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continued from - Roots of the Warrior - part 2
The path of the warrior is to embrace and create change during the time we live through, surviving and surpassing our own imbalances and battles through the wisdom gained from living in every moment with full acceptance. Change is each of us and every molecule of life. Courage, loyalty, honor, truth, strength, solid fortitude, surviving, surpassing, endurance, healing, loving… bowing to no one, standing tall in humility yet a simple pride of knowing the self, freeing oneself within and trusting that if we do the best we are able in alignment of what and who we are as individuals, the universe will do its part also. I decided not to bother listing types of warriors because I feel it is rather pointless as this time. The meat of what I am saying I find to be more viable to the present than lists of titles. It is common knowledge that when two or more objects or energies collide there is inevitably a measure of collateral damage. This is a catalyst for change itself for the sake of change. An acorn cannot break open and take root unless there is first death and decay as well as life and growth; both are essential necessities. A warrior, a true warrior understands this, accepts it as the way of this physical life and moves within this knowledge. Peace is within the acceptance of what this life IS and the wisdom to understand one’s place in this physical system. We cannot change the foundation structure of the universe, and to fight against it is not only futile, but senseless because it shows a complete lack of holistic understanding of what makes this physical reality what it is. Every experience we have, judged “good and beautiful” or “bad and ugly” come from this foundation structure. Our birth comes out of this structure, every step and breath of our lives comes from this structure; everything we know and have comes from this structure. It is a waste of time and energy to fight against the universal structure through “movements” that try to convince people they are not what they are and are not subjects to what we are. Can you see now why there are so few (compared to the global population) true warriors left today? The system does not want warriors, those who have cause heart deep and with personal spiritual roots, which think for themselves and do what is necessary. The system wants soldiers who simply follow orders to human cause locked away and many times completely contradictory of the natural world. The system tries to breed and brainwash a population of “mind controlled” soldiers and sheep because the system does not want change; it wants stability to protect its way of life, a life of ultimate control, dominion of this world and everything in it. The system is based upon fear, fear of the foundation of this entire physical reality – change, that which is at the heart of a warrior. Many so claimed or stated “warrior’s” today are just soldiers doing the will of others or young people seeking the glory of a title of which they neither understand nor have proven or gained. Being a warrior is a process of personal evolution. Nobody starts out a warrior even if born to be a warrior. It takes a great deal to evolve into the true path and “title” of Warrior and there are no shortcuts. What type of warrior am I? I stand for the laws of the wilderness, the laws of the wild and the necessity of challenge for the progression of change. What does that mean you ask? Laws of the wilderness are laws that have successfully run this world since it began. They kept balance in such a way as to continually promote shift and change to better the wellbeing of life here – all life. Laziness, apathy, carelessness, ignorance for the sake of it; all avenues to stagnation and lack of wellbeing.
