What is the meaning of being a warrior of peace?

[thelerner]

Dawei asked this question in another thread and I thought it was worth of its own. 

I think a warrior for peace defends but rarely attacks.  His cause is always humanity, never nationalism, religion or abstract notions.  His dual goals are protection and ending the conflict while minimizing harm to civilians and when possible the opposition.  

[AussieTrees]

The Peace Warrior does not stand on a battle field,they are everyday people who their lives offering help to those in need,there is no fighting when using the armory of compassion,love and humility.

[3bob]

a sword can cut all the way through if need be, or not even be drawn if that will work. 

[C T]

Silat master explaining (from 2.15) why Silat is an art of love. Even though the aim is to defeat the aggressor or enemy, within oneself there must not be aggression - if there is, the defeat is meaningless cos you have already lost the battle/combat before it even began. 

 

[silent thunder]

violence is abhorrent to me and represents a failure...  there is no glory in violence and heroes to me are those who can avoid violence, harm and war.

but sometimes it is required.  Seems no way around that in a life filled with bodies and tyrants and innocents.

Verse 31 puts it plainly and I quite agree with the sentiment.

 

31

Weapons; tools of pain,
used for violence and fear,
decent men abhor.

 

Yet in direst need
and if compelled will use them,
with utmost restraint.

 

Peace, highest value.
When the peace has been shattered
who can be content?

 

Glory in fighting?
Those who delight in killing
do not know true self.

 

Your foes not demons.
Simple beings like yourself.
Sage desires no harm.

 

No victory dance.
victory by force, no joy
how rejoice in this?

 

Sage battles gravely
with sorrow, and compassion
like tending a grave.

Edited May 17, 2017 by silent thunder
add spacing for verse text and fix a typo.

[Brian]

The Quakers try to live a life which takes away the occasion of wars.  I think that's a good peace testimony.

[silent thunder]

I absolutely believe it's possible.  I've gone decades with naught but well chosen words in some very tense situations.

My wife and I have been watching The Hobbit films again.  And as Thorin lay dying and he seeks the forgiveness of Bilbo, he has a particularly potent line...

"I would part from you as friends Bilbo... Go back to your shire and your books.  Plant your trees and watch them grow.  The world would be a merrier place, if more folk were like you and valued home over gold."

[Daeluin]

Great Adepts are a shadowy presence.

Mediocre Adepts are loved and honored.

Lesser Adepts are awesome and feared.

Hypocrites are reviled and defied.

 

Great Adepts use words sparingly.

Put great store in what they say!

 

When they complete something, the hundred families say:

"It happened of itself."

 

dao de jing 17, tl Liu Ming

 

 

I felt called to post this chapter, because, earlier today, I felt compelled, after doing some training, to write "What is the meaning of being a warrior of peace?" at the end of one of my posts.

 Well here it is, a new thread just for it. It wasn't my intention, and I'm not even sure why I asked the question... it just came through between my finishing some training and before meditating, as though it came from the dao.

 I don't really create threads on my own very often, mostly because I don't like starting new things. Well not only did my actions somehow get a new thread started, I also managed to evade the credit for it!

 

Clearly I need to work on my sparing use of words, but seeing this principle in operation, I felt excited to have the opportunity to point it out.

 

 

One of the keys, I feel, to being a warrior of peace, lays in leading things to emptiness. When things are led toward emptiness, even if they only take a few steps, they become a few steps closer to forming synchronistic relationships with everything else. This is where things begin to happen of themselves.

 

Perhaps a warrior of peace is like a hidden conductor of the orchestra that leads itself in perfect harmony.

[liminal_luke]

3 hours ago, Daeluin said:

 

One of the keys, I feel, to being a warrior of peace, lays in leading things to emptiness. 

 

Very cool understanding.

 

Warriors of peace have the courage to face their own shadows.  They face their shadows, allow inner conflict to fall away, and share the resulting peace with the world.  

[Aetherous]

To be a warrior of peace requires only that you fight for the sake of peace. You defend the innocent, who can't defend themselves. Warrior has the word "war" contained within it for a reason...to be an actual warrior has nothing to do with a mindset, but everything to do with actual fighting in the actual world. Fighting could also be in terms of counterintelligence and not physical fighting. War involves strategy, as well as generally killing or imprisoning the enemy. Very few who consider themselves warriors are actually warriors. If we are a warrior, then what battles have we fought and won? Can we name them and say what happened?

[C T]

To live in persistent duality is to live in conflict. 

Many who dont consider themselves warriors are ignorant that in fact they do battle very often armed with their likes and dislikes. 

 

 

[Aetherous]

1 hour ago, C T said:

Many who dont consider themselves warriors are ignorant that in fact they do battle very often armed with their likes and dislikes. 

2

 

So now a person who is ignorant, who arms themselves with attachment and aversion, is considered a warrior? I think the opposite is true...they are a lost battle.

It's best to not have the word lose all meaning entirely...only warriors can be called warriors.

