200. The art of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) war (碁#25)

The future is not fixed. It is forever changing by the decisions and actions we make in the right here and now. Even our thoughts and feelings in the present moment can be a major factor in how it all plays out, one stone at a time. As I am sitting here at my kitchen table, it is early morning and a light fog is slowly clearing up. I have a stick of Japanese incense burning nearby and I'm wondering about whether or not to make myself a cup of tea? If I do, then the noise may wake up the rest of my household. And if I don't, then I have a very good chance of having this quiet moment to myself. It's nice. Peaceful. Even the old fridge humming in the background is peaceful. And now... The moment has passed. The incense has died down and while I'm remembering the game of Weiqi (Go/Baduk) I played for the seventh time yesterday – I can hear the clanging and clinking of the stones as they touch the board. The game I've been studying is a simple game. Not too many moves. Only about one hundred and thirty stones before white resigns; with just two of its stones captured. Every game played is exactly the same. Like most professional Weiqi games: Start at the corners and then after about six moves, one side goes on the probing attack. There's a little tussle and then a break of a few stones and then a second engagement. Maybe for the players it was intensely exciting because the championship title and prize money was worth it, but from a higher plane, humans are rather predictable. We live a very ordered life of ups and downs. It is only when we try to control the control, or try to make more ordered what is already very much in order, that we suddenly lose the control and begin to unravel into the chaos. I know this makes no sense to some people. But if I go back to the game I was playing yesterday, it took seven replays to have gone deep enough to find the exact moment in okay where white starts to unravel and become obsessed with control and order: It was black's turn. Number eighty-one. Not exactly an attacking move. White had options but a blind mistake was made. When a country becomes obsessed with control and order, at the expense of agreements made, then that is a clear sign madness has set in. Imagine a Go board being played by two celestial dragons, for that is what Xūn (巽) from the I-Ching portrays. Those two little coiling strokes at the top are dragons in heaven, while the grid below them is the Weiqi board. The Weiqi board symbolises their world. And life can only exist while they are in a state of play. Symbolically those two little coiling strokes at the top represent the traditional Chinese character for dragon or Lóng (龍), which in fact is actually two dragons. And because they're conjoined, they happen to be two Yang energies merging to create one powerful Yin energy: This is the spiritual fengshui reason why nearly every nation or tribe that has tried to conquer China, has ended up being absorbed and becoming Chinese themselves. But now China uses the simplified character for dragon (龙). This dragon, she has lost her mate. And is off-balance. Hence, the Weiqi board only has black stones on it. Where have all the white stones gone? In a sense she has won. But what has she won? Is she is gripped by the madness of her partner being a ghost? What ninja skills are these? Did white leave and play on another board? For that is what it looks like. It doesn't take a genius to see where this is heading ⚔️圍棋戰聖