Those are a few and I think you will see just how much the human system disregards. Necessity of challenge for the progression of change – not only do I challenge myself, but I challenge others to break out of their shells, out of conformity, think for themselves, test their limits, push their comfort zones and question all aspects of their personal lives in order that they may discover parts of themselves they may not know exist. The few who embrace such challenges in life have a rare opportunity in the modern human world of understanding much more personal depth. This depth can lead to acceptance and an internal wisdom of strength and heights beyond physical limitation. That can completely transform a person’s life through the essential evolutionary change for the sake of change itself and a greater understanding for existence. For many years I was nothing more than a soldier doing the bidding of human masters bent upon their own greed and purposes of dominion. For years I carried shame and guilt for being a part of it. My place was combative, even in youth. Through the many years of my healing path, though I may still struggle physically the most, I have shed the bonds of shame and guilt because I have come to understand my place. I know where my skills fit into this world. I also have come to understand that many of the things I have done long in my past as a soldier and slave were not all of what I would judge as “bad” or unnecessary. In my view many of them were necessary and sections of the world and people (no matter how small or few they may or may not be) are more free then they would have been if I had not done those actions. When a child is being tortured or a young woman or boy is being raped in an alleyway, do those victims need peace protesters marching around with their signs, or a judge sitting across the county in their mansion eating their 4 course meal who might try the perpetrator in 3 years time… or do these abused instead perhaps a require a skilled blade in the shadows from someone who fights for them rather than the system? Opinions may vary until you are the one being abused. You see just because someone is physically strong and able to dominate others who are weaker in physique does not mean it is balanced or “justified” by natural law. The strong dominating those “weaker” can be very imbalanced and overall harmful to the wellbeing of life upon the earth. There are a great many who are physically weaker due to their size than others, but who express and share their essential strengths and gifts by other means. Again, the law stating survival of the strongest does not always mean everything physical stronger may dominate those weaker. Strength comes in all shapes and sizes. Many of those who are no longer here because of my past were such people who dominated those they deemed weaker physically, and thought they had the right to harm them in any way they saw fit. It took me years of healing and soul searching, internal conflict and struggle to evolve into the acceptance and wisdom of what and who I am as a warrior, and that even though I was a tool for others I still had a place and purpose that in many ways was of overall benefit. But only after I came to accept this and shed guilt and shame could the expanse of this benefit truly spread its wings throughout life. Only after I came to understand and accept by shedding preconceived and socially conditioned views could I separate my deeds from beneficial or productive from those not so much. This process helps us put our lives truth into a balanced perspective and allows us to feel good about things we have accomplished and release the baggage of lesser actions with the intention of putting our sights to more productive avenues. Yes my body is no longer what it used to be. Yes my body has much damage from my past that plagues it daily and though I work continually with the hope that it one day will be fully healed, I understand that it may never be. I understand I am physically where I am today because of my past and I have come to accept this. I have come to accept that the sacrifice was for something higher than myself and I can live with that. This is a very different view than I have had for many years because I have been focusing on and working through so many layers of self healing. If we hold our deeds to unjustifiable expectations and judgments we chain their energy and they then emit imbalance throughout shame, guilt, fear – whatever non-productive emotion we nurture. Only when we can heal and accept, grow into the personal wisdom of our lives and deeds can all we have done radiate strength from us into the universe. I think this wraps up my notes and revised notes from my old Roots of the Warrior class from some years back. My hopes is that this information gets out to you all in order that you might come to ponder more deeply the wisdom of the warrior path shed clear of the prejudice oppression of the modern social ways of “no conflict”. Perhaps this information will assist you in coming to understand the true place of true warriors in this world. The past is no longer, the present is our life and the future has not yet happened. However, the past has created the present, the present gives fruition of the past and the future gives the present hope.
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continued from Roots of the Warrior - part 1
