Due to the challenging nature of the path, each seeker needs to develop the essential qualities to overcome the internal and external forces of the lower nature that conspire to prevent the realization of our spiritual purpose. What has been described in various myths as the battle between light and darkness, good and evil, is in truth a depiction of the internal battle that happens in the heart and mind of each human being. The very moment we open the door to begin evolution into light, our inner darkness is triggered – that which needs to be confronted and dissolved before we can fully embody our pure nature. In fact, this darkness is begging to be freed from itself and relieved from its very pain: after all, it is part of our own self.
There is both internal and external darkness. We live in a dimension that is fundamentally unconscious and spiritually ignorant. Anyone who enters the path will not receive proper support from the world. The collective mind, as a means of self-preservation, will project antagonistic energies towards our spiritual intent, pulling us back into the state of forgetfulness.
One may have a romantic vision of human evolution into love, compassion and awakening, but reality is more complicated than this. It can be hard and even merciless at times. There is no place for weakness of spirit, lack of integrity, games or dishonesty on the path. The path is by nature difficult and one has to activate the virtue of strength from the very moment one takes that first step. Sometimes the first step is the most difficult – you don’t want to slip and break your leg.
People tend to perceive the concept of the soul in a sentimental manner. They do not realize that our soul is a powerful being. Any ego can survive in the outer world, but to survive in the inner realm – to step through the threshold of the unmanifested, the void of absence, and live to tell the tale – requires us to have a deeply integrated and universally solidified identity. The fundamental quality of the soul is love, but her love is not slushy or weepy. It stands like a mountain, solid and rooted, in the inner world. Through embodying the light of I am, the soul becomes one with the might of the supreme reality. In its journey into the soul, our human self must develop those characteristics which reflect her higher consciousness so that she can draw him into herself. Otherwise, the human will never cross the threshold of his higher being.
To walk the path, one has to be a warrior of light, serving with honor the higher purpose of our creation. One has to have the strength to cut through one’s lower nature, renouncing impure tendencies, renouncing fear and any traces of insincerity. One has to have the strength to be alone in this world and to resist any temptation to be influenced by the collective mind and, in this way, lose the unbroken clarity of what is real and what really matters. To live in the world is to be surrounded by the subtle net of the collective human perception that has developed as a reaction to our disconnection from the light of creation. A seeker on the path is being constantly affected on the etheric level by the low frequency of this belief system which has been shaped by mass consciousness. Even if he is convinced on some level about the imperative to evolve into the light, this conviction must be fully embodied. Otherwise, the doubt and uncertainty may gradually invade his spiritual resolve and pull him back into the herd-like mind of humanity.
To walk the path one has to be a true man. When describing our essence, Lin Chi used the term ‘a true man of no rank’, which was his Zen way of describing the soul. If a true man of no rank is our soul, a true man, as such, would refer to our dignified human identity – the one who grows into the soul. While the term warrior may carry exclusively male connotations, in truth it requires a perfect balance between the positive dimensions of our masculine and feminine nature. A warrior is a complete woman and man at the same time. He has the power of will, is completely focused on truth, is uncompromisingly dedicated to his higher intention, and yet inside he is absolutely gentle and his heart is loving, tender and vulnerable. He is not afraid to suffer; rather, he welcomes his suffering as an invitation to go deeper into the mystery of his unconditional self. His nature is fearlessness, for he has nothing to lose – he has surrendered to the will of the supreme cause.
One is not born a warrior of light. One becomes him by choosing strength, love and dignity and by having the courage to honor the truth. Growing into the essential qualities of a true seeker is a gradual process, like a seed growing into a tree. On the way, one has to confront all the obstacles and, step by step, prevail over everything that stands on the way to becoming that true man or woman of the path. We must see these obstructions not as our enemies but as the positive material for our transformation. Without facing challenges we can never realize our strength. We need opposition in order to awaken our true self.
Ego has many demons and all of them need to be faced and conquered in order to bring dignity into our very creation. Ignorance, dishonesty, arrogance, greed, stupidity, superficiality, insensitivity, lethargy, indolence and cowardice are some of the lower tendencies which erode the integrity of our existence, as are lack of honor, gratitude, love, compassion and true self-love. They all need to be embraced by the light of our consciousness and dissolved by our surrender to truth. If needed, let there be a war. In this war the sword that we carry is our light, our bow is our consciousness, its string is our intelligence and the arrow is our higher intention to serve the good. A warrior becomes a warrior not by maintaining the illusion of peace but by going to war and emerging victorious from the internal battle with his own shadow.
Blessings, Aadi
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