕生的。」你不只是一個個體， 你能夠以整體的角度，看見全面形勢。因為你就是整體。畫面是這樣清晰，所以你很清楚知道應該怎樣做。 但是從全面觀察並不容易。很多領袖都失敗在這裏。感覺迷惑的時刻，一定要保持寧靜。 很多人都極力向你描述形勢，但只有自己才可能把真相繪畫出來。



來去匆匆的領袖都沒有整體觀念，只看到名譽和財富。是一定失敗的。但更嚴重在於有真正才能的領袖。 對於他們來說，物質影響不算一回事，但他們無法寧靜。工作過份忙碌或者過份集中，都是致命的。很多人嘆息:  我只有一雙手，怎能推動地球。 所以深層次觀察是必須的，請用你的心。一隻手也可以推動地球的。



要觀察層次， 需要有特殊的感覺， 艱辛勞動。沒有人像亞歷山大大帝那樣幸運了， 他的老師是亞里士多德。他在亞里士多德門下學習了七年 。他建立了橫跨亞洲非洲和歐洲的一個大帝國。但沒有人能夠繼承他， 因為要擁有一個像亞歷山大大帝那樣的心絕非簡單。他死後，繼承權力的人很快就在權力鬥爭之中消失。誰會是地球上的下一個天才領袖呢?  這是一個艱難而且痛苦的問題。上面說到亞歷山大大帝極端幸運，上一章我們說過什麼是幸運。 如果亞歷山大大帝欠缺智慧，他碰到了亞里士多德也沒用的。



怎樣繪畫全面形勢之圖?



 一個天生的領袖，一定喜歡宇宙間的萬事萬物 。太陽底下每一件事都是新鮮的。生命中每一個角落，都感覺興趣。每一項目都喜歡。他不是一個純粹的科學家，也不是一個世故的商人。他不是一個單一趣味的人。他是多角度的，多層次的。他不是單細胞，它是整株的植物。他比一株植物更加豐富。他不單是植物，還是土壤，不單是土壤，他是地球。不單是地球，他還是宇宙。並非個體的人，都是這樣。他的心中有圖。這一幅圖，就是全面真相。



秦始皇是極端勤奮的。他要求下屬呈交奏章。奏章來自四面八方。他每天晚上都要看到深夜。那時的奏章，都用竹簡寫成，他每晚都要看好幾大籮，直至深夜。人人稱都說他勤奮，但他的問題無法解決。



其中一個原因是，他是被餵養的，他不是主動吸收的。一流領袖都是主動吸收的，他們對一切趣味盎然。他知道甚麼該忽略，甚麼該堅持。他有敏銳的觸覺。每一次，他只要吸啜一點點，就知道什麼事情正在發生。他知道應該怎樣做。 如果碰到這樣的人，千萬不要向他挑戰。



這樣的高層次是不容易的。因為他不是無我的，因為 ，沒有整體，就沒有我。我是有來源的，也是有作為的。這是莊子哲學的精彩部份，他只是忘記了他自己，他只是忘我 。這本來只是一件小道理，忘我和無我也沒有什麼不同。但對一個真正的領袖來說，只有忘我能夠完成他的歷史使命。一個無我的人，還需要主動嗎?  地球上的事務，一寸也動不了。



這是哲學性的問題，好像是無關大旨。但這是戰爭。艱難的戰役，需要忘我的人去看顧大局。一個無我的人，心中是沒有全局的。他多半會是一個間接領袖。但只有直接領袖能夠戰勝。他是直接投入的，他不會完全依賴他人所提供的報告，他會親自嘗試那種味道。 據說現代的通訊技術已經這樣發達，醫生可以用電話為病人診病。但是請注意，這一種診治方式，可能有害。一個真正的醫生，一定會親自來到病床之前，他會親自感受所需要的資料，他會運用感覺，他會看，他會聽。他的心非常忙碌，他全神灌注。如果隔了一部電話，他就只能間接得到數據。電話中的電腦代替他思考。所以好領袖必定親自接觸對象 。如果你計劃太空遠征，你未必需要親自飛往太空，但你一定需要對於這一種太空遠征具有濃厚興趣。觸過，摸過，品味過，然後才把金錢和人材投進去。