I mentioned in part 1 there are many kinds of warriors, but what is the actual purpose of a warrior in life? A warrior’s placement is to challenge the growth process, to keep moving the currents of life so that the death of stagnation does not set in. It is to fire up natural conflict in every cell until absolute balance is attained. Warrior energy is to promote growth and expansion so the source can truly know itself. The warrior’s purpose and place is to promote necessary change where the fear of change and the will of stagnation dwells. The warrior challenges life to breech the comfort zone and the trap of complacency. Does that mean that everyone who challenges their comfort zones are warriors? No. Many people who on occasion challenge their comfort zones or stand up for something in the face of certain opposition many not be in themselves warriors, but rather acting upon the impulse sparked by the actions of a warrior they were or are influenced by. If this meant to be a derogatory statement – absolutely not. Every energy has its place and purpose. Not everyone is a poet, but perhaps someone who read some poetry was inspired to try their hand at it, if only for a short while. Is that person now a poet – no, but they touched a bit of the poets energy and existence. The poet helped bring enrichment to another’s life through a variation of perspective. That is a form of growth and exploration. Was it prompted by a warrior – no, it was inspired by a poet energy and is no more or less than a prompt of a warrior’s energy, it’s just different. Everything has a place and purpose, the warrior is simply one, but one that is very misunderstood in today’s modern bias views. Every year I have a handful of people contact me on Veteran’s Day and thank me for my sacrifice and past service. They understand what I am and they understand that even though partly it was forced service, it had a purpose in life and I fulfilled that small level of purpose at great cost to self and those close to me. So even though it was dark and “ugly”, it had its place and purpose. Predators have as much a placement as prey; disease has as much purpose as health and night has as much a place as day. Most of you know by now that all my symptoms over the last decade have been due to the damage to my spleen from being poisoned 11 years back. This damage caused an imbalance between spleen, liver, kidneys and lungs; the main trio consists of the lungs, spleen and kidneys in the upper, middle and lower energy sectors of the body. Chronic stasis of blood and energy ensued and generated dozens and dozens of ongoing symptoms. So what does this have to do with this warrior series? Let me show you. Here is a layout of the progression of stasis complications in my life: Liver and Spleen Stasis Foundation
The emotional level of stasis
We need to accept who and what we are in this life, and where we are. No matter what society accepts or does not accept, we need to be who we are or suffer the consequences connected by suppressing our very nature. I am a warrior through and through and have been my whole life. Trying to suppress that fact and pretend to be something else is futile and simply dangerous to the entirety of my wellbeing. I began to shy away from these aspects of who I am because I was told they just aggravate the traumatic memories and enhance cptsd issues. I found out quite the opposite! The suppression of the warrior aspects of me simply flared up the trauma and caused it to stagnate within, unresolved, unmoving, and without hope of further understanding. Slowly bringing these warrior aspects of myself back into the forefront of my life, and once again embracing and honoring them has actually helped subdue and even transform large areas of trauma into more productive energies. There are people who I am sure will say this is all just programming garbage, but they know nothing, especially not of me. I began to realize this last year which is why I began to bring back Survival Combat camps and training into my school, because it is a large aspect of me and what I do. Suppressing that is like pretending I do not need to breathe or eat. I knew it was the correct course of action not only because of how teaching it makes me feel, but also because the people who came for the entire length of the camps loved it. Bravery – to fully be yourself, even in the face of opposition. When we speak of warrior energy and a warrior path through this physical life, there comes a point where we must ponder something very important, essential to a warrior’s path. Earlier in the series I spoke of the warrior and conflict and how the two are inseparable and for good reason. But this leads to the question of dealing. As a warrior how do we deal with conflict? How do we walk as warriors and remain balanced and neutral within the cause of our own hearts and minds? How do we avoid filling our hearts with hate and how do we continue on with wounds and scars? How do we surpass that which we survive? I think you will agree how important the answers to those questions are to a warrior’s path. The answers come down to:
