SUN TZU:
WATER AND FIRE
SUNTZUDO FACEBOOK
BOOKS AT
AMAZON.COM
SMASHWORDS.COM
Water in ancient philosophies has more often been related to the feminine, rebirth and as a positive force. Fire has been associated with war and overwhelming strength. Not always but mostly.
Why would this be? A man in the desert values water above all else. A man in the polar reasons values fire above all else. Mankind can live barely three days without intake of fluids and the control of fire is said to be one the great achievements of mankind, up there with the understand of how to use wheels.or how to use electricity. If a forest is inundated with a flood, it will recover. If a forest is subjected to a firestorm, it too will recover in time. Indeed there are some plants that require both fire and water in cycles to reproduce and flourish.
So how can we perceive water and fire to understand the essence of what fire and water have to offer us in a philosophical manner for our benefit?
Water changes form in regards to the environment it is in. When extremely cold it turns to ice. In regards to extreme heat, it can take the form of steam. When the environment is in flux, it can exist in several forms simultaneously. One can witness clouds, rain, hail, mist, rivers and oceans all in one view. One can be submerge themselves under water and remerge uninjured, even refreshed.
It is this underlying fundamental dynamic that it can adapt to its’ surroundings that is highly regarded. It is why it is suggested to be as formless as water, to adapt to your surroundings. Water constantly surrounds us in one form or another.
Fire on the other hand can be extinguished, removed from existence. Fire needs fuel to exist. Fire consumes its fuel, when the fuel is exhausted, it ceases to exist. Fire cannot continue in another form, nor can it changes its form as it environment changes. It can increase in size and strength or decrease until it no longer exists. Living creatures can be inundated with water and survive without injury, this cannot be said of fire. A wooden house can be flooded and be reoccupied soon after the flood has subsided. This cannot be said of the same house gutted by fire.
While water can be used to destroy, it can also be easily be used to nurture life. Fire is the opposite in that, by its essential nature it destroys its host. So we can now understand that it is the very nature of each that one is seen essentially destructive and the other is seen as life giving and therefor stronger. Fire cannot feed on water while water can extinguish fire from existence. So water is seen as more powerful, stronger and preferred.
Both can be used as a weapon. So where do we stand with fire, water and Sun Tzu? First let us consider these words: “To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence”. One can know of water and fire, but not everyone will understand the very nature or essence of each. Therefor they will not be able to use them appropriately. It is an identical theme to using “sagacity” when dealing with spies and information. Foreknowledge can be simply seeing what others cannot see and so having a deeper understanding of an advantage, weapon or situation. When one understands the very nature of a thing like water or fire or say anger, who can then use it wisely. Take anger, Sun Tzu advises that one should stir up the anger of the men when going into battle. He does not advise us to use anger when making decisions. .”Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content” and “Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards”. By understanding the nature of anger, we can know the appropriate time to use it and moreso how to use it to our advantage. Anger, like water and fire is neither good nor bad. How we use it can be advantageous or disastrous.
Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength. Fire, unlike water does not shape its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows, it simply and mindlessly follows its fuel source and in contrast to water be significantly affected by the natural surroundings. A strong wind can determine how fast a fire progresses. Because fire is as unpredictable as it is powerful, only the intelligent can use fire as a weapon and not wind up damaged by the act. It takes more intelligence to use a less destructive weapon such as water to achieve a desired outcome. One also does not destroy the resources of the vanquished, instantly making them stronger with the merging of the assets of the victorious with the vanquished. This dynamic or principal is simply advocated in the following line. “Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good”. Sun Tzu does not say it is bad to use fire just that it is better to consider all other options before resorting to its use. Sun Tzu is a pragmatist, he knows there are times you have use fire at its most devastating strength.
Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Sun Tzu never states there is only one way of doing anything, he advocates totally understanding the situation you are in. You may have the ability to completely overwhelm someone in an argument and so claim victory. This is the fire approach. Alternatively you can use the words of your opponent to slowly and without and vexation to turn them to your conclusion. This is the water approach. With the fire approach you win the argument however you will not have gained an ally as the defeated will harbour ill feelings at having lost the argument. You will have won a short term victory at best. The water approach gains you an ally, an ally that you can have for the rest of your life. One delivers victory, the other increased strength.
In a commercial sense, consider two companies fighting over street location. According to Sun Tzu there are four options either can follow. The worst, fire approach, is to besiege the opposition and force them out of business. The next is have a fierce price war that will damage both and may lead to the demise, another fire strategy. Moving into the realm of water strategy is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces by supplying better products at a better price at a better time with better service. This makes one business stronger and the other weaker by intervening with the customers forming a partnership with the competing business. The fourth is to baulk the enemys plans by having better advertising, service, trained staff, and delivery methods and so on as a coordinated campaign to fatally weaken the competing business. This is the water approach, to grow stronger so that the opposing business loses the will to fight. This gives the stronger business to takeover the best of what is left of the opposing business while having grown to be strong enough to deter any other similar businesses to move into the area.
So it is with fire and water, see beyond the obvious and prosper. In closing consider this. One man may be able to predict rain by watching the sky, another can only know if it is raining by holding his arm out the window.
So one should use intelligence when using fire, blunt or overwhelming force. The preferred method recommended by Sun Tzu is to adopt the water method, follow the lay of the land, situation, to overcome obstacles by using all the advantages to achieve your goal. There will be times when fire is the only answer, but know that the cost will be higher in the long run and so make sure you understand this before lighting the fire.
