Warrior of the light and his demons

Taking the decision to follow the light
Warrior of the light had begun to believe that it is better to
follow the light. He had already betrayed, told lies, strayed off his
path, paid court to the darkness. And everything continued going
well – as if nothing had happened. Now he wants to change his
attitudes.
When taking this decision, he hears four comments: "You always
acted wrongly. You are too old to change. You are not good. You don't
deserve it".
He looks towards heaven, and a voice says: "well, my dear,
everyone has made mistakes. You are forgiven, but I can't force this
pardon. Decide for yourself".
The true warrior of the light accepts the pardon and then takes
some precautions.

Another wrong step
As if nothing had changed overnight, the warrior takes another
wrong step and dives once again into the abyss. Ghosts provoke him,
loneliness torments him. Now that he is more aware of his acts, he
did not think this would happen.
But it did. Shrouded by darkness, he talks to his master.
"Master, I fell again into the abyss ", he says." The waters are
deep and dark".
"Remember something ", responds the master. "What drowns is not
the dive, but the fact of staying under water ".
The warrior uses his remaining strength to get out of the
situation he is in.

Understanding the sense of truce
A warrior of the light does not keep always repeating the same
struggle. If the fight, after some time, neither goes forwards or
backwards, he understands that he must sit down with the enemy and
discuss a truce.
Both have already practiced the art of fencing and now need to
reach an agreement. It is a gesture of dignity – and not of
cowardliness. It is a balance of strengths, and a change of strategy.
After outlining the plans for peace, the warriors return to
their houses. They don't need to prove anything to anyone; they
fought the good Fight, and kept faith. Each one gave in a little,
thus learning the art of negotiation.

Taking care about what you say
A warrior knows that the darkness uses an invisible net to
spread its evil. This net catches any information floating in the air
and transforms it into intrigue. All that is said about someone
always ends up being heard by that person's enemies, increased by a
dark burden of poison and evil.
For that reason, the warrior when talking about his brother's
attitudes, imagines that he is present, listening to what he says.
Thus, he develops the art of prudence and dignity.
He gets closer and closer to the light that came in through his
window and now lights up all his soul.

Love and battle
The Warrior of the light sometimes fights against someone he
loves.
He has learnt that silence means absolute equilibrium of the
body, of the spirit and of the soul. A man who preserves his unity is
never dominated by the storms of existence; he has strength to
overcome difficulties and forge ahead.
However, often he feels challenged by those from whom he seeks
to learn the art of fencing. His disciples provoke him into a fight.
The warrior shows his skill: with some strokes, he hurls the
students' swords on the ground and harmony returns to the place where
they have met.
"Why do that, if you are so superior"? asks a traveler.
"Because in this way I keep the channel of communication open",
replies the warrior.

Loneliness and dependence
A warrior, when he suffers an injustice, usually tries to be
alone - so as not to show his pain to others.
It is good and bad behavior at the same time.
One thing is to let your heart heal its own wounds slowly.
Another thing is to stay in deep meditation all day, fearful of
appearing weak.
Inside each of us is an angel and a demon and their voices are
very much alike. Because of that difficulty, the demon nurtures this
solitary conversation, trying to show us how we are vulnerable. The
angel needs someone's mouth to express himself.

Haste and patience
A warrior of the light needs patience and speed at the same
time. The two greatest errors of strategy are: to act too early or to
let the opportunity go away.
To avoid this, the warrior handles each situation as if it was
unique, and does not use formulas, recipes or other persons'
opinions.
The caliph Moauiyat asked Omr Ben Al-Aas what was the secret of
his great political adroitness:
"I never intervene in a matter without having studied my
withdrawal beforehand; on the other hand, I never entered and wanted
at once to leave quickly", was the reply.

Peace and activity
In the fight interval, the warrior rests.
Very often days go by without doing anything, because his heart
demands this.
But his intuition stays alert. He does not commit the capital
sin of Sloth, because he knows where it may lead: to the warm
sensation of Sunday afternoons, where time goes by – and nothing
else.
A warrior rests and laughs. But is always alert.

Warrior of the Light, a www.paulocoelho.com.br publication