These are all foundations in our hearts and minds dictated by what we have chosen and agreed upon. They are not based upon “right” and “wrong”, even balance and imbalance. They all come from the intentions of our mind’s energies. No matter if others agree or disagree with our ideals, morals and personal codes of conduct; these are vital to the path of the warrior, to the very roots of a warrior. Without them the path is just dark and pointless. Any path needs purpose and that purpose comes down to personal agreements. A warrior’s path is especially bound to those three personal agreed upon beliefs and structures. So then what keeps the mind in check? The heart of course. And what keeps the heart in check? Well the mind does. The mind and heart form a bond and one cannot travel far in a balanced state without the other’s input. Both are kept in-check through self awareness and hold nothing. Samurai were known to meditate for hours and day to try holding personal balance and focus; to let go of all they had seen and done in war. Their lives were dedicated to practices highly refined and strict in attempts to turn every moment into a moment of perfection in order to hold their focus stable. Of course perfection is a personal bias, but can be a useful tool for some in order to gage progress of time through physical life. It can also be a ball and chain that drags one into the grave. Some Native American tribes would have a line of women available to comfort, through hugs and song, the warriors as they returned from combat to help them let go of the inner pains and trauma that goes along with a warrior’s path. It all comes down to release, but for release to work there must be grounding and that requires 100% focus of and in the moment. Not long ago I wrote an article on the Complications of Release Work you may wish to review. All great warriors have come to the understanding that their greatest power in conflict comes from being as empty as possible in the moment and rely upon their earned roots, gained and formed by a life of dedication and training. Without morals, codes of conduct, ideals and the understanding that releasing experiences is vital to the path of a warrior, a warrior will not stand long. Experience and the built energies of extreme conflict will eventually crush the heart and mind as they fail to communicate and empty themselves of that which is not necessary. It comes down to Survival. No matter what style warrior, there must first be survival before one can evolve to surpass. What does survival require? It requires the following:
A warrior never willingly undertakes a battle of any kind when they know the odds are stacked against them. Only when forced should they jump into battle that holds poor odds for a survival outcome. Soldiers on the other hand and simplistic fighters will embrace any old conflict just to try proving themselves or placing the meaning of their lives within the bidding of others wills. The warrior must be intelligent as well as patient and able to see many angles and outcomes dependent on various choices. If you view the list above, and ponder each word, you can begin to see the dynamics in-which the warrior’s attitude towards survival and cause flow dynamically within one another. With a warrior you cannot have focus for one without the other. Though what is survival for if not to surpass current experiences through growth processes? Therefore beyond survival is the ability to surpass. To surpass experience requires:
You may at first think some of those words are contradictory, but truly they are not. For instance we have Shielding and Trust. How can we express trust if we are shielded? First we must understand the word Trust. Trust does not always mean trusting others. Before we can learn to trust others we must first learn to trust self. Without self trust we have no core strength, no internal substance. However, as we learn self trust we must also shield the self from external harm. For a fire to burn brightly it must first start from a spark and that spark must be shielded from all that would snuff it. To surpass an experience a warrior understands that they must first shield themselves from the trauma so they can start gaining perspective through self trust. Once this is built, trust can begin to expand into life itself in-which the warrior sees themselves an integral aspect of. Trauma can then be dissolved since the strength of self trust and trust that all things have a place and purpose in life, and therefore self is a reality. With that level of self trust the warrior can transform the original shielding into personal understanding that they are experienced enough to handle life without hiding behind a shield. Go ahead if you will and take it upon yourselves to analyze the words in the above two lists and see through your own inner depths how they all relate and work together, even if they at first appear contradictory. Next I will present the challenges, the pitfalls or imbalances a warrior must face along the path. All forms of a warrior in any level of life is prone to imbalance just like anyone else. Imbalance is the constant challenge of life in this world. None are exempt. A very important piece of wisdom for all of us in all areas of life in-which we exist to embrace is understanding the imbalance we are prone to. For the path of a warrior the major pitfalls of imbalance dwell within the following:
Of course as with any list you could always add to it, but those are some of the major imbalances a warrior path can expect to encounter along the way. For myself I have run into many of those on many occasions. It just happens to be life, and with the path I have walked and continue to walk, those are energies that set within shadows as well as in the light. None of us are perfect and imbalance touches each of us. The most important thing we can remember is that to dwell upon the times we trip and fall into the imbalance snare does us no benefit. Rather that focus drags on us soul deep and hinders our progression of self learning. Awareness, acceptance forgiveness and the will to strive to attain a more complete sense of balance within is all we can hope for along the path of constant challenge. We can acknowledge when we stumbled and set our focus of heart and mind to the task of standing back up and continuing on, knowing full well that we will stumble again because that is life. Striving to learn what we may with each