[C T]

46 minutes ago, Aetherous said:

 

So now a person who is ignorant, who arms themselves with attachment and aversion, is considered a warrior? I think the opposite is true...they are a lost battle.

It's best to not have the word lose all meaning entirely...only warriors can be called warriors.

To be clear, I had said that many who don't consider themselves warriors still find themselves caught in battle and conflict. 

[Spotless]

A great warrior for peace must first have slain multitudes - multitudes of "I's" within - the battle field of Divine Natural Essence and the world of identification, coveting and competition. He/She carries a million paper cuts and body blows from willfulness and position. Is made strong from a hundred thousand poundings of a square peg into a round hole.

 

A great warrior for peace knows the folly of his battles and has set aside the onslaught upon himself - he is now on the side of the sideless.

[rene]

2 minutes ago, Spotless said:

A great warrior for peace knows the folly of his battles and has set aside the onslaught upon himself - he is now on the side of the sideless.

 

A great warrior for peace might also know the folly of complete success, just as there can be no day without night, and fights on anyway.

[liminal_luke]

Someone makes a snarky comment in Off Grid and now I´m angry.  "The hell if I´m going to let him out-snark me," I think as I compose what I hope will be a withering comeback.  My fingers hover over the Submit Reply button and I´m ready to fire when suddenly it hits me: this beautifully caustic comment of mine isn´t likely to convince anybody of anything.

 

It´s an important choice, give in to a hostile impulse or fight to be a Warrior of Peace. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by liminal_luke

[Fa Xin]

For me, it's being kind and friendly in the face of someone trying to up you, intimidate you or bait you. 

 

Its checking your ego at the door and taking the high road.

 

even knowing you have trained for years to dismantle opponents, yet choosing to show compassion and help if possible. 

 

Choosing to smile at an insult, knowing this person is hurting or angry inside. Hoping they find the freedom from suffering every human desires. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by Fa Xin

[silent thunder]

Most warriors I know long for peace, not conflict, unless they're psychotic.

That crazy old notion of 'fighting for peace'... so like the other adage.. "fucking for virginity."  I guess there's peace of a sort in a graveyard, but not my kind of peace. 

 

Yet there seems some prudence in the philosophy of  "I'd rather be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener in a war."

 

Life abounds with situations that don't fall neatly into categories of the logical 'oh so marginally helpful' left brain way of thinking.

[Fa Xin]

8 hours ago, Apeiron&Peiron said:

I don't think that going out of your way to be friendly is a good when someone is going after you in some way. There is a presumptuousness that goes with that. The presumption that you are not actually doing anything wrong and that a smile will make everything better.

 

Above and beyond any specific course of action, there should be an openness to the situation and a literacy of the what is going on and also a respect for the person even if they seem unreasonable at the time. There are reasons for everything. Some of the reasons suck. But, at the same time, they make perfect sense in the minds that are bound by them.

 

As an example, when I was a cashier, I had a customer who seemed to be unreasonably angry. He wanted to do a return without a receipt and was bothered by the fact that it would take extra time to complete. (When there is no receipt, there's a lot of extra identifying information that I had to enter into the computer in order for the various liability requirements to be met in the company). So anyways, he needed to get to a bus stop in 5 minutes or less and the return would take more than 5 minutes to complete. He was angry and had a bit of an outburst when I mentioned that the process would take longer without the receipt.

 

Smiling and pretending that everything was fine wouldn't have been a good course of action. There needed to be empathy and literacy of the situation. If I was in his place and that angry over an issue, I would probably be seconds away from smacking someone up-side the head for smiling and not understanding my situation.  I informed him of the time requirements and told him that if he really needed to get to the bus stop, then he would need to do the return at a later date. And away he went. The next day he came back, had the receipt, and even apologized for the day prior.

 

So, though I have jumped around to a few different points, empathy is a key thing. Trying to take control of a situation and projecting an emotion at someone just to try and sway them is not always a great thing to do.

To clarify. 

 

This isn't done to make a certain outcome, or to sway in any way. 

 

Its done because it is natural. Not sure how else to describe it. 

Edited May 19, 2017 by Fa Xin

[thelerner]

38 minutes ago, Fa Xin said:

To clarify.

This isn't done to make a certain outcome, or to sway in any way.

Its done one because it is natural. Not sure how else to describe it. 

I've known people who are natural genius's at pulling this off.  They exude calm and possess calming smiles and kind disarming words.   They are, in my opinion, the saints of this world. 

[AussieTrees]

21 hours ago, liminal_luke said:

Someone makes a snarky comment in Off Grid and now I´m angry.  "The hell if I´m going to let him out-snark me," I think as I compose what I hope will be a withering comeback.  My fingers hover over the Submit Reply button and I´m ready to fire when suddenly it hits me: this beautifully caustic comment of mine isn´t likely to convince anybody of anything.

 

It´s an important choice, give in to a hostile impulse or fight to be a Warrior of Peace. 