Why would this be? A man in the desert values water above all else. A man in the polar reasons values fire above all else. Mankind can live barely three days without intake of fluids and the control of fire is said to be one the great achievements of mankind, up there with the understand of how to use wheels.or how to use electricity. If a forest is inundated with a flood, it will recover. If a forest is subjected to a firestorm, it too will recover in time. Indeed there are some plants that require both fire and water in cycles to reproduce and flourish.
So how can we perceive water and fire to understand the essence of what fire and water have to offer us in a philosophical manner for our benefit?
Water changes form in regards to the environment it is in. When extremely cold it turns to ice. In regards to extreme heat, it can take the form of steam. When the environment is in flux, it can exist in several forms simultaneously. One can witness clouds, rain, hail, mist, rivers and oceans all in one view. One can be submerge themselves under water and remerge uninjured, even refreshed.
It is this underlying fundamental dynamic that it can adapt to its’ surroundings that is highly regarded. It is why it is suggested to be as formless as water, to adapt to your surroundings. Water constantly surrounds us in one form or another.
Fire on the other hand can be extinguished, removed from existence. Fire needs fuel to exist. Fire consumes its fuel, when the fuel is exhausted, it ceases to exist. Fire cannot continue in another form, nor can it changes its form as it environment changes. It can increase in size and strength or decrease until it no longer exists. Living creatures can be inundated with water and survive without injury, this cannot be said of fire. A wooden house can be flooded and be reoccupied soon after the flood has subsided. This cannot be said of the same house gutted by fire.
While water can be used to destroy, it can also be easily be used to nurture life. Fire is the opposite in that, by its essential nature it destroys its host. So we can now understand that it is the very nature of each that one is seen essentially destructive and the other is seen as life giving and therefor stronger. Fire cannot feed on water while water can extinguish fire from existence. So water is seen as more powerful, stronger and preferred.
Both can be used as a weapon. So where do we stand with fire, water and Sun Tzu? First let us consider these words: “To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence”. One can know of water and fire, but not everyone will understand the very nature or essence of each. Therefor they will not be able to use them appropriately. It is an identical theme to using “sagacity” when dealing with spies and information. Foreknowledge can be simply seeing what others cannot see and so having a deeper understanding of an advantage, weapon or situation. When one understands the very nature of a thing like water or fire or say anger, who can then use it wisely. Take anger, Sun Tzu advises that one should stir up the anger of the men when going into battle. He does not advise us to use anger when making decisions. .”Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content” and “Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards”. By understanding the nature of anger, we can know the appropriate time to use it and moreso how to use it to our advantage. Anger, like water and fire is neither good nor bad. How we use it can be advantageous or disastrous.
Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength. Fire, unlike water does not shape its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows, it simply and mindlessly follows its fuel source and in contrast to water be significantly affected by the natural surroundings. A strong wind can determine how fast a fire progresses. Because fire is as unpredictable as it is powerful, only the intelligent can use fire as a weapon and not wind up damaged by the act. It takes more intelligence to use a less destructive weapon such as water to achieve a desired outcome. One also does not destroy the resources of the vanquished, instantly making them stronger with the merging of the assets of the victorious with the vanquished. This dynamic or principal is simply advocated in the following line. “Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good”. Sun Tzu does not say it is bad to use fire just that it is better to consider all other options before resorting to its use. Sun Tzu is a pragmatist, he knows there are times you have use fire at its most devastating strength.
Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Sun Tzu never states there is only one way of doing anything, he advocates totally understanding the situation you are in. You may have the ability to completely overwhelm someone in an argument and so claim victory. This is the fire approach. Alternatively you can use the words of your opponent to slowly and without and vexation to turn them to your conclusion. This is the water approach. With the fire approach you win the argument however you will not have gained an ally as the defeated will harbour ill feelings at having lost the argument. You will have won a short term victory at best. The water approach gains you an ally, an ally that you can have for the rest of your life. One delivers victory, the other increased strength.
In a commercial sense, consider two companies fighting over street location. According to Sun Tzu there are four options either can follow. The worst, fire approach, is to besiege the opposition and force them out of business. The next is have a fierce price war that will damage both and may lead to the demise, another fire strategy. Moving into the realm of water strategy is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces by supplying better products at a better price at a better time with better service. This makes one business stronger and the other weaker by intervening with the customers forming a partnership with the competing business. The fourth is to baulk the enemys plans by having better advertising, service, trained staff, and delivery methods and so on as a coordinated campaign to fatally weaken the competing business. This is the water approach, to grow stronger so that the opposing business loses the will to fight. This gives the stronger business to takeover the best of what is left of the opposing business while having grown to be strong enough to deter any other similar businesses to move into the area.
So it is with fire and water, see beyond the obvious and prosper. In closing consider this. One man may be able to predict rain by watching the sky, another can only know if it is raining by holding his arm out the window.
So one should use intelligence when using fire, blunt or overwhelming force. The preferred method recommended by Sun Tzu is to adopt the water method, follow the lay of the land, situation, to overcome obstacles by using all the advantages to achieve your goal. There will be times when fire is the only answer, but know that the cost will be higher in the long run and so make sure you understand this before lighting the fire.