This is Galadriel - an Elven Queen. Her great contribution to the mission is that she gives Frodo the gift of light. She gives him a vial that will in a crisis enable him to "see".
This is Elrond, an Elven King. His great gift is that he gives Aragorn a sword. This is a special sword - the reforging of the sword that had killed evil. The gift is also an anointing. By accepting the sword Aragorn accepts his destiny and becomes the true King. His sword is the sword of Truth and Trust - the hallmarks of the True Leader.
Leadership is a theme of the conference and surely is a concern of our present times. For we search for the definition of True Leadership. Too many of our leaders today have betrayed the trust we invested in them. This is the Myth Meaning of the Ring itself!
For the Ring - is the Symbol of Ego and Vanity. Leaders who rely on Ego and Vanity bring on the Darkness. Sadly, we can see the essence of this myth in our lives today.
One last Myth Lesson before we get The Art of War.
An important part of the underlying myth in the characters of Galadriel and Elrond is that they are immortal. In our time we are so impressed with the new. What most of us have never been exposed to is immortal wisdom.
Immortal wisdom does exist. Wisdom is the truth, the essence of the human condition and our place in the universe. This is not knowledge. This is not information. This is not 'How To". It is wisdom.
Wisdom is hard to find. Today, it is found in the corners of bookshops where most never look. Who takes Marcus Aurelius on a plane ride today? Anyway, Wisdom is not simply read. It has always been taught. Taught not by a credentialed "Teacher" but by a TEACHER. We all know the difference.
So how does all this talk of Phials of Light, Swords of Truth, Immortality, Wisdom and TEACHERS fit with Boyd 2008, with the Art of War and above all what has all of this to do with our lives and our times today?
The wisdom of the Art of War is immortal wisdom. It always helps those who care to listen.
It, like Galadriel and Elrond, offers two essential things - "Light" - the ability to "see" what is not obvious about the world and the titanic forces that are there to be harnessed. It also offers "Truth". In Myth the sword is always truth. In LOTR, the truth and trust were lost, the sword broken. It had to be reforged and it had to be given to the right person.
The Art of War is also offers the essential the Truth about the core of our reality that we have lost. This Truth is that we inhabit a universe where all is connected and so all action, all things and even all thinking and feeling is interdependent.
It is a teaching about how to cope with conflict. Not just war - but all conflict such as getting your ideas accepted or having a workable marriage. Its premise is that in human life conflict is not only inevitable but constant. It even exists within us.
But extracting its teachings is hard.
I too have passed by the bookshelf and seen The Art of War. I have known that I should read it. But for 40 years, I have felt daunted by the text alone. For my whole adult life I have waited instead for the teacher.
For me the great gift of this conference is that that old idea of "When the student is ready the TEACHER will come" has worked out. As if by magic Jim Gimian and Barry Boyce "turned up".
They gave us a glimpse of how The Art of War can offer the "inSIGHT" that can enable us to "see" not only the world but also the energy in the world. And they offer the eternal Truth about the role, the nature and the work of the True Leader - The Commander. In so doing they give us a context and a set of principles that gives me hope that, though the Fellowship is tiny now, we achieve the great victory that has to be.
So what did Jim and Barry tell us? Wisdom is not an instant cake mix. It is not a How To either. Jim and Barry had an impossible task at the conference - all they could do was to give us a taste of what it takes years to fully master.
I, as a commentator on a commentary am in even worse shape. So I will confine myself to doing two things only;
- Refer you to their books
- Pull out just a tiny number of ideas as a taste of a taste - my choice not theirs
Their translation of the Art of War - which has a lot of essential commentary and their follow up book which has even more commentary, The Rules of Victory - can be found on Amazon here
The best version of The Art of War I own, | By | Reviewer X (Las Vegas, USA) - See all my reviews |
This is not the case with this edition, and that is why it is head and shoulders above all others I have looked at. It begins with a lengthy introduction to acquaint readers to the book and give some very necessary background information. Next is the full translation, GREATLY helped by the recently discovered bamboo remains of the book dug up in China, and there is no commentary in this section of the book. Which is excellent for people well acquainted with the work, people who want to read the work without the running commentary, students and scholars. Next are three sections designed to help the read fully understand the text in which they have just read. Not just the ideas about war, but it's applications in many other walks of life. These chapters explain difficult Chinese concepts, the idea of a sage leader, and many, many, other relevant topics.
Lastly, is the commentary. This is where the entire work is reviewed and detailed notes are given to help the reader understand the text LINE BY LINE!! It is not judgmental, while there is a slight bias, it is mostly informative. The bias does not distract from the educational part of the information, but it does need to be pointed out. I will not go into greater detail, the reader can extrapolate from the commentary if they feel there is a slight tinge of bias.
Overall this is the one and only edition of the Art of War you will ever need to own, unless you are going to venture into more scholarly pursuits on the subject and you want to review other peoples ideas surrounding the text. This book will be sufficient for 99.99% of the people in the general public. It is an exceptional effort.