stumble helps us understand that the next time we stumble it will be upon another snag and not the same one that tripped us before. The trick of the game is that the more a person upon a warrior’s path suffers, the more prone they become to the pitfalls of imbalance, and all true warriors who walk a warrior’s path suffer. It happens with many different paths in life that people tread. It’s one of those “catch 22’s” of life we must deal with. The further along you go, the higher the stakes and the further the fall. Focus on attaining as much balance as possible becomes essential. As with any path of challenge laced with potential pitfalls we must address yet another connected topic – Endurance. Most of us never really walk the path in life we expected or thought we might. We envision all kinds of paths as children, but the path that finds our feet and all it entails can never truly be anticipated, only lived and dealt with along the way. In a warriors life there are inevitably demons. Some of the persons own making and some made long before who patiently wait for our shadow to pass by. For a warrior the act of ridding ourselves of those demons in life is counterproductive. The demons are there for our deepest benefit – survival, learning and surpassing. If we try to snuff them out we tear part of ourselves away and leave a gaping hole that something else will try to fill. No, we must keep them close and learn from them as we learn to control them so they do not control and dictate our path beyond our will. Endurance becomes an essential aspect of the warrior path, and endurance requires:
Yes these actions can be carried over and utilized in a great many pathways of life, but since we are speaking on the warrior, these fit right in. Grounding of course I have spoken and written a lot about. Staying present, paying attention to the senses and details of your body; your thoughts and feelings as well as details in your immediate surroundings and how you are interacting with them. Smiling in care of the self is an essential and integral part of a healthy lifestyle. Basically giving gratitude to all aspects of the self and the body which carry you through life. Staying active to stay healthy – obvious necessity to well being. When we move down through the list most are quite obvious, simple and yet potently effective. Releasing the heart is one that takes a bit of time and focus and goes right along with release work, as does the release of wounds, trauma and illusions. Taking the time to focus on and let go of acute energies detrimentally affecting you is essential to health and balance within body, heart, mind and spirit. Of course trying to release specific non-beneficial energies/experiences within you that are connected to unresolved core issues can be counterproductive and extremely wearing. Just like I explained in my article Complications of Release Work. Releasing the illusions might be one that is confusing to some of you. What this means is the process of letting go of the preconceived. As some examples:
We seek then to replace illusions with – Everyone is who they are and do what they at any given moment because they must be so to gain the experiences required for evolution. If you are part of the experience then you feel you need it for your own evolution and you must not judge yourself or others for it. Instead it is about learning from it and surpassing and moving past it all. Judgment and punishment are not for us to deal in, even within and to ourselves. Our responsibility is to take responsibility for our every feeling, action and thought and not punish ourselves for them, but instead learn to surpass our own imbalances. This requires change and the courage to do so. Like in all paths, a warrior’s path too also requires the diligence to focus on and evolve the core issues within our beings. It is simply an essential aspect of this physical life, one we all must face daily. Endurance is required along most pathways and though the type of endurance will vary, the necessity of the above actions in the list can be utilized by most people in my opinion. Does conflict require combat – no not always. Does change require rashness, harshness, violent energy – no not always. There is a place for everything in variation and change is no different. A sunrise that brings day from night can happen with such lack of celebration from the elements that except for the light you would never know the difference between them. Other times can be very different. Some dawns, as the sun rises, stir up such thermals that create extreme winds and kick up severe and violent storms that rip the land to shreds. The onset of evening twilight can be equally as turbulent or easy. Change is required by life in order that life continue, but change can come smooth and easy just as it can come harsh and violent and both have their place in the universe. There are various kinds of warriors and not all warriors walk the path where violent change occurs. Other kinds of warriors do stride violent paths connected to harsh and dramatic life changes and shifts. None is better or worse than the other; both are necessary and have their place. Before I list a few different kinds of warriors and warrior paths in part 3, go ahead and take a little time to ponder it for yourself and see what you come up with. continued in - Roots of the Warrior - part 3 This was a course that I taught in 2013 titled Roots of the Warrior. I’ve decided to type out a good section of it to add to this blog because I think the information is pertinent enough in today’s world as I believe it was generations ago across continents and cultures.
