Often the picture of a warrior conjures up images of a battered and wounded soldier, breathless and exasperated! But the image of a spiritual warrior is somewhat different! A spiritual warrior is always ready and prepared to meet any challenge with alacrity. He has no fear, just love and lightness.
Spiritual warrior is balanced—grounded and firm. He never tires because he never gets wounded. Unlike the other warriors, he smiles in the face of uncertainty and even calamity! The spiritual warrior walks with pride and confidence. Even before he begins, he knows victory is guaranteed. No task is too great or prodigious because he has cultivated such inner self-respect and a big open heart that is willing and generous.
He is never distracted or side tracked; lazy or careless. He cannot even indulge in vanity for the warrior knows that to lose focus for even a moment would allow the enemy to gain ground! Spiritual warriors are brave and courageous. They keep themselves protected with the shield or aura of God’s Divine light. Their feet hardly touch the ground and their “artillery” is always on hand.
The weapons of a spiritual warrior are not the usual ones made of stone, wood, metal or gunpowder. They flex the muscles of their mind with the inner powers—the power to face, to adjust, to discern, to withdraw, to cooperate, to let go and move on when necessary. They also ensure they are full of inner beauty: lightness, kindness, generosity, humility, benevolence, compassion, beauty and more. And most of all, they always carry with them the ‘weapons’ of love, peace, truth, bliss and purity. Of course, these tools need sharpening from time to time through meditation.
Spiritual warriors are known to go through “spiritual deaths”. One such death is ego, another is attachment. Learning to “die” is a ‘give in’ on the spiritual journey, in fact it is when we have truly died, that we can really awaken and live. Therefore, the battle is not with the enemy out there, but with the one within. Once I have “killed” or for sake of semantics, transformed myself, metamorphosed myself, then there is no battle left to fight. For example, if you don’t have an ego, no one can dent or crush your ego. If there is no attachment, no one can give you pain! This is illustrated well in the Bhagavad Gita. The whole Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, the greatest archer ever.
After having conquered our attachment to people, money and possessions, food and taste buds, clothes and comforts, our final battle will be with our attachment and identification with our body.
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