Can you be both martial and spiritual?
Can you overcome your ultimate opponent?
To be martial requires discipline, courage and perseverance. It has nothing to do with killing. People fail to look beyond this one narrow aspect of being a warrior and so overlook all the other excellent qualities that can be gained from training. A warrior is not a cruel murderer. A warrior is a protector of ideals, principles, and honor. A warrior is noble and heroic.
A warrior will have many opponents in a lifetime, but the ultimate opponent is the warrior's self. Within a fighter's personality are a wide array of demons to be conquered: fear, laziness, ignorance, selfishness, egotism, and so many more. To talk of overpowering other people is inconsequential. To actually overcome one's own defects is the true nature of victory.
That is why so many religions depict warriors in their iconography. These images are not symbols for dominating others. Rather they are symbols of the ferocity and determination that we need to overcome the demons within ourselves.
Deng Ming-Dao
A warrior has to believe in his cause, and believe in his comrades.
ReplyDeleteIf either fails the warrior the warrior can no longer function.
Why, because the things he does, in then name of belief and faith cannot be justified.
Be true to yourself. No matter what there cost.