Spiritual Warriors Gather

I like to think of this past weekend’s Midyear Meeting as a gathering of Spiritual Warriors.

I have enjoyed pondering the writings of Paulo Coelho, specifically Warrior of the Light: A Manual. I have spent a lot of time trying to find ways to express spiritual matters, and I like the way he does that. The concept of Warrior of the Light was disconcerting at first, since pacifism is core to Quaker life. But I had been using a variation of that, Spiritual Warrior, in my own writings. I’m not sure where I first heard the term. According to Wikipedia: The term spiritual warrior is used in Tibetan Buddhism for one who combats the universal enemy: self-ignorance (avidya), the ultimate source of suffering according to Buddhist philosophy.

Each Warrior of the Light contains within him the spark of God. His destiny is to be with other Warriors , but sometimes he will need to practice the art of the sword alone; this is why, when he is apart from his companions, he behaves like a star. He lights up his allotted part of the Universe and tries to point out galaxies and worlds to all those who gaze up at the sky. The Warrior’s persistence will soon be rewarded. Gradually, other Warriors approach , and they join together to form constellations, each with their own symbols and mysteries. Coelho, Paulo. Warrior of the Light: A Manual (p. 89). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

My friend, Joshua Taflinger, who I worked with as a water protector during our Dakota Access Pipeline efforts in Indianapolis, wrote about this last summer.

I am inspired to share with you all more directly a post I wrote, because I consider you an established & effective nature/spiritual warrior, and believe that there is a need for the perspectives shared in the attached post to be more common thought in the minds of the many.

If you feel truth from this writing, and are inspired, I highly encourage you to re-write your own version, in your own words/perspectives, and post to your network.

With the intention of helping us all wake up, with awareness, clarity, and direction.

..spreading and weaving reality back into the world….

This is the post Joshua was referring to:

What has risen to the surface at Standing Rock is a physical/spiritual movement. Learn how to quiet your mind. To find the silent receptive space to receive guidance. To learn to adapt and follow the pull of synchronicity to guide you to where you will find your greatest support and strength.

What I have found in my time praying in the indigenous earth based ways, is that it’s not about putting your hands together and talking to god…. It’s about quieting and connecting with the baseline of creation, of nature. Tuning into the frequency and vibration of the natural world, the nature spirits. The beings and entities that have been in existence, for all of existence, the examples and realities of sustainability and harmony.

It’s about becoming receptive to these things. Being open and flowing with them. The spirit guides us, but we have to make ourselves receptive to feel, sense, and respond to this guidance.

I am thinking about Quakers and like minded people as Spiritual Warriors now, because we need to organize ourselves to fight together for what is coming as our environmental chaos continues to unfold, and forces us to adapt to increasingly hostile conditions, both environmental and social. One key to that will be to wake up those who are sleeping now, to recruit Spiritual Warriors.