I’ve found incredible help in the 12-step program, and also in the teachings of all the various religions on the subject of overcoming personal demons and mastering the self. I am a minister in the Swedenborgian church, a small but very significant religion based on the teachings of the 18th-century scientist and theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. His basic premise is that spiritual life can make sense; that there is good in all religions, and we shouldn’t be afraid to explore the vast landscapes of other people’s beliefs. Swedenborg gave me the freedom to keep searching for greater meaning and to truly glean the best out of any and all religions to use in my personal life and struggles. That is how I found a deeply spiritual set of teachings in the oddest of places: Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Sun Tzu was an Chinese general who lived over 2500 years ago and wrote a guidebook for military tactics that is still used by military strategists today. I am not exactly a warmonger, but when I came across his book, two things struck me. The first was how spiritual this book seemed to be. Some claim Sun Tzu was a Taoist, and you can clearly see that his aim in all this strategy is peace, to prevent as much bloodshed as possible. He says, "To win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the highest excellence. The highest excellence is to subdue the enemy without fighting at all." His whole approach with this, including his instruction to generals to walk in the Way (Tao), to develop internal discipline over self, to develop awareness of all things, is enough food for any person struggling to master the self and find happiness in life. But even more than this, the second thing that struck me was that his teachings could be translated to a deeper, spiritual level. Swedenborg had always put forth that most ancient writing had dual meanings, that they were parables teaching us deeper lessons of life. I found that this was true of Sun Tzu. These military tactics against an earthly foe could be translated into real and tangible tactics for fighting inner enemies as well. Fear, anger, want, addictive-compulsive behavior — enemies to my well-being — could be defeated by using Sun Tzu’s principles. I’ll share a few examples. Sun Tzu says, "If you know your enemy and yourself, you will not be at risk in a hundred battles. If you know the enemy but not yourself, you will sometimes win and sometimes lose. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will be at risk in every battle." To me, this is essential wisdom. One of the enemies I battle all the time is fear: fear of failure, fear of rejection by those I love, fear of death itself. Sun Tzu has taught me to observe myself and this particular opponent to my spiritual well-being. I observe when this fear presents itself on the battlefield of my life, and how I react to it under different circumstances. I take note of how prepared I am to absorb the blow of this debilitating enemy, what ground I am on when it strikes, and how I react. Following this, I strategize how I can change my thought patterns, avoid certain circumstances and people who automatically trigger my fears, how to manage my fear so that it serves rather than rules me, and how to conquer the fears one by one. A second principle of Sun Tzu, which fits perfectly into the first principle of knowing your enemy and yourself, is his call to stay on ground that is unassailable to the enemy. Know your terrain. Know when and where you might be attacked by inner demons. A very simple illustration to this — which is not rocket science, but something many novices to recovery overlook — is changing your terrain to help overcome addiction. In my work with people in recovery, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the story of people who finally sober up, but then head off to the bars with their friends thinking, or even saying, "I’ll just have a Coke." What happens? We know. Because they are walking and even camping in the same terrain as before recovery, where their spiritual enemy attacked them at will, the enemy attacks once again, and they relapse. People well into recovery know that you have to change your terrain: stay out of the bars, even change some of your friends. If not, the enemy will attack every time. If you personify these inner demons, how easy can it be for them if you don’t change your terrain? They can hide behind the same rock every time, smoke a few cigarettes, and say to one another, "Hey, Joe. It’s almost noon. The sucker should be here any minute. Ready to rumble?" Surprise them one day and take a different route in your life. They’ll be stunned and won’t have a clue what to do. They may find you again, but if you are following Sun Tzu’s tactics, you’ll be on grounds that are unassailable to them. You’ll beat them without even going into battle. Sun Tzu says to know the earth and sky: "If you know the enemy and yourself, you will not be at risk in a hundred battles. If you know the earth and sky, victory will be total." He’s talking about the terrain and weather, but on a deeper level, this can be a call to become familiar with spiritual and earthly surroundings, and we can learn a lot from these. To know the sky is to study spiritual religions and philosophies that teach us about heaven and hell, the world of spirit, of angels and demons and their relationship to our lives. Beyond the dogmatic religions of the day, even the most popular New Age shamans teach us of this higher plane and the battle that is being waged over this world. We can join this most noble battle for the preservation of love and integrity in the world, and we don’t have to hurt anybody to do it because the battle begins with overcoming ourselves. Sun Tzu’s encouragement to know the earth reminds me of the Native American theology that is helping so many of us today to become an ally and a kin to all that is, to love and respect our Mother Earth, and to not only protect her but to find the help and comfort that she offers. Nature is a huge ally of the spiritual warrior. This principle reminds us of Black Elk’s prayer, "Hear me, four quarters of the world: a relative I am! Give me the strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is! Give me the eyes to see and the strength to understand, that I may be like you. With your power only can I face the winds." There are many other teachings that Sun Tzu offers that can help with our spiritual lives. He urges his followers to find allies who know the terrain, who can teach you about the enemy and help you along the way. We know how important support groups can be for those in any kind of healing and recovery. It’s good advice. All the many teachings of Sun Tzu can truly help anyone defeat their spiritual enemies and find some lasting peace. I have received a lot of help from these teachings. I encourage everyone to explore them and strive for the true warrior spirit of love and integrity. Grant Schnarr is the author of The Art of Spiritual Warfare: A Guide to Lasting Inner Peace, based on Sun Tzu’s Art of War, and several other books. He leads weekends and workshops for both men and women called Spiritual Warfare Effectiveness Training (SWET), and will be in Seattle Friday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. at East West Bookshop. <http://www.spiritual-recovery.com/> |
I’ve been involved in recovery and self-help for almost two decades. Overcoming personal demons of addiction, compulsive behavior, codependency, fear, anger, and want has been more than just a pet project of mine. Like so many others who suffer the slings and arrows of our dysfunctional behavior, I’ve wrestled with my inner demons most of my life. In fact, even my last name, Schnarr, is based on a German root word that makes my heredity all too clear to me: "Schnarr" means "disturber of the peace." I can certainly relate to that on a spiritual level as well as in day-to-day life. I struggle with my greatest enemy every day: my own destructive self, or what Robert Bly calls "the savage self."