Let's become warriors of light...

"A warrior of light knows that he has much to be grateful for."

~ Paulo Coelho

Lately I've been thinking about the concept of becoming a "warrior of light." What does this mean? Why am I even thinking about this? I read too much sometimes... Let's think for a moment about the game for the Nintendo DS, The Warriors of Light, also known as Light Warriors. I've never played this game and truthfully, I'm not interested in video games, but when I Googled "Warriors of Light" online, I found out about it and thought that we can even learn something positive from it. In this game four heroes are chosen by the Crystals, by a prophecy, a will, or by fate, to go on the dangerous journey to fight evil, or simply restore balance to the world.

What inspired me was something that I heard while watching Caroline Myss' video on "Being Fearless" (in YouTube). She mentioned something like: "The inability to forgive keeps you avengeful, bitter - a person that lives in a war zone. You are a warrior... You are not a strong one... you are someone that makes war. You are one of the reasons there is a war. You are a participant in war. The 'unforgiving' are the reason there is war..." I deducted -and thought at the time- that in reality "we are all warriors by nature - we like to make war, we like to fight." But we must learn to become warriors of "light" not of "darkness" - warriors of peace.

It's easy for us to be unforgiving and ungrateful - when we must strive to be the opposite (forgiving and grateful). It's also easy for us to believe that we're always right, isn't it? So as usual, I checked online, and realized many others have had this same idea before... the idea that a warrior of light is a kind of "hero," someone who promotes peace and harmony. I just finished reading "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho (great book!) and noticed that one of his books is called "Warrior of the Light" (I will have to check it out) - I'm curious now... I'm also reading some of Joseph Campbell's books ("Myths to Live By" and "Hero with a Thousand Faces") - where the idea that we all want to become heroes and warriors, in some capacity, is explored.

We are warriors by nature, by instinct. We want to protect ourselves, protect our loved ones, protect our beliefs (at least we like to think that we want to protect what's important to us). But ultimately we have a choice: we can become peaceful warriors, warriors of light, warriors of peace; or we can become warriors of darkness, evil warriors, without concern for the well-being of others. Can you see the difference? In the game, the warriors of light fight for PEACE, they restore balance and fight evil.

We can also become warriors of light in our lives. We can catch ourselves when our anger, pride, hate, judgments, and warmonger instincts take over and we purposely or inadvertently hurt others (causing physical or emotional pain). We must remember that love, peace, compassion, kindness, understanding, tolerance, patience, etc. are the virtues that we must strive to possess - the virtues of the Light Warriors.

Instead of causing chaos, or contributing to the madness, let's become peacemakers. It is our duty to get along with our fellow men (our brothers and sisters of this world); to uplift instead of demean, by respecting and valuing others. By listening to what they have to say. We must teach others to be peaceful by being peaceful ourselves; by example. We must be at peace by being peaceful. We must embrace peace and love above all, and practice peace and loving-kindness at all times. Not easy things to do. We know all this deep inside, sometimes we just forget... It is our challenge!

It's so easy to assume that we are always right, even when we are not. Sometimes we are, of course, but we cannot assume the arrogant attitude that we have all the answers all the time. It's so easy to take things personally too. Yes, we are only human, and we have a lot to learn. Socrates once said "I know that I know nothing." We cannot know anything with absolute certainty. We have to give others the benefit of the doubt and learn to be humble. Humility is another important virtue that we must learn, and forgiveness is essential. Without a forgiving heart, we cannot truly get along with others.

Let's put our pride aside, our desire to always be right, our need to say the last word... and let's choose to become loving individuals and live in peace. Let's restore balance in our lives and teach our children, friends, relatives, co-workers, students and those around us how to truly be at peace and live in peace. Not easy challenges... but I dare you! Let's learn from others and just do our best...

"If you want to make peace, you must be peaceful."

~ Peace Pilgrim

Check: The Manual of the Warrior of Light by Paulo Coelho (if the link doesn't work, you can "Google" it). I was able to download a free PDF of the manual.