Life’s Battles and the Spiritual Warrior Who Can Never Lose

by Robert Wilkinson

In life there are battles we cannot win, but must “fight” anyway, the best we’re able. Most gentle Souls do not want conflict, but given the way of the world, there are contentious people who will draw us into their drama whether we want to or not.

I have been in many such battles. Unfortunately, I’m in one now. This battle is about the truth of a matter.

I cannot “win” since there’s literally nothing to win, and even if I do hold sway (since facts are on my side), I cannot possibly gain anything. But I also cannot “lose,” since by simply engaging in this battle, I win, as long as I take the high road and do not yield to the lower ways of the opponent.

Sometimes we must hold faith and truth even in apparently “losing” propositions. The Bhagavad Gita has been a source of comfort in this specific battle as well as countless others, since I’d rather have Spiritual Law and Truth on my side than all the armies ever assembled on Earth.

This is also where the I Ching has great wisdom. If we’re in a battle, we must be so clear-headed that we’re willing to meet the opponent halfway while making no compromise with “evil.” We cannot force the battle to the end, since by staying in the battle for any length of time we lose, if nothing else than our peace of mind and our precious time.

That means the best strategy is to use the correct means to accomplish our objectives while bringing the battle to quick completion. It also counsels to find someone who can be a good arbiter, to settle the conflict justly.

We are also told always to examine the causes of conflict, to see if they can be prevented in advance. This usually means a clear definition of roles, duties, boundaries, and terms, or alternately, the spiritual trends of those involved in the conflict. These can help us prevent conflict if everyone has a common clear understanding up front. Though others may be contentious, and some splits do seem inevitable, if we are clear up front we can mitigate or completely prevent conflicts from arising or escalating.

In my current battle, these aphorisms from the I Ching will not be helpful in resolving this conflict, since this battle is about an entrenched lie. To paraphrase a great truth, “a lie will go round the world while the truth is pulling its boots on.”

We have also been told by many venerable sources that if we’re in a conflict, it is an opportunity to grow spiritually through standing aside and letting the Spiritual Warrior within fight the battle. That cannot be vanquished, since the Spiritual Warrior, also known as the Guardian, never knows fear, never knows doubt, never knows humiliation, never knows uncertainty. The Spiritual Warrior is ever joyous, whether preparing for battle, doing battle, or reflecting on a battle already done.

I understand the mixture of feelings that create the edge between my mind and feelings relative to the Spiritual Warrior. My mind thinks what it will think; my feelings feel what there is to feel; but my Spiritual Warrior cannot suffer, cannot fear, and cannot be defeated. So I suppose it really doesn’t matter what my mind and feelings are doing, as long as I hold faith with my Spiritual Warrior.

Sometimes we must show courage and perseverance, even if we don’t want to, don’t feel like it, and would rather be at the beach. Even when we must fight, it must be with a deep sense of the least and most precise force to be used to accomplish completing the battle. And since our minds can fall into error, that’s why we must stand aside and allow the Spiritual Warrior to fight as it knows best.

Each time we allow the Spiritual Warrior to “fight the good fight,” we gain in the long run. Generating courage is always a good thing. In a world of dualities, it’s always good to re-ground ourselves in the highest we can be. And to live the Highest, we must learn to put our personality under the guidance of the Spiritual Warrior, or Guardian.

That’s why if there’s nothing to win and nothing to lose, then all we can do is allow our Spiritual Warrior to use our positive defenses, courageously stating clear ideas and firm convictions expressing truth, fairness, and justice. It really doesn’t matter what our opponents think. Speaking truth to power is a victory, regardless of appearances.

From the ancient and venerable “Light On The Path,” section II, a few words about this:

1. Stand aside in the coming battle, and though thou fightest be not thou the warrior.

2. Look for the warrior and let him fight in thee.

3. Take his orders for battle and obey them.

4. Obey him not as though he were a general, but as though he were thyself, and his spoken words were the utterance of thy secret desires; for he is thyself, yet infinitely wiser and stronger than thyself. Look for him, else in the fever and hurry of the fight thou mayest pass him; and he will not know thee unless thou knowest him. If thy cry meet his listening ear, then will he fight in thee and fill the dull void within. And if this is so, then canst thou go through the fight cool and unwearied, standing aside and letting him battle for thee.

Then it will be impossible for thee to strike one blow amiss. But if thou look not for him, if thou pass him by, then there is no safeguard for thee. Thy brain will reel, thy heart grow uncertain, and in the dust of the battlefield thy sight and senses will fail, and thou wilt not know thy friends from thy enemies.

He is thyself, yet thou art but finite and liable to error. He is eternal and is sure. He is eternal truth. When once he has entered thee and become thy warrior, he will never utterly desert thee, and at the day of the great peace he will become one with thee.

5. Listen to the song of life.

6. Store in your memory the melody you hear.

7. Learn from it the lesson of harmony.

8. You can stand upright now, firm as a rock amid the turmoil, obeying the warrior who is thyself and thy king. Unconcerned in the battle save to do his bidding, having no longer any care as to the result of the battle, for one thing only is important, that the warrior shall win, and you know he is incapable of defeat—standing thus, cool and awakened, use the hearing you have acquired by pain and by the destruction of pain.

