Why the law of "sacrfice" is so important.

[jesse1746]

I had a bit of a deep deep conversation with my guides and higher self lately from that I found that one of the things I needed to understand better was cosmic law of "sacrifice."

Now, before I go further I want to explain that in this case the concept of sacrifice despite what hollyweird tells us does NOT mean a LITERAL sacrifice here rather I am talking of a more figurative or metaphorical one.

A good example would be if you had enough money for one video game but had two you wanted both of which had very different game style then the one you do not pick is your "sacrifice."

That is you've made a commitment to follow the path of the video game you did choose and release the energy of the one you did not choose.

In more practical terms in life this concept of sacrificing comes when we face strong life choices on our paths in magic.

In my specific case I realized I was at crossroads area between the path I began and branching off into a new path. I was between Path A. and Path B. gaining very little because I wasn't quite in one area but not quite in the other as well so the energy wasn't right.

It took some time but at the end I was able to find which path I wanted to follow and then concentrate more on the that path and get back better results.

Anyways, that I was found is that if it seems like something isn't working it might be time to exam and define clearly what you want and what you're willing to surrender to make it happen because from my own experience if you try to go for more than you can handle you'll end up getting very little if not next to nothing...

[Lewk]

Maybe this is what I call letting go and releasing?

There's a whole approach in taoism about what is called 'investment in loss'. Some people use it as a way to interact with life; some use it in military theory; it's used extensively in internal martial arts such as tai chi. I've used it to win in sport. (Counterintuitively, when you expect to lose and have no worry about losing, have given winning up, that's when you can play better than normal and are more likely to surpass yourself. Actually when I realise I'm winning I can come out of that zone.)

And I've used investment in loss to avoid physical clashes and arguments when people are swarming around and trying to walk through me in a crowded street. The weird thing is, when I'm not in that flow and hold myself strong, people might try to walk through me and bump into me but, when I'm in that flow I give nothing to push against energetically, and people seem to almost fall into a hollow space in front of me and realise with surprise that I'm there. Then they make an effort to walk around me. Which is all interestingly what the tai chi 'leading into emptiness' martial technique is about.

Anyway...

[jesse1746]

Maybe this is what I call letting go and releasing?

There's a whole approach in taoism about what is called 'investment in loss'. Some people use it as a way to interact with life; some use it in military theory; it's used extensively in internal martial arts such as tai chi. I've used it to win in sport. (Counterintuitively, when you expect to lose and have no worry about losing, have given winning up, that's when you can play better than normal and are more likely to surpass yourself. Actually when I realise I'm winning I can come out of that zone.)

And I've used investment in loss to avoid physical clashes and arguments when people are swarming around and trying to walk through me in a crowded street. The weird thing is, when I'm not in that flow and hold myself strong, people might try to walk through me and bump into me but, when I'm in that flow I give nothing to push against energetically, and people seem to almost fall into a hollow space in front of me and realise with surprise that I'm there. Then they make an effort to walk around me. Which is all interestingly what the tai chi 'leading into emptiness' martial technique is about.

Anyway...

That sounds a bit more like a state of detachment or a kind of state of "emptyiness" to myself. I mean I get what you're trying to say but I'm talking of removing one or more choices and focusing on the choice that is desired.

I think you're talking more of training one's mind or heart to focus on an outcome so as to detach an undesired outcome completely out of one's sense of self BUT without then focusing on another idea.


That is you're not trying to change your energy into something new you're more trying to keep it in focus in general.

At least, that is what it sounds like to me if I am getting the wrong impression here I do apologize and would love a clarification of where I am making an error here.

[Lewk]

it's OK. I do get what you're saying, I hope.

I think you said you are looking at letting go of some options and refining your options.

When someone says letting go to me, I immediately think of this investment in loss thing. It may not be exactly what you're thinking of. But it is within the general field of letting go work.

Our of interest, one practical example (and here it may be obvious how it differs from what you've mentioned) is in war. I forget the Chinese general's name. In order to win the battle and obtain his desired outcome he 'sacrificed' the rigid need to force things and responded to how the enemy behaved. His troops maintained contact with the enemy troops, retreated where the enemy was strong, leading them out of posture and position into emptiness, then attacking when the enemy were destabilised, out of position and therefore weak.

It's probably a different kind of sacrifice from what you describe. But there is also a letting go of rigid expectations of which way to go. 'Going with the flow' is another angle on it. Your post brought this to mind.

[darkwing dook]

Sun Tzu?


Mmm this "sacrifice" thingy sounds like opportunity cost in economics.

[Lewk]

Sun Tzu?


Mmm this "sacrifice" thingy sounds like opportunity cost in economics.

Yes, it could have been Sun Tzu I was thinking of. I have The Art of War. But there was another general too did the same sort of thing, or I have a false memory of that.

[darkwing dook]

Mmm the other one I remember is that Thirty-Six Stratagems book, but not sure who the author is. Maybe Sun Tzu, Tan Daoji, or Wang Jingze.

[jesse1746]

You know the interesting thing is that if adjusted many of those tactics can be applied towards real life situations in terms of how to carefully maneuver around tricky situations of competition or going towards a goal of some kind. In a way it's very ironic but one of the best of achieving peace of mind is to know how to handle the art of war with one's own self...

[Lewk]

Mmm the other one I remember is that Thirty-Six Stratagems book, but not sure who the author is. Maybe Sun Tzu, Tan Daoji, or Wang Jingze.

It sounded to me like Myamoto Mushashi, so I googled. I think it probably was that you were thinking of.

[Lewk]

You know the interesting thing is that if adjusted many of those tactics can be applied towards real life situations in terms of how to carefully maneuver around tricky situations of competition or going towards a goal of some kind. In a way it's very ironic but one of the best of achieving peace of mind is to know how to handle the art of war with one's own self...

This is so right. And a lot of martial arts have codes about being a good person.

If we think about it, this is the whole thing about what we now call martial 'arts'. They are not nowadays taught so much for application in real life battle but for use to better oneself in one's life. To some extent there is a real self defense element. In practice most people around the world attending martial arts classes are not warriors by profession any more and the skills are not taught in the same way as they were when they were being transferred to soldiers / warriors / etc.

There was a time when tai chi was only taught to members of the Chen family clan in that village, where the men were caravan guards with a fierce reputation. They used the 'art' in a very practical way to earn their living and survive. Nowadays even the top Chen village guys being taught in the traditional way have not learned the skills in that kind of way.

The 'investment in loss' principle I mentioned earlier in the thread was actually adopted as a life strategy by a prominent student of Grandmaster Chen Man Ching (the first master to teach tai chi to western students; in the USA, in the 1960s). He mentions it in passing in his book 'There are No Secrets: Professor Cheng Man-ching and His T'ai Chi Ch'uan' by Wolfe Lowenthal.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/There-are-Secr ... 1556431120