The main focus of this course was questioning not only what a warrior is but the natural placement of warrior energy in the universe as we understand it. In a world where talks of peace are everywhere, how does warrior energy come into play and does it evolve through the ages – is it only found in the human form or does it exist in other areas of the natural world. This little series will address those questions and more while I delve into explaining this unique energy within this physical existence. Like an ancient bristlecone pine that has stood for almost 5,000 years, enduring and surpassing all life has brought to its rocky slope. Like the foundations of a mountain that has towered above valleys assaulted by the elements and season, but still stands. The roots of the warrior, standing within the ragged edges of the world, in the shadows without inflated ego yet embracing a purpose that few can carry for long. How does a warrior stand in today’s world of severe adversity and what exactly is a warrior? Where does the roots of the warrior come from, what do they feed upon and what holds them strong in the face of ages? How can a warrior walk through life today in balance with the sheer amount of pressure from mass bombardment of wicked organizations, factions, energy manipulation, astral influences and the insanity of mixed messages from governments and media who on one hand condemn acts of aggression and yet on the other execute it daily? Before we really get into the aspect of warrior energy and beyond that, to the actual roots of a warrior, we need to first ask questions. If we cannot really formulate a question, we will have little hope of discovering an answer. The term warrior evokes a wide range of responses from people in today’s world. Some embrace it while others despise it. Most responses tend to be “knee-jerk” reactions rather than educated and measured ones, as with many topics in this world. Below are a few opening questions. Feel free to ask yourself more. The ones supplied are just baseline starters. Also found below are basic definitions of the flat terms warrior, soldier and war. But beyond the mere definitions we need to look deeper into the understanding of the differences between a warrior and a soldier. Many today think they are one in the same, but they are not. Opening Questions:
Taken from the dictionary: Warrior
Soldier = enlisted service – doing another’s will or bidding A military or other group enlisted soldier is a person who has given up their personal power, identity, freedom, individuality and personal responsibility to be ordered, manipulated, controlled ruled by organizations that court armed warfare. A soldier is not a warrior. This is not belittling them at all. They have their place just as everyone else. Anytime someone aligning with any kind of conflict gives their personal power over to an entity external of themselves, they lose the deeper connection to self and the connection they have to their higher intuition and spiritual alignment on a soul level. This automatically impedes their ability to make choices balanced upon the greater understanding of life. Instead a person then simply follows orders and seals off the “self” from the engaged action. Yes even a so called “supersoldier” is just a mind controlled slave and not a warrior. Keep this in mind as we continue. But what is a warrior and where are they in history - anywhere people trained in associated skills and stood their ground against oppressors of their own free will and guidance. Conflict
The warrior is always in the forefront of change. The warrior life exists in the volatile state of adversity; the very reason the roots of the warrior need to be adequately developed. Warrior An individual that invests adequate time, energy and focus honing skills of tactics and strategy for the purpose of gauging the necessity and inevitability of conflict within the continually expressive stature of life in such a way that they are fit to stand and lead by example. As we move along in this series and you begin to think more deeply on what a warrior truly is, you hopefully will begin to look around you and within yourself to discover various aspects or perhaps full embodiments of what this series brings to light. But we have a lot to cover, so try not to make assumptions and jump the gun. Be patient. *** As we continue exploring the energy of the Warrior we must face the reality behind life’s expressive flow. Flow of energy equals Change which in-turn equals Conflict.
