Emerald Heart Practitioner Alyss Thomas from Plymouth UK, pens a wonderful article for the Blog concerning the commitment and aptitude required to keeping on your path.

Thanks Alyss!


 

 

What is a Spiritual Warrior?

“Be a spiritual warrior,” David said to me the last time I met him, as we went our separate ways into the night. The words have a mysterious resonance for me.  What or who is a spiritual warrior, and what do they do? Pick up your shining sword of Light, and let’s unpack this.

A warrior is someone who is facing a battle.  It is not clear whether she will win. In fact she never knows.    She’s always trying to figure out what the battle is all about – no one has ever told her – but nonetheless she has been fighting it her whole life. There are virtues appertaining to warriorship, such as a fundamental orientation to the unknown, acceptance of constant change, flexibility, stamina, and the fight to be impeccable.  This means that you do your best in the situation you find yourself, with the tools you have available. My best is not your best – we all have different resources.  This brief article is an invitation to reconnect with your own warrior self.

A warrior tends to experience the universe to be unknown and inexplicable, with a lack of certainties.  However, she is dedicated to a relentless search to find out the truth even though all she might gain are a few crumbs of insight. Most of all, she is seeking the truth of her own being. In every moment, in every situation, life relentlessly offers her mirrors of herself.  A warrior knows her death is stalking her, and to use your death as an ally means living as if you have one month left to live and you focus on what really matters.

Everything you ever truly want waits for you on the other side of a fear.  Thus a warrior is not someone who is not afraid, but who is courageous in attempting to defeat her fears.

But before you charge at your problems with your shining sword, you have to acquire the energy, the light, and the spiritual capital. You do this by working through your issues – all the issues that follow you like a faithful dog everywhere you go. The opportunities for spiritual growth are the things happening right now in your life – the things that you believe to be your problems, your failures, your insufficiency, your weakness, your disappointments, the ways you let yourself down, the ways others have neglected, abandoned, rejected or abused you. You don’t need to go far to find these opportunities, but you do need a handle with which to pick up your sword.   

Not all warriors are facing the same battles, and no one but you knows your story and the unique road you have travelled across the vast and infinite branches of time and the stars.  Only you can access your unique history and gifts, and only you can know what it is that makes your heart burn with a fierce and inexplicable joy.

A warrior loves, respects and has great reverence for life. All forms of life are sacred and precious, even a tiny insect or your own body.  She knows the natural phenomenal world is always trying to communicate with us. A warrior is no cynic, and lives in her heart.  Yesterday when I was putting out the trash, I found an exquisitely cute orphaned baby squirrel seeking refuge on my doorstep in a busy street. The little creature came up to us and immediately relaxed and went to sleep in our cupped hands.  I knew nothing at all about how to save a baby squirrel, and I had to find out then and there. This is exactly what happens in life:  just when you think everything is under control, you find yourself in an unexpected situation where you have no idea what to do, and you respond as best you can. There is always a choice involved, and the choice is a kind of test. You are busy and self-preoccupied with other stuff you think is important – but what actually matters is revealed.

These are things a warrior decides not to do:  nag, brag, criticise, complain, gossip, get complacent about good circumstances or feel victimized by bad circumstances. Peace on earth comes from working with our impatience, intolerance and lack of Self-recognition.  When you take responsibility for your life, your life is more magnificent.  You have a crown of light and a train of stars, and angels watch over you.  The difference between being self-possessed or self-obsessed is not so subtle. Mastery over yourself is part of any warrior’s mission.  The world doesn’t need you to be doing the right thing or trying to make a good impression. It needs you to be true to your Self.

We all get lost for periods of time in dense energies, and need a true friend who can see what is really going on with us. We have blind spots when it comes to seeing the obvious about ourselves.  It is one of the Laws of Evolution that we must reach out for help. The Emerald Heart practitioners are like smoke jumpers – the people who parachute in to fight forest fires. Forest fires can move anywhere in any direction, as any small flammable item will ignite another. When you are facing a lot of unresolved issues all the time, it is like your life is on fire.  Invite an Emerald Heart practitioner to help you stop damaging yourself and others. They have lived through their own fires and learned how to put them out and rebuild. Or choose any method that calls you – but don’t give in to the voice that says you should be able to deal with your problems without help. These are times of turbulent change, and now is the time to claim your courage, because only your engaged presence can change the world. 

I offer my gratitude to every Emerald Heart teacher and practitioner who has helped, pushed, and shown me immense patience and kindness. It means so much that there are others who are attempting to face their lives each day with courage, truth, compassion and love. In every age, we gather in these kinds of organisations that are more or less invisible to the mainstream but create a potent force for change.  If you have the heart for it, you are so welcome to join us.

Alyss Thomas is an Emerald Heart Practitioner, an essence practitioner and a Divine Plan healer from Plymouth, UK.