Know Thy Enemy
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
The quote continues, “If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you’ll succumb in every battle.” This is from Chapter 3 of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.
Your greatest enemy has always been yourself, and until you conquer it, you can go no further.
This “enemy” can be viewed as our shadow in Jungian terms, our hidden and unknown qualities in the unconscious. He is not evil. He is, in fact, our ally; for he contains the necessary insight for our realising our Self, the wholeness of our personality, through individuation (the goal of analytical psychology). Hence, love your enemy within yourself, for he appears hostile only because you have neglected the repressed contents of your unconscious. This is typically expressed in dreams or sudden mood swings.
When you are feeling down, know that you need not fear the result of defeat. It is painful, but necessary. There exists no concept of victory without it. Balance is necessary for life. It is no contradiction, but a paradox of human existence. This realisation leads to tranquility, and peace with reality. An acceptance of oneself and one’s flaws, of one’s place in the world, and of one’s spiritual duty.