Only fragments of the great song come to your ears while yet you are but man. But if you listen to it, remember it faithfully, so that none which has reached you is lost, and endeavor to learn from it the meaning of the mystery which surrounds you.

In time you will need no teacher. For as the individual has voice, so has that in which the individual exists. Life itself has speech and is never silent. And its utterance is not, as you that are deaf may suppose, a cry: it is a song. Learn from it that you are part of the harmony; learn from it to obey the laws of the harmony.

So I do believe I’ll eat, drink, and make merry, for in this battle there can be no defeat. Besides, only ego is apparently defeated, and out of all loss of ego arises the Phoenix Firebird anew to take what’s left of ego into ever higher realms. Every battle in which we stand aside and allow the Spiritual Warrior to do what it must is a victory for Spirit.

If you want more, here's Light On The Path - Separateness As A Path To Union With All-That-Is

Copyright © 2014 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Nic]

Interesting and brilliant! Sorry to learn you are being "pulled" into an unwanted situation (battle, conflict). I am sure you have the skills to overcome. Maybe you already have as you approach the battle in the right spirit, in true alignment. The rest is probably illusion and Maya.

Thanks for sharing, some of us have already won because of your battle. "Funny" how the Universe can work at times.

Love and patience to you,
Nic

[Lee]

It seems every battle has lessons to impart and often I am blinded by my mind to the deficiency in my wisdom that the battle's meaning will make whole.

[Sherry]

This piece is very inspiring.
I've been in a battle since October 2008. 18 times in Court to get back money which I was tricked into investing. The lessons about knowing my power and not being embarrassed to claim my identity, will be w me for this entire life.

And the dread and emotional pain in order to separate truth of who I am from what I always accepted as true, used to give me sleepless nights.

Your Spiritual Warrior concept will help me manage through what I hope the April astrology activity, will finally dissolve or stop.

Thank you very much for writing on this subject.

I wish you strength and wisdom from your ordeal.

[debbie]

Be neutral and battle only to remove conflict in ones own mindset, that way ones conscience is clear and we do in fact win, in ourselves. Namaste and love and hopes for the most successful outcome possible for all.

I am in one myself, the chess game is in progress, strategy is being played out and yet I am not even on the board or playing the game, check mate will not be of my doing, or my consequence, simply just is.

[Carmen]

patience, insert adjective, patience, insert adjective, patience, and patience, Arjuna.

[Morvah]

Yes, yes! 'Stand aside in the coming battle, and though thou fightest be not thou the warrior.' Easy to say, rather more painful to do...Pluto has his way with us my friend, have faith..

[caliban]

I recently got a grip on my spiritual warrior. I do not ascribe to any religious denomination. But I remembered something from the early 90s. I was in a corner cubicle in a large organization. A man I did not know walked into my cubicle and announced that he had completed reading the bible from cover to cover and told me it had one message, 'you can't divide the Word.' So much stuff has been coming up from that time just as it did when uranus was in pisces. I imagine it was uranus neptune conjunction back then. Uranus will be moving into opposition with my natal neptune. Any which way, it is what it is.

[Tolly]

I dread battles, and never initiate them. But when they come they are epic, and horrid. So much so that there is no pleasure in winning and certainly none in losing. It's just a blasted tower.

I knew someone who loved to do battle. He was also really good at it. I wish I had more of that spirit, if only to defend myself when needs must. Yes, you can turn the other cheek, but what good does that do? Sometimes we can walk away and that is the best course, but sometimes we are called to be the force of nature that resists the destructive wayward actions of people who are 'trying it on'.

I'm sure you'd rather be at the beach, or anything, really. So sorry you are in this situation, and I'm wishing you a quick resolution, and inner peace through the process.

[Elizabeth]

Thank you so much for this Robert. Arjuna on the battlefield, indeed. I've just been through something along these lines myself. It seems to be "settled," in as much as it can be, at least for the time being. Should it rear its ugly head again, I'll have these words of yours and the text you share to guide me. What I've learned is that sometimes you do have to take a stand, or allow your Inner Warrior to do so, not only to protect yourself from harm but to prevent harm from coming to others. In my case, the "town bully" (yes, of course, he is a "fine, upstanding citizen," top charity fundraiser, etc., on the surface of things, as is often the case with bullies) started in on me in a very predatory way. Conflict is anathema to me, yet I had to deal with this in order to be able to live my life in this village peaceably, if that makes sense. No one is saying anything, but I have a feeling some at least are privately glad that someone finally took this guy on. Anyway, it is all Maya as one of your readers writes above. Not taking it too seriously has helped in fact. I just did what I had to do in the moment, and the timing seemed pre-destined. There was a lot of clarity in the moment, even in the fear.

[norma j]

Don't give up the good fight. You have a duty for those who come after you. If you don't remove the stone out of the path you are responsible for those who trip on it after you. Hang in there.