This is the process we see here upon earth and throughout the universe as we understand it. Things/Energy wishing to stay the same Warring with Things/Energy wishing to change. Continual energy expression in its own right is a form of War. It occurs on a cellular level as well as a universal one. It is a war against stagnation because life must move one way or another. Varieties of war are endless and span all levels of existence. This means that the word Warrior must be expanded to meet such variety. Warrior must be defined by the very nature and variety of conflict they are so trained to engage in. If the very foundation of life’s progression is conflict then where does “peace” fit in? When we look at the expansion and expression, the self exploration of existence we find conflict, like growing pains. If we think about the necessity of conflict for growth and understanding we must then ask ourselves the position of “Peace”. Where does peace fit into the complex matrix of conflict? Peace itself becomes rather a conundrum with conflict being the very essence of evolution. So what does that “new” term Peaceful Warrior actually mean and is that opposing title in itself a reality? I wrote a small blog article question and pondering of peace not long ago. If you have not read it you might want to take a few moments to go back and have a look. Peace is what? If you have not yet thought about what peace actually means to you, take a little time to ponder that before reading on. Some definitions of peace in the dictionary are:
Where does peace exist in a state of continual evolution and the continual exploration of self? With that focus see how many areas in your current life contain a feeling of genuine peace. Then see if you can define exactly, exactly what it feels like on as many levels of your awareness you can. Root:
Root of the Warrior – what do you think that means? Some people are born with warrior natures. Others gain a warrior nature through life itself, but all warriors must be trained and thus pay the price to walk the wisdom of a true warrior. Nothing is free. Each price is agreed upon or called upon by the individual. Each price forms a root that contains an understanding gained through the paying of that price.
The true strength of a tree is found in its roots. Prices are paid through training. We do not rise under adverse conditions to the level of our expectations. Instead we fall to the level of our training and what we have or have not paid. So many people today wish a shortcut to everything, including stature, respect and skill sets, but fewer and fewer have the fortitude and attention spans to stick with something long enough to truly acquire any of those things. Someone cannot claim to be a warrior unless they have truly paid that price and many who claim that title have not. Actual physical testing however always collapses the air built bubble. A warrior, like any other skilled person must train, be trained and acquire lots of hardcore physical hands on experience. Dreams and fantasy do not count. The word today is thrown around all too easily and empty, like many titles and a great many people holding those titles do not deserve them. Warrior Progression: Do warriors as a whole evolve through time? Were the samurai so different than true and trained warriors of today? You see it is not within the “class” of warriors that we need to look for growth. War is war and a warrior will be a warrior. Growth happens within. The true growth of a warrior is individual, not group based. The best defense we have is the attack upon the self within the gentleness of rain, politeness of a flower, steadiness of the wind, silence of a dark forest, steadfastness of a mountain and relentlessness of fire. We must grow thyself from within through internal and external conflict. There are stages of a warrior we must first understand before we can really question the growth process of warriors. These stages are the key to a warrior’s growth. Stage 1 – External Battle In this stage the warrior and weapon seek only the fight with others. Battle ensues and anything is used as a weapon and the warrior has no separation. Ego rules. The fight is all there is. Stage 2 – Internal Battle The hand and the body no longer master the external weapon. Now the heart and mind unify to become the true master of the weapon and the fight goes within. The external battle internalizes and fights the ego and imbalance of the self. Stage 3 – No Battle In this stage the warrior evolves past the want of the fight and abandons the weapon. The warrior abandons all conflict and attains perfect balance within. The deepest understanding of what a warrior truly is has been attained through prices paid, roots laid and explored. By fully living the existence of a warrior one has a chance to reach such a level, but just as a an old growth white pine must fully live the entire life and evolution of a white pine from seed to elder to gain that facet of wisdom, to attain the third stage of a warrior means a person must live their life as a warrior. *** The real question here is does a warrior grow through each stage in one life? Is the purpose of a warrior to move through the stages into completeness of No Battle? In my own view that is not the purpose nor is it possible for every warrior who comes to this earth. Not only is it perhaps not possible, but personally I do not think every warrior wishes to progress through each stage to the last. If the point of existence is to explore every facet of itself then that means the facets that do not fully grow through one path of energy. It also means that all energy threads are not meant to complete themselves. A person may very well step fully onto the path of a warrior in this life, but later in their life they move completely away from that of a warrior and into another phase of energy, never having attained the third stage of a warrior. There is no right or wrong about it. The only thing that matters is that energy continues onward. I have seen many warriors leave the path of a warrior long before they even reached stage 2. Just because someone has paid the price and became a warrior does not mean they will remain such throughout their lifeline. Others may remain a warrior through many “lifelines” if you will. continued in - Roots of the Warrior - part 2 Originally written - December 7th, 2016 by White Wolf
