I'm not sure when the concept of an enemy was first introduced. Legend has it that it is simply a part of the polarity of our world. Day and Night. Good and Evil. Hero and Villian. Friend and Enemy. What I'm sure of is that there are two enemies that we encounter as humans, the inner and the outer.
By definition, an enemy is anyone(or anything) that opposes or is against what we ought to achieve. The outer enemy can be easily recognizable since there's much objectivity to it. We can tell who's with or against us when we look beyond our emotions.
It's a different case with the inner enemy. It sometimes sounds a bit ludicrous to think that part of ourselves can be against us when it comes to what we ought to achieve.
And yet, every now and then, we experience this mechanism in which there's an inner friction that prevents us from doing what we ought to do.
For example, I've been trying to sleep around 12 am to have the needed 7 hours of rest. But I only end up having 4 to 5 hours of rest every night. It's the standard wants overriding the needs type of situation.
Now, the definition of enemy doesn't imply the inner enemy is 'someone' inside us that is against what we want to achieve. I view it as an aspect of us.
Human beings have many characters and each of these characters has its own wants and needs. It is akin to the different body parts/systems we have. It's just that this one happens to be on the mental/emotional sphere.
For example, everyone has a victim character. Some like to wear it and others hardly put it on.
I think the answer lies on polarity of physical reality. There needs to be a constant friction that gets us to act in one way or another. Otherwise we would be like blobs, lacking a definitive shape or sense of individuality.
Let's entertain the thought that we're all in paradise, eternal peace, happiness and satisfaction. With no problems, issues or any challenges. A perfect place with perfect people. How will we feel after being there for a millennium, 10 millennium, or a 100 millennium?
Hypothetically, we will feel great. Perhaps a 100x wiser and happier because now we have understand the ups and downs, lefts and rights of this beautiful state.
But it could also be that we're bored out of our minds with perfectness. When something is perfect, there's nothing one can add or subtract to it. There's nothing to do essentially.
But this is just a human looking at it from the viewpoint of being on Earth. The reality might be very different. Paradise itself forms a polarity with hell.
The point is that the inner enemy is a core part that drives humans to take action and not merely stay in a neutral state like a blob. It's the fire that fuels us to act. Depending on the choice we take, we determine whether it is for good or bad.
Sometimes, the inner enemy can go rogue and cause more harm than good. This happens when we lose control over our characters and let them run wild. For example, when we let our anger character lash out at others without restraint, or when we let our greed character pushes us to taking excessive action.
This often feels like having a disorganized chaos in our minds, where there is no harmony or balance among the different aspects of ourselves.
Let's take the physical body as a prototype to make more sense of the situation.
The physical body is made up of different parts/systems that collaborate together to maintain our health and well-being. Each of the parts has its own function, but they also cooperate with each other to achieve a common objective.
When one part is overactive or underactive, the other parts try to regulate and balance it.
This same view more or less can be adopted on the mental and emotional sphere with our characters. We can recognize that each character has its own wants and needs. But they also have to respect and listen to the other characters.
Of course, this only sounds simple in theory. It's quite hard in practical terms. How would one even organize all these characters to act in unison towards a clearly defined direction?
We will have to change standpoints. Rather than trying to solve the problem on the level of the problem, we jump a level or two above the problem and solve it from standpoint.
What I mean is using our awareness or consciousness to observe and understand our characters. Rather than trying to judge or suppress them.
By doing this, we can go above the inner enemy and transform it into an ally. Using the inner fire as a tool of creativity and expression. And polarity stops being a barrier of conflict and division.
Thanks for reading!! Share your thoughts below on the comments.
