How To Be A Spiritual Warrior

A spiritual warrior seeks to uplift others; he is not belligerent like a regular soldier who seeks to burn homes, pillage villages, desecrate homes, and maim and kill others.

But, like a regular soldier, a person interested in spiritual works is equally strong and disciplined. He is as strong in mind and body, as firm in his convictions, as intent on his mission. The difference is intention.

A spiritual warrior could either be an activist or a monk, or even both.

As an activist, he is interested in raising collective awareness about some pressing social concern.

As a monk, he is interested in following rigorous spiritual practices that elevate his consciousness and free him from the tyranny of the cultured mind, which is lost in its paradigms of conditioning.

If you were interested in becoming a spiritual warrior, someone interested in overcoming negative conditions, improving the conditions of life, and raising consciousness, what qualities would you focus on to build a strong character?

Here are five qualities worth considering. Of course, these are not the only qualities, but they could be considered the core qualities around which other qualities can be built.

1. Orderly.

This basically means keeping everything neat, clean, and organized. Not only do these qualities reflect a mind committed to discipline and action, but it also creates an environment that encourages inner and outer action.

2. Fit.

Flexibility, strength, endurance, and alertness are the result of a specific training regimen. They are also the result of proper sleep, a balanced diet, and other health practices. There is a reason why yoga focuses on strengthening the physical vehicle.

3. Studious.

Without knowledge, you can only make poor, uniformed decisions. You cannot conceive of clear goals, viable plans, and constructive actions if you fail to keep abreast of the rising tide of knowledge related to your interests.

4. Efficient.

An efficient person sets goals, makes plans, and achieves specific results. All of this calls for some level of personal administrative efficiency, in particular keeping logs, consistently observing and recording results, and learning from errors. The converse of an efficient person is someone who simply leaps into action without thinking things through. An inefficient person is incapable of predicting the best course of action.

5. Productive.

Finally, a spiritual warrior has to be productive.

It’s not enough to plan to meditate, you have to do it, sitting in the right posture, focusing on the technique and executing it as best you can.

It’s not enough to talk about how to change the world, you have to go about creating a series of productive actions that shift the current situation.

Is An Iron Will Really Necessary?

Unless there is an inner toughness running through your quest to be a spiritual warrior, your intention is not going to last long. You will not do the inner work to clear your mind of its accumulated habits. You will not do the outer work to clear your society of its negative structures.

Assuming you are true in your intention to be a spiritual warrior, you have to practice a simple regimen to create an iron will.

All these are yang attributes, male qualities. They are not, however, qualities of domination. Rather they are intended to create a backbone, a structure, a support for the emergence of yin qualities, female qualities, like compassion, nurturing, and sharing.

Without them, kindness will be mistaken for weakness and the best intentions will collapse at the first sign of opposition.

In spiritual groups, congregants or devotees often swing entirely to embody the yin, feminine qualities. They fail to take into account that excessive humility will not create leadership qualities. Without strength of character they cannot hope to make a difference in their own lives or that of others they wish to positively influence.

Intimidated by the charisma of their preacher or guru, they fail to grasp the real nature of spirituality. Spirituality is not weakness, but strength. It is not blind obedience, but self-reliance.

The late Mother Teresa and Swami Vivekananda are perfect examples of spiritual warriors. They had all five qualities. A review of their lives will show that they were strong people with wills of iron. They set their intentions and acted on their highest inspirations, even when others opposed them.

In spirituality, the obvious aspect of it are the yin aspects. Yet behind it, not apparent to the observers, are the yang aspect that keep a spiritual warrior strong and on purpose.

A spiritual warrior is as much Shiva as Shakti, as much yang as yin, as much warrior as lover of life, and as much at home within as in the world.

It is not an easy calling, yet nothing else is more worthwhile. Whatever your spiritual path, Eastern or Western, Inner or Outer, it calls you to do what you can to be who you really are inside.

You must sit like a mountain in meditation and walk like a lion in the world if you wish to scale the heights of ignorance that keep you from enlightenment.

A spiritual warrior is not weak or timid. In Japanese monasteries high up in the mountains, monks bathe in icy waters in the depths of winter. This is not a foolish spiritual tradition. They understand the concept of spiritual warriors.

Your war is against yourself, against illusion. It is also a war against intimidation, oppression, and tyranny. Shinto priests are experts at martial arts.

The war is not a war for domination but for emancipation from the shackles of all limitations. It calls for steely determination, not whimsical inner work and erratic outer work. It calls for discipline, agility, intelligence, and action. It calls for a will strong enough to succeed in a higher calling.

“Spirituality," said Sri Yukteswar Giri, the guru of Paramahansa Yogananda, “does not mean being daft.”

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