I have never liked the term “warrior”. It suggests fighting with an enemy, one against another. That has nothing to do with being a seeker of the Truth or yoga. But before we get to what a spiritual warrior is, let’s talk about what it is not.
Fighting, one interest pitted against another is a concept in the world of duality. Good against evil. Right against wrong. Light against dark. This is the world of a combat soldier as well as the combat warriors of years gone by. It is the stuff of legends and heroes where the only way to arise victoriously is to smote thy enemy! While all of this certainly gets the blood pumping, it is not the world of the spiritual seeker or the spiritual warrior.
A spiritual “warrior” doesn’t fight with anyone or anything. It is not about striking out and forcing the enemy to bend to the will of another. It is not about taking the righteous position. Righteousness only breeds holy wars, killing, hate, and revenge. A spiritual warriors’ task is much more difficult.
A spiritual warrior simply seeks the Truth and stands tall honoring that Truth while facing the world with unconditional Love and Light. That person challenges their own fear. The fear of yesterday. The fear of tomorrow. The fear of being hurt, physically or emotionally. The fear of failure and the fear of success. The fear of death. At its core, it is fear which is the root cause of the lies and judgments that cause the pain and suffering of this world. To conquer fear means to know that nothing that can ever be done to you can harm your True Self in any way. Absolutely nothing. No attack of any kind.
To be a spiritual warrior takes courage. The courage to cast fear aside. The courage to stand and face all comers with the Absolute True that we are all part of Source/God just as Source/God is a part of each one of us. No exceptions. Treat everyone, no matter who or what they may be, with unconditional Love and kindness because each one is a part of you just as you are a part of them.
But Dude, doesn’t that mean darkness must be confronted? Doesn’t that mean we have to confront the evildoers, even if we do so with tough love?
May I suggest that fighting darkness is a trap of this world of duality? To confront the darkness means to judge it as darkness and attempt to change it to your version of light. Both sides in every conflict believe their position is the right position and the other side is wrong. As such, both sides stand in darkness.
The spiritual warrior radiates Love and Light to all. The darkness is not challenged, it simply cannot exist in the presence of Light. The darkness (if it is in fact darkness) withdraws on its own.
The task of the spiritual warrior is to confront and dismiss her own fear so that she knows she is her True Self. Once that realization is achieved, the conflict and duality of this reality fall away. To stand calmly in the face of mortal fear is not easy, but you can do it. Of course, you will slip and fall, we all do. However, the true seeker gets up and tries again and again until the fear is no more. That is the journey.
Now we are doing yoga…
Namaste
Blair is the co-owner of Yoga Daily in Mt. Pleasant, SC. [https://yogadailymountpleasant.com] He is a certified yoga instructor, recovering lawyer and a spiritual student. The content of this blog is what Blair considers to be universal truths that span all dogma and religion and it is offered to you in Love and Light. Check out Yoga Dude [https://yogadailymountpleasant.com/the-yoga-dude/] for additional blog entries. You can contact Blair at blair@yogadailymountpleasant.com. Yoga is but one path to the knowing that we are all One. Please take what resonates with you and leave the rest without judgement or offense.