 什麼叫做直接領袖呢 ?他是和整體在一起的，是整體的一部分。所以他不是無我的，他是有我的。



以下是小小結論。 作為一個好領袖，必需要是全心全意的。 他有兩個重要的內在特徵。 第一是興趣， 對所有事情都有興趣。第二是徹底的奉獻精神。 他的一切都已經拿出來了 ，在這兩點裏面， 沒有提到愛。 因為愛是興趣與奉獻的果實。 他是有趣的， 他是忘我的， 他是徹底奉獻的。他就是愛。







第二 :   「自由」的原理



自由原理是莊子的一個重要成分。 但是莊子的自由，並非一般概念的自由，而是一種我們稱之為絕對自由的自由。在絕對自由的心中，是沒有牽制的，思想騰空，任意飛翔。 一般概念的自由，只是一種有限制的自由。而很多時，這種普通的自由，只是一種帶有催眠性質的騙局。 每一個人都只能在文化或者法律的限制中有限活動。有些人以為神聖的自由， 事實上 ，所能夠做的事是很有限的 。傳統裏的一塊磚頭，你也無法挪動。這種自由是對無知者的欺騙。明明你是沒有自由的，但你以為自己是自由的。



作為生物中的一個份子，我們都被賦予了一種絕對的自由。可以做任何自己想做的事，一點限制都沒有。你想飛? 第一是你可以想，想通了就可以做。 你可以從高空的飛機飛出來 ，你也可以做任何你想做的事。 這是人的天賦 。雖然你永遠不希望從一架飛機中飛出來， 因為你除了擁有這一種天賦，你還擁有另外的一種天賦:  你有抉擇的智慧。有了抉擇的智慧，你可以選擇去做或者不做。更重要是你可以選擇成功或者選擇失敗。都是你自己的神聖抉擇。



你可以做任何你想做的事， 但能做或不能做則是另外一個問題。 只要

克服得了限制因素，你就可以飛得起來。 第二是抉擇能力。你可以決定做或不做，考慮清楚後果，可以一往無前。 掌握這一點， 思想就沒有限制，思想絕對自由，就是聰明智慧。



那麼絕對自由跟兵法有什麼關係?是否說在作戰的時候我可以做任何想做的事情?



請留意, 戰爭不是一種日常事務。戰爭是一種集體行為，關係到國家的生死，文化的興亡。 所以戰爭需要最高能力的人去處理。當你擁有了一種絕對自由的腦袋，你的思想就再不受限制 ，你是自由的， 你是有天份的。 你已經擁有了一種領導國家， 為人民服務的力量。絕對自由不是胡作非為，而是高瞻遠矚的能力。只希望，這意思不會被故意曲解。



很多人評論歷史領袖人物，時常都說他們是瘋子。 是不是他們真的瘋狂?還是只是有了絕對的思想自由?瘋狂與絕對自由是很接近的。 必須記著 ，每個人都擁有絕對自由。



他的選擇，沒有人可以阻止。



好像是有點不可思議。假定有一個人選擇去街上胡亂殺人，其實他是可以這樣做的，雖然效果會很嚴重，會被阻止。但他的心，你無法阻止。他的心阻不了。對於絕對自由的心來說，甚至大自然的定律也無法阻止。就是這一點，使人類越來越聰明，我們都有充滿天份的心， 我們會找到路。



所以現代戰爭常常是心的戰爭，對方會用盡力量，催眠你的青年，摧毀你的形象，全面控制你的傳媒、教育系統、宗教系統、電影系統和音樂系統。你的整個國家，也會被妖魔化。你以為對方只是竊聽你的電話，其實是竊取民心。思想上做了奴隸，危機嚴重。



還有一個問題 : 我怎樣才能夠做到思想上沒有限制呢?