Hi Luke,well said.

each day we experience new humility and observe with patience the constant flow of life within each present moment.

[Fa Xin]

On 5/16/2017 at 6:40 PM, C T said:

Silat master explaining (from 2.15) why Silat is an art of love. Even though the aim is to defeat the aggressor or enemy, within oneself there must not be aggression - if there is, the defeat is meaningless cos you have already lost the battle/combat before it even began. 

 

Wow! I've never seen much Silat but I'm loving this video. Thanks for posting. 

[Daeluin]

3 hours ago, thelerner said:

I've known people who are natural genius's at pulling this off.  They exude calm and possess calming smiles and kind disarming words.   They are, in my opinion, the saints of this world. 

 

I was once employed as a wilderness therapy instructor. "Wilderness therapy" was explained as a "bootcamp alternative" for mostly adolescents who had parents who could afford to intervene using force and money to send their children away before they got into trouble with the law. Many of them were there for drugs and beligerant behavior, but there was a wide range of emotions.

 

Now, as a wandering daoist, I think the model might be one of action without action, interference without engaging - responding to the invitation to "face-off" without ever looking the situation directly in the eyes. Sorta like dodging a blow by bending over to tie a loose shoe lace. However, when we are in a role directly responsible (by social or legal contract) for responding to instigation directly, there are still cards to play. And even when the instigation is direct, misdirection may still be utilized carefully.

 

With these youth, many of them would try to start fights, try to engage in power struggles with the figures of authority. As a model directly compared to boot camps, I was first in love with how the setting deep in the woods, without any personal belongings or distractions of modern society so cleanly prevented many coping mechanisms from being engaged in. Naturally this led to built-up pressures, and the staff took the brunt of them.

 

We were taught to essentially lead to emptiness, by describing the situation we were in not in authoritative terms, but in natural terms. Our role as staff was not as "prison guards," but as shepherds - we were there to protect the safety of the entire group. This primary role was not something easily argued against. The rest was natural consequences.

 

So we would have a student face off against a staff member, and the staff would respectfully listen to the student's concerns, and explain simply and calmly, that, certainly the student was welcome to throw their pack down and refuse to hike, but there was no water source nearby, so we were going to have some trouble with being thirsty and would not be able to cook our dinner. Furthermore we might be on a ridge and could get struck by lightning, and it would get cold as night fell and the winds picked up.

 

There were many "consequences" in our arsenal, but the key was more in how we used them. The key was in how we held space with the escalation. It is remarkably easy to become defensive and reactionary when someone engages in a fight with you, and very difficult to hold yourself open and calm. But when you do, that open, solid, grounded field helps to stabilize and ground their own field, deflating their attempt at escalation energetically. There are other keys, like avoiding facing off directly opposite the person, but turning at different angles, ideally coming to face the same direction as them and holding a similar posture, increasing the energetic resonance and making it more difficult to be perceived as an enemy. They want something to attack, but if you take away the edges they can grasp at, what is left to justify spending so much energy on something so futile?

 

I was not very good at any of this, but some instructors were quite adept, easily de-escalating students in situations that were incredibly chaotic. I developed so much respect for them - but it was largely in their great courage to be calm and accepting, a pillar of equanimity, never betraying a change from a peaceful state, never deviating from confident calm replies, never becoming emotionally engaged. Yes, I think empathy is a good description.

 

For my own experience, I recall getting into screaming matches and chasing a young woman down a mountain to watch her smash the groups expensive water filter with rocks, only to realize by the end of the week I had actually reached a deeper place in her than anyone else, because she knew I cared and connected to her struggle. The struggle wasn't with the group, it was internal, and likely related to her family situation... but by holding space with her I broke through... not enough to do anything as by the next shift she was gone, but for me an important lesson remains.

 

The path is ever right before us, and sometimes we engage and exchange ourselves with others. Sometimes we slip past untouched even as we change everything invisibly. How can we ever know how much we engage in, every moment, well enough to make choices about it all? We can only set the intention to be sincere, to hold our integrity, to follow our inner heart. Beyond what any teacher says, I feel something deep inside that calls me onward. There is no right or wrong, I just struggle again, yet again, to follow that way.

[Fa Xin]

What a great post. Wilderness therapy. Love that idea. Thank you for sharing. 

 

That to me is a peaceful warrior. Your going into battle with these poor kids by using peace - calmness and openness. And your winning by not fighting. It's straight out of the Dao de Jing or sun tzu.

 

For many years I searched for a purpose or skill that I excelled at - career wise. It wasn't until my early 30s that I found out I can use my strengths - empathy, compassion, calmness - and actually help people while creating a career for myself (health care, mental health)

 

its actually a trait that many people in our modern world feel it is at best useless (get walked on or taken advantage of), detrimental or not an actual skill.

 

i would argue it is essential for communication and relationships. 

 

 But I'm terrible at math, so the world does balance out. and of course it is also my greatest weakness. So you do need the other half - wisdom / emptiness  

 

Edited May 20, 2017 by Fa Xin