Battling An Enemy
During an engagement between opposing forces, two
representatives of the respective, warring parties found themselves
face to face in a space which was away from the main hostilities.
Each drew his sword and began to circle his opponent, looking for an
opening.
Since they both were very skilled, the thrust and counter-thrust
went on for some time, with their swords finding nothing but shield,
sword, or empty air. Suddenly, after quite a few moments had
passed, one of the combatants tripped as he was warding off a blow
and fell to the ground.
The way he fell knocked the wind out of him and, as this
happened, he lost both his sword and his shield. He was at the mercy
of his opponent who moved in for the kill.
Knowing he had lost, the man on the ground saw the other man
approach to within just a foot, or so, and, then, the man standing
over him begin to prepare his sword to run the man on the ground
through. In the brief instant before the sword was to be thrust
downward in a fatal blow, the fallen man, in one last defiant act, spit
in the face of his would-be assailant.
A look of rage quickly came across the face of the man with the
sword when he was spat upon. Then, inexplicably, the man with the
sword, stepped backward away from the man on the ground, and
lowered his sword, saying: “Go, your life is spared.”
Not quite believing the turn of events and rather mystified about
what was happening, the man slowly but warily got up. As he did so,
he asked: “I don’t understand you. You had me beaten, you were
preparing to kill me, and, when I did the only thing I could to show
my contempt for you by spitting in your face before you slew me,
you, first, became angry, and, then, you backed away and told me I
was free to go. Why?”
The victor in the sword fight acknowledged the accuracy of his
opponent’s account of the situation and, then, said: “I admit that
when you spat in my face my ego became enraged and commanded
me to cut you to ribbons for your insolent act. However, as the anger
grew, my heart recognized that the ego was a more dangerous enemy
than you were, and, so, my essential Self counseled me to first tend
to my inner, closer enemy -- namely, my anger and my ego -- and, let
the external enemy go. Victory with respect to this inner, spiritual
battlefield is far more important than the worldly one with which you
and I have been engaged.”
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