The Life Warrior is one who strives to take control of their life, to live it with as much power as possible. This power is not wielded to control or abuse others, but rather to maximize one’s personal existence. It could result in accumulating great wealth, fame, and perhaps even leading a nation or an immense corporation. Or, it could instead be quietly tending to a small farm and raising healthy, happy children who grow up loving and respecting nature. Regardless of the path taken, true personal power is impeccable and humble.
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Each of us has a personal history… it may be perceived as good or bad. Often, we indulge in the glory of the good and all too often use the bad as excuses for how and who we are. A Life Warrior does not indulge in personal history. In Castaneda’s writings, he is advised by his mentor, Don Juan, that a Warrior must eliminate personal history. At first, that sounds nearly impossible and, perhaps, a bit extreme. All of us have had what we consider victories and defeats; great accomplishments, ideal relationships, and on the flip side, broken marriages, terrible childhoods, rotten jobs, etc. The Warrior has no defeat or victory but learns from every experience and uses the knowledge to continue upon their chosen path to accumulate personal power.
Eliminating personal history may not be easy if we remain in the environment in which that history was created. If one is married, raising a family, or has a career, moving and making a fresh start may not be an option. In such a case, we must simply cease indulging in personal history and get on with life. Stop seeking attention for the great things one has accomplished and stop using the failures as excuses for one’s current situation. As one adopts the Life Warrior way, relatives and acquaintances will see one differently. It will take time, will be frustrating, and perhaps may never change everyone’s opinion and indulgence about our past…but that is their issue. In Chinese classic text, Laozi says “...failure is an opportunity. If you blame someone else, there is no end to the blame”. Stop blaming others and things that have occurred in your life. That is simply a useless act of indulgence and impedes one's ability to create personal power. Look at perceived failures simply as challenges.
But what if we have the option of moving geographically and making a fresh start? It is not enough to simply change location, but more importantly, requires leaving behind all of the conditioning accumulated as a result of our history. Albert Einstein said, “We cannot fix the problem with the same thinking that created it.”Regardless of whether one relocates or remains in the same location, be forewarned that becoming a Life Warrior will result in facing new challenges designed and provided by the Universe to make us impeccable, to build our character. Eliminating personal history does not give one the luxury of shirking responsibilities resulting from our past actions. If you have bad credit, you have to rebuild it. Or, if you are seen by others as unreliable, you must take action to build their trust.
The Life Warrior must become impeccable, which means developing behavior in accordance with the highest standards. This will not be achieved by wishful thinking or by following someone else’s teachings. If we wish to become Life Warriors, then we must take on the challenges that will reshape us. Sometimes we will fail, and other times we will succeed, but in all instances, we must learn the necessary lessons. These challenges often come in the form of mirrors. As an example, if one has relationship issues, they will almost invariably find themselves in a close personal or working relationship with a similar person. Why? Because the issue is never with the other person; it is always in us. What we don’t like in others is a characteristic that resides in us even though we may be unaware of it. Thus, one’s relationships are often a mirror of our internal struggles. This is known as the first mirror of the Essenes, a mystic Jewish community, known for their astute teachings. There is a wise old adage, “If you want to change someone, first change yourself.”
Eliminating personal history is only one step toward being a Life Warrior, but it is an important one. It must not be interpreted as eliminating responsibility for anything one has done. Instead, it requires that we simply cease indulging in the past.
Yours faithfully,
Ron
