Know the enemy know thy self: The Master’s Mirror
One evening at the dojo a student noticed that the Master had on his desk the key text of an opposing school in the martial arts, the student asked why. The Master answered, “An opposing school in the Way is not the enemy though some students may choose to be, an opposing school is a mirror to see one’s self from the outside and see to the gap that the mirror exposes.” The mirror of opposition is the master’s mirror, it is a way to see flaws in one’s design without judging one’s self or falling into self-pity. If one can know one’s self via opposition one can come to know an actual enemy from mere opposition. Knowing the difference between opposition and an actual enemy is one of the tasks and tests of being a master in one’s chosen path. One that opposes need not be an enemy, it is why they do with their opposition and how they express it that matters. The master must acknowledge the nature of all sentient beings to have the thoughts and views that they choose to have, even to the point of hatred of others, it is what they do with that that makes it matter or not. If a warrior counters the actions of others to maintain his own harmony or that of others then the motive of the action does not matter. When a crime is altered by the motive of the one that does the crime then one is making the law circumstantial and proving that the law is nothing to anyone with the will to break it and not needed by those that elect to follow it. Once someone links morality to opposition then one can justify any action and this is a tool of those that would rule.
It is a matter of self-discipline for a master to acknowledge the differences between thoughts, motives and the like and actions and lasting impacts. If understanding motive is a way to prevent an action or finding the one that performing that action then one is not judging motive but rather tracking a problem to its source. To refuse to judge the motives of others is to rob those motives of any power because the only power the motives of others have is the power that one gives to them and a master knows this. Having used the master’s mirror the next step is for one to understand and root out the triggers one has so that one does not react to anything but rather one chooses to act or not. By choosing to act and not react one is choosing to keep one’s power and thus one’s freedom in spite of the games the masses play to entrap the individual into giving up both its power and freedom. Both power and freedom have a cost because the more backup one has the less power one has because one must answer to that back up, to be free is to be without backup and one cannot have freedom without power. The one that uses the master’s mirror becomes aware of his own actions and thus of the motives and thoughts behind them which leads to the understanding of others, understanding that should never be confused with empathy. Understand one’s own thoughts and motives and one will understand the power one has through words because most people react rather than act. Having faced the master’s mirror that mirror can become one’s armor and weapon in equal measure because one knows both the impact of one’s actions and one’s inaction.
If one knows one’s self and what opposes then an actual enemy cannot help but be apparent because a true enemy is outside of the natural order. Opposition is a part of the natural order because it is through opposition or resistance that things build themselves or can be worn down if they are not strong enough to answer being opposed. If one refuses to treat opposition as an enemy when it is not one gains the ground of using logic rather than being pushed or pulled by feeling or morality. To be true to one’s self keeps opposition in context which with time and practice will reveal most would be enemies to be entrapped by their own illusions as to opposition.
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