這類問題,在激烈戰爭中更加清楚。戰爭會導致顛狂，亦會產生天才。



如果你具備了徹底的奉獻精神，你的思想就沒有再沒有任何限制了 。因為你是無所畏懼的。 你會把全部的精力， 奉献出來。



無所畏懼有很多種。 愚蠢的人也可能是無所畏懼的。 但是愚蠢的人永遠不可能像一個正常人那樣思考。充滿貪慾的人，也是無所畏懼的。 他會瘋狂的去搶錢， 他也會變成非常富有 。造物主創造這樣的人出來 ，也是很公平的 。太陽照在好人身上，也要照在壞人身上。他們共享陽光 。唯一的不同是，他是全心全意搶你的錢，而你卻是全心全意服務人民。到最後誰勝利呢?



請不用為這個問題操心。



因為一個真正的領袖並非一個個體。他的心是一個整體。 他能夠從一個更高的位置觀察全面形勢。他的動力是無限的。他當然比一個自私的可憐蟲更加優秀。 因為這是跟大腦的動力有關的。 自私鬼的動力只是一個人， 而他的動力來自整體。



什麼是自由思考呢?



就是說,  你是在你自己的腦裏面自由活動的。你的思想能夠從東方的最遠處去到西方的最遠處。 那麼還需要什麼呢? 你需要一份地圖或者你需要一種工具，你更加需要去除阻礙。但最後的一件是:  你需要動力推動思路。



什麼叫做思想自由? 你可以自由去任何地方, 沒有限制。但你還需要動力。動力是與自由無關的。動力來自上述第一點:  「  一  」。超凡動力來自個體與整體的奇妙結合。但這仍是不夠的。例如在花園裏的花，她就是同宇宙結合在一起的。 但作為一個領袖你需要更大的動力。 你需要一種力量推動你的腦袋去思考。 我們曾經提過有兩種動力， 一種是內在動力，另外一種是外在動力。你的內在動力會推動你的心去推動世界。 外在力量的作用相對是比較小的。







第三 :   「可能」的原理



對一個真的領袖來說， 沒有什麼是不可能的 。因為他有整體在心裏 ，也知道了自由的秘密， 他有能量，徹底奉獻自己。這些都是魅力領袖的必要條件。他會受到人民的擁護愛戴。



但這仍然不夠。



即使到了這一種階段，仍然只像一個盲人在森林裏面行走。 一定要從哲學的高度上去了解，到底這是什麼問題。要知道什麼是可能的和什麼是不可能的。



如果你堅持宣稱宇宙之中一切都是可能的，那樣那麼你就一定要回答為什麼。



莊子的答案是，你先要解答第一個問題:



第一個問題是:   了解宇宙是可能的嗎?



莊子的答案是肯定的。是一個率直的、直接的回答。



因為我們是一個整體， 我們是在同一個軀體裏面的。任何單位都是相通的， 都可能互相溝通。 所以我們是彼此互相認識的， 就好像你的手指知道你的腳趾，你的腳趾也知道你的手指。就是這樣簡單。 宇宙中的任何事物，都是可知的。 今天不能知道，總有一天會知道。 所有秘密，到了一定的時候， 都會徹底公開自己 。這是西方基督教教義中的主張，莊子的意思接近。



因此，互相了解的人就可以合作了， 所以你就可以說 ，在宇宙裏面沒有什麼是不可能的。



戰爭的一個基本原理是什麼事情都可能發生， 能夠在你的對手身上發生， 也能夠在你自己身上發生。



這是什麼意思呢?



意思就是:  你可能勝利, 你也可能失敗。一切都是可能的 ，沒有什麼是不可能的。 這是真的。 所以這就是需要保持謙虛的理由。





這是一個熱氣騰騰的社會。很多人說， 我能夠做一切事， 也有人說沒有事情是不可能的， 更有人說 ，你只要去做就是成功。說得很輕鬆 。或者你會發現，這樣的話語，已經變成口頭禪，已經失去本來的意思。但是，在探討軍事問題的時候，你也是這樣說。兩者有什麼分別呢?



分別就是:  你是從較高的哲學角度去探討的。這思想融入了你的血液 ，並非簡單的商業宣傳。 這就是膚淺和深刻的區別 。只有非常深刻的思考能夠令你戰勝。