Following Warrior Path

“As a myth, the death-instinct is a counterpart to the Devil, the Devil, like the death-instinct, is the Spirit that continually negates. Both constructs point to something devoted to spoiling the quality of life. ” “…the human soul is divided against itself, as much, perhaps, in love with death as with life. Against all claims of reason, self-interest and morality stands the insidious lure of the death-instinct. Above and beyond politics and ideology, steeped in the hidden byways of our civilized way of life, is something else with which we have to reckon: the thanatos conspiracy. ” – — Michael Grosso, Philosopher, from his book The Final Choice This card is inspired by a dream I had earlier this morning. In the dream a person I know in the waking life, a person known to have many dark, neurotic qualities, is berating someone and attacking their sense of self-worth. I am in an upper story of the house where this is happening and I am filled with a desire to tell certain people about the sadistic behavior of this neurotic person. The urgency awakens me, but as my waking personality and awareness kick in I realize, in a figure-ground reversal [...]

“As a myth, the death-instinct is a counterpart to the Devil, the Devil, like the death-instinct, is the Spirit that continually negates. Both constructs point to something devoted to spoiling the quality of life. ” “…the human soul is divided against itself, as much, perhaps, in love with death as with life. Against all claims of reason, self-interest and morality stands the insidious lure of the death-instinct. Above and beyond politics and ideology, steeped in the hidden byways of our civilized way of life, is something else with which we have to reckon: the thanatos conspiracy. ” – — Michael Grosso, Philosopher, from his book The Final Choice This card is inspired by a dream I had earlier this morning. In the dream a person I know in the waking life, a person known to have many dark, neurotic qualities, is berating someone and attacking their sense of self-worth. I am in an upper story of the house where this is happening and I am filled with a desire to tell certain people about the sadistic behavior of this neurotic person. The urgency awakens me, but as my waking personality and awareness kick in I realize, in a figure-ground reversal [...]

This is a propitious time to pay great attention to detail. For some, particularly introverts, it easy to lose track of details while cognitive energy is being spent lavishly in inner worlds. Meanwhile, details of the mundane physical world are neglected or missed until they bite us in sensitive areas. At other times the inner world is dominated by what some call psychic entropy, looping negative thought tapes, volatile emotions and obsessions, and this causes dangerous neglect of the details of the outer world. It can be a grounding practice of mindfulness to sometimes give your focus to attention to detail, and often this is a practical necessity. Transitional times — when, for example, you are about to leave your house and an inner dialogue about such and such is in the foreground of your mind — put that inner dialogue on hold for a few moments and check the details — did I turn the stove off? Did I bring my wallet, and everything I need for the next destination? Also, when psychic entropy is attempting to dominate you, the small world can be a way to resist the dark undertow. There is a very useful principle:If in doubt, [...]

Consciously withholding energy from unconscious expenditure is associated with the Sanskrit word, “Tapas.” We live in a realm where myriad forces seek to drain our energy or tempt it toward unworthy investment and discharge. Cool down and store your vital energy.

Mindfulness is an empowered stance from which to meet the world. Mindfulness means to be as present as possible with what you are experiencing. A classic mindfulness exercise is to eat one raisin, first looking at it carefully, noticing every convolution and variation in surface texture, feeling it with your fingers, smelling it, feeling its texture with your tongue, biting into it and sensing the release of sugar, noticing how the sweetness registers differently on different parts of the tongue and so forth. Mindfulness of posture is quite an engaging and beneficial practice. Being mindful of what is happening interpersonally, moment-by-moment, and also the perturbations moment-by-moment within your own psyche are great subjects for mindfulness. Driving, being out in nature, it is hard to think of an activity or state of being human that would not benefit from mindfulness.

Keep adapting to changing conditions. Stephen Covey says that, “The proactive person brings their own weather with them.” Persevere, and don’t be driven up and down by the inevitable vicissitudes of fortune and circumstance. That’s the short version, for those willing to read some more what follows are some warrior aphorisms and quotes on adaptation: “Forget the flight plan, from this moment on we are improvising the mission.” – from the movie Apollo 13 The next three are from Deng Ming-Dao, a modern Taoist sage: “When unpredictable things happen, those who follow Tao are skilled at improvisation. If circumstances deny them, they change immediately.” “When one senses that one has come to the limits of the time and situation, one should conserve one’s energy. Often, this will be in preparation for a challenge to the limits, or a changing over to a new set of constraints.” “When things go badly, those who follow Tao seek the causes and correct them. If the problem cannot be corrected, they shift the entire frame of reference so that the relative importance of the problem is diminished or eliminated . . .” — Deng Ming-Dao “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did [...]

Pick your target and hit it, and if you can’t hit it straight off, keep moving toward it. We live in the most distraction-intensive period of human history, but there are some times when we need focus and determination. This is a propitious time to bring unbending intent to your highest value endeavors.

Sometimes you may find your mission in the world mundane. A centering question of almost universal application is to ask yourself, “What’s the best use of my time right now?” The answer might be the highest value activities, but it might also be to relax and do nothing, and quite often it will be some mundane task that simply has to get done like the laundry. Meaning and purpose are not merely to be found in the glamorous dramatic moments of life. If we had a moment by moment description of the world-saving quest of the Fellowship of the Ring we would find that most of their days were filled with mundane tasks — hiking down the trail, gathering fire wood, establishing a campsite, etc. It’s been said that, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.” The Warrior brings the same focus and impeccability to whatever the moment requires, whether the moment is dramatic or mundane. Your mission in life is not just about the dramatic moments or the high value activities; it is about every single step you take on your journey between birth and death. Your Sacred Quest is what you incarnated here to [...]

Your Sacred Quest is what you incarnated here to accomplish, the path of your True Will, that which you will remember well on your deathbed. If you do not know your Sacred Quest, then be alert to what stirs your depths and ask yourself what you will remember well on your deathbed. Your Sacred Quest is likely to involve a combination of two factors: working on your own development/consciousness/wholeness and service to others. If you neglect your Sacred Quest then your life is bound in shallows and in miseries, and the life-giving rhythms of the eons become the dread ticking of the clock. The only tragedy in life is not to fulfill your Sacred Quest. Often your sacred quest means that you need to fully engage in the mundane world with great attention to detail. A centering question of almost universal application is to ask yourself, “What’s the best use of my time right now?” The answer might be the highest value activities, but it might also be to relax and do nothing, and quite often it will be some mundane task that simply has to get done like the laundry. Meaning and purpose are not merely to be found [...]

Human corporeal incarnation can be ecstatic and glorious, but it can also be, as we all know, difficult, laborious, and sometimes agonizing. Bodily illness and privations can oppress us, and often we must labor with mechanical resistance, the endless mundane tasks which are never really completed because others are always piling up. Scarcity of resources, disease, wars and the long skull shadows of history, surround us. If you stop and allow your gaze to be arrested by such realities you can become paralyzed with dread. I start by realizing that I have a tendency to over commit myself and assume that I signed on for this sort of challenging incarnation. This assumption is empowering and minimizes self-pity and victim/poverty consciousness. Then I set to work — time to bail out the leaky boat and do the best I can with the resources at hand from awakening till bedtime. Get into a rhythm with the work. It is far better to be working in hell than to be unemployed and languishing in hell. Of course, if you can find a better place to live and work, by all means, relocate. But wherever you are there are times when you just have [...]