The central idea of the Boyd Conference is that our world is so tightly coupled that the recent cracks have the power to take all we know down. The Hope of the conference is that if we can understand - "see" the OO in OODA, the underpinning reality of the interconnection, that we might build a better replacement based on a networked system of local and self sufficient networks.
Our great challenge is that, like Hobbits leaving the Shire to take on the vast forces of Darkness, that we are so few and so weak. How can such small and weak forces prevail?
Of course, this is the predicament of all "People's" wars. The masters of People's Wars are often students of the Art of War - itself a product of a time of great turbulence in China, the Time of Warring States.
This is the over view of TAOW. See its link to the OODA loop of Boyd - himself a student.
As with Boyd, TAOW starts with how you "see" the world. Here we return to another key aspect of the problem assessment of the Conference. Our problems cannot be fixed until they are understood outside of the context that created them.
How we see is the starting point. Our failure is above all a failure to see the world for what it really is.
If all we learned from TAOW came from this slide it would be a huge asset. I will humbly offer what I understand as its meaning.
Interconnectedness
Only be "seeing" the interconnectedness again and applying the rules of natural systems to all we do, can we have any chance of growing out of the rubble of the failure of what we have now.
Inevitability of Conflict
Taking Whole
I fear that pursuit of winning in Iraq has weakened us mortally as a society.
Of course winning when our marriage breaks up usually leaves all parties, especially the children, broken. Victory at the end of a marriage leaves all Whole.
Knowing
To Know is to be able to master your ego. The bitter spouse who sees only the betrayal of the other is setting a conflict where all lose all by seeking to "Win".
The intent of Mumabi was to provoke the response that would cause all to lose.
TAOW constantly uses new examples to suggest that the wise commander step back and ask herself "what is the bigger picture" - what is the "Whole"
Victory
Shih - pronounced sort of "sheer" is another exceptional aspect of the world that most cannot and do not see.
Being in reality interconnected, the world is full of energy. Energy that can be used to augment our power and forces. Simply put, if you had wanted to reform the world financial system 2 years ago, you would have had no chance. The existing power system was at the top of its game. This would have been like a frontal attack of a walled city - or the first day of the Somme.
But now! Now the walls are all down and the confidence of the old leadership shaken to the core. Now the system has been subject to shih and can be attacked with light forces.
At the right moment vast energy can be released as if a trigger was pulled.
The forces of Shih are immense right now and are on the side of those that wish to make change. In 1989 all of the Soviet Union collapsed. In 1987 it seemed invulnerable.
Our great institutions have lost their trust. No more than the DOD. Their failure is so manifest that they can now be taken on with confidence. Who can defend our education system? How can our healthcare system be defended now? Who has faith that government itself works?
This is the power of shih. The wise commander always assesses what Shih is up to when she makes her appreciation of the field of conflict. The time for great change is indded now.
The great commanders of all time have known when to wait and when to strike. So does the great bureaucrat. The wife who wants something that her husband is reluctant to agree to. The child who wants something from his parents (A Red Ryder BB Gun?)
The great commander uses the power of shih to augment his own power. The fool cannot even see that shih exists.
The ordinary and the extraordinary - very powerful ideas of how to engage with your opponent. I can best explain this idea by going back to LOTR.
The Ordinary is the Army lead by Aragorn. It is obvious. It is expected. It is also weak and therefore tempting as a diversion. Sauron has no doubt that he can crush it.
The Extraordinary is Frodo & Sam. Who would expect the real threat to come from two Hobbits acting alone?
In the Bullring - the Bull sees the cape. The cape hides the man. In the end the Cape hides the sword. Boyd, in his successful wars against the might of the Pentagon, used this technique. He called it a "Cape Job". He would find something obvious to distract his opponents while beavering away on his main work in secret.
The concepts of form are all related to this. The most challenging opponent does not offer enough of himself to be attacked. This is the great frustration of conventional forces when they meet guerrillas. If only they would form up in a nice easy to attack mass?
This leads of course to deception. The great poker player uses this all the time. He hides what he has and he misleads when he can. The poker player who shows what he has all the time loses a lot of money.
Showing all you have, when you are the weaker player is called suicide.
You can see that all of these ideas are about the mind and character. Boyd of course believed that all was won here too.
This is the essence of TAOW - that if you do your work and if you have the character, then you win before the first blow.
TAOW - OODA - Most of the work is in your appreciation of the context for Victory.
Did I not hear a commander declare victory a few years ago?
Forgive me Jim and Barry - I am sure I have tortured TAOW. This is not even the late lamented Classics Illustrated. But it is all I can do today.
As with Stuart Baker and all TEACHERS, there is no substitute from being in their presence. I invite any who seek to know more to contact them.
I am done now with providing commentary on the speakers at the Boyd 2008 Conference on PEI.
I would like to close in my next post on what I think it all might mean to us. I give you one hint, in keeping with the LOTR metaphor I have been using to link all of this together - which archetype have I left out that completes the myth?
PS I leave it to Jim and Barry to fight it out as to which one is which Elf - only reminding them that of course in Myth things are not what they seem on the surface
Here are Jim and Barry's Slides - Download Boyd-conf