Tis the season for “Peace on Earth”, at least that seems to be what I hear so many people saying, wishing for and singing about each winter holiday season. Then the year progresses and I look around, look at news reports and global events and it certainly makes me wonder. Do you wish for “Peace on Earth”? Do you wish for peace in your life? My question is this, Peace – well what exactly does that mean? Truly, what does “peace” mean in all those wishes, songs and prayers? Does peace mean the lack of violence? I am sure most of you reading consider violence the absence of peace. So maybe that is what Peace is, the Lack of Violence? Do you consider killing animals for food violent? After all it is killing, no matter the cause. How about killing an insect? Killing a plant for food is also violent. Are not all acts of killing, no matter the intent or necessity, violent? Where is that line drawn between a non-violent killing and a violent one? Who draws that line? To me there is no line, and the taking of life is a necessary part of this world. We all need to eat. We all should have enough self care to defend ourselves from attackers, and that means an insect preparing to bite or sting you and harmful microbes inside us. So perhaps Peace is not so much the lack of violence after all? How about the lack of suffering? Suffering sure is not very peaceful. So maybe Peace is the lack of suffering? Everything alive suffers in one way or another though. So long as a creature has consciousness there is potential for suffering. So long as a creature has a brain and nervous system there is suffering in physical life. All life gets sick. All life is subject to injury. The more complex the conscious state and emotional levels, the more suffering on mental levels there tends to be. All physical life dies as well, and suffering is part of that, even if not for the life leaving, but for who remains. How could this physical world exist and function without suffering? The whole place is laid out with suffering intricately woven through every layer. So maybe the lack of suffering is not an attainable Peace? What about Freedom? Could having freedom be the Peace people sing about? In a world from ancient times through the present there have been groups of people seeking to control others and all life around them. The very notion of a lack of full control of one’s own life tends to breed fear and fear tends to breed the need to assert control, even if imbalanced. Governments control us, global banks control us – how many of us actually own our own houses? Most people are in debt because they live in a house. The banks own our houses, not us. The economy controls us. The elements control us. The essential needs of the human body control us. Control exists everywhere you look on this planet. Has it ever not? Will praying for true freedom turn the world that seems to have always been as it is, upside-down? Well it sure has not so far. So perhaps freedom is not Peace? Maybe Peace is then acceptance? Could peace be the acceptance of everything just as it is? The acceptance of all the negatives and all the positives in this life is something very few have mastered. If you accepted everything as is, would you have Peace? Acceptance does not remove violence, suffering or control, it just places the mind in a state that understands all of it has a place here in this life and we can never stomp it all out. Would Peace then be just accepting that there can never be the level of Peace we are taught and told we should hope for on this planet; not in the capacity it seems most think of Peace as anyway? What about a lack of fear in life? Would that perhaps be what people seek when they pray for Peace? That is another tricky request or pursuit. I have written many times before about fear and the pros and cons of it. I think it would be very difficult to remove all fear from our lives. We live in a very dangerous and challenging world where fear has definite purpose, as well as enslaving properties. Maybe the removal of fear in life would be what is considered to be Peace, but it seems a very out of reach dream unless we go back to total acceptance. How about faith as being Peace? Once again, faith differs greatly from person to person and once person’s idea of Peace in their faith can be very different than another persons. I think being solid in one’s faith does not necessarily mean Peace. Maybe love is Peace? If one can completely love would that mean they have attained Peace? I suppose it is possible, but most people I have spoken with over the years who live in a higher state of love than many can identify a background fear of losing that which they love, or having it challenged or degrade. So maybe love is not necessarily Peace either? How much have you thought about what Peace actually is, actually means? It’s a pretty hefty word that people throw around quite regularly and seemingly carelessly, but I think few actually step back and deeply ponder just exactly what it is. Most people I have spoken to about it seem to have a very unattainable, unrealistic idea of peace on earth. |
AuthorElder White Wolf: Archives
November 2021
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