A relief depicting a wresting competition between athletes, from Kerameikos Necropolis, Athens, Greece, circa 510 B.C.
A common question - sometimes a complaint - from some people reluctant to participate in Quaternity games arises because they do not seem to accept or understand that an element of ‘competition’ can be present in an activity such as ours, as they assume that competing with each other would somehow go against the harmony we have managed to create as a group.
Moreover, understandably, any competitive type-activity often arouses primitive emotions that some individuals may be naturally comfortable with, while others prefer to avoid them at all costs as they often reveal a raw aspect of the personality that still needs to be worked on. The key is to be able to sublimate these basic emotions into something qualitatively more useful.
Winning or losing in this context is seen by some as something that should not matter to us, as if we are already above such things. Interestingly, losing is very common in this game, or at least losing is more common than winning. But that is not the point.
First of all, if harmony has a good basis - real harmony - then nothing can weaken it, least of all a game that has so many layers of meaning beyond the binary, beyond winning and losing. It could also be an unconscious justification based on the memory of things said by an authority figure who in the past alluded to the need to avoid certain tendencies of the secondary self, such as competitiveness between friends. This is a correct suggestion in the appropriate context and should certainly be understood and acted upon. The competitive instinct - in the wrong context - arising from the secondary self is usually corrosive and does not contribute to the harmonious development of a community. The kind of competitive attitude we are considering here is of a different kind and arises solely from a need for self-improvement, in which the other player or players are a necessary instrument for us to exercise our skills by bettering ourselves with the help of the other.
“…In our activity as individuals or groups we work towards a unity within ourselves and in group situations. This unity of purpose does not allow the element of competition. Competition presupposes that there will be some winners and some losers.
Within a family there may be competition on various worldly levels, within a group there may be a certain under-current, a certain degree of competition again on worldly levels.”
O.A.S. To those who would travel purposefully. 1989
The real ‘struggle’ is supposed to be only with oneself, not with others.
“…It is in something slightly like this spirit that all competitive undertakings are carried out in sport, or mountaineering, or even in physical culture, in other societies. The mountain or the muscular development are the fixed points, but they are not the element which is actually being transformed by the effort. They are the means, not the end. It is not the framework which is altered by the effort, but the human being himself.”
I.S. The Sufis. Gold and Undertaking
However, the apparent friction or conflict that exists in this game -which can also be seen as a conversation- could have many good reasons to be deliberately introduced into the programme of activities.
The following extract seems to shed some light on this issue, which is about time, place and people:
“…In order to break through this shell of accretions and fossilization, the second teacher will tend to act in a different, perhaps dramatically different, manner from the original one. He may even appear to be opposite to the first teacher. This is to break the 'idols' which have been formed out of the thoughts which were originally given. The use of ideas is to shape the man, not to support a system. This is one way in which Sufism is 'living', and not just the perpetuation of ideas and movements.”
Qalandar Abdur-Rahman Siddiqi. The Sufi Mystery. Finding, losing and finding the Way.
Things that were applicable at an early stage of the teaching need not be applicable now. And perhaps in the second teacher’s vision, some correction and realignment of the activities would be necessary to adapt them to the current times, which would require greater perceptual skills, focus and concentration.
The first part of this oriental tale could provide a valid element to our situation:
“A wise Queen gazed out over her kingdom. She was content knowing that she had dedicated her life in service to her land and its people. The kingdom had grown into stability and harmony. Yet the Queen was concerned that perhaps some of the people had become complacent. She decided that she would announce a competition. She would give a bag of gold to the person who could demonstrate the most unusual thing…”
Some had become complacent. This reminded me of a dialogue between Master Yoda and Obi-Wan in Star Wars, Episode II: Attack of the Clones:
Obi-Wan: “But he still has much to learn, Master. His abilities have made him... well, arrogant.”
Yoda: “Yes, yes. It's a flaw more and more common among Jedi. Too sure of themselves they are. Even the older, more experienced ones.”
What is associated with complacency? Let’s look at some definitions given by a dictionary:
Complacent: self-satisfied; pleased with oneself; proud of oneself; self-approving; self congratulatory; self-admiring; self-regarding; triumphant; proud; lazy; self-centred; etc.
In a way, it also resonates with ‘being encapsulated’; ‘navel gazing’; ‘not being well integrated in the community’; ‘losing sight of the higher purpose; ‘preoccupied with trivialities’; ‘acting and thinking mechanically’; ‘overidentified with the social’; ‘always being in the ‘comfort zone’’; ‘Baraka pensioners’; and so on.
Another author brilliantly explains this latent risk on the path:
“The awakening to the illusion of your reality is both a state of evolvement as well as a stage of vulnerability. Just as you begin to see the veil that has been cast over you, you may fall into a deeper trance through a period of what we may call ‘complacency’. What we mean here is that once your perceptions sense this change, there is a tendency to relax one’s alertness – a sort of sitting back. In this moment, there is a vulnerability to fall into a greater trap awaiting you. We mentioned this previously when we talked about false exits. At the moment when you believe you are exiting the game, you are instead re-entering through another door into yet another layer. Those that place these ‘revolving doors’ into the reality system are very alert to this process of ‘attempted leaving’ and have placed many false traps for you. Even in approaching awakening, there is no space for complacency or a falling away of alertness. On the contrary, it is a time for you to be ever more alert.”
KSP. Own your Reality. Ch. 7
But Rumi applies the corrective to this imbalance by giving a broader perspective:
“I am the servant of whom at every stage does not believe to have reached the aim.”
That is perhaps one of the many reasons why a teacher proposes an activity like Quaternity which, as he says, is basically a fun activity that should be seen as a series of games, not as a single game; which also possesses a certain degree of conflict. On the one hand, it provides entertainment and joy; on the other hand, introduces a good deal of challenges that stimulate practitioners to try to ‘be better at the Game’, overcoming their own weaknesses and striving to win games.
“A tournament is highly competitive, and that goes without saying. But, it has to be observed that there are many contexts in which one can play Quaternity. This just happens to be one of them. It just happens to be a tournament, but it’s also as enjoyable, if not more so, to play in a casual way. If people find the game too competitive or too stressful or the time clock is oppressive – which, you know, is a factor – that’s understandable because this is a tournament. It is not the only way to play. It bears repeating. And I would actually go further. Speaking outside the context of a tournament, in a certain way I look at Quaternity games and Quaternity Culture as a conversation rather than a conflict. Obviously it’s a game, so it is enjoyable and involves conflict etc., but I do see it as a type of conversation, much like the conversation that we are having now.”
“So, you know, it makes you think ‘what does winning mean’? Simply put, it means you are allowed to participate in other games, so that's how we should see Quaternity, as a sequence of games.”
A. S. 15.8.2021 and 8.5.2021
There is a scene in an old film that reminded me of our games, whether casual or during tournaments, in which a Roman army stops its march and camps to rest before reaching the area where an important battle will take place. During the breaks, the soldiers are not idle, but on the contrary very active, wrestling each other to prepare for the battle ahead. An outside observer - ignoring that they form a united army - might infer that their fighting is real, not seeing that it is only a form of training. Perhaps such training is essential to cope with what lies ahead.
In a celebrated scene in the film 'Gladiator', Maximus summons his companions:
“Have any of you been in the Army?... Whatever comes out of these gates, we have a better chance of survival if we work together. Do you understand? If we stay together we survive.”
And it is always better to be prepared and work together.
Thus, cooperation between the parts in order to function better as a whole and competition in the right context to activate and exercise our inner organs of perception.
Mosaic of Roman female athletes competing in several sports in Villa del Casale, Sicily.
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