Warrior Work
Week 26
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FORGIVENESS

"A warrior can be injured but never offended"
Juan Matus

We are at week 26, 6 months or 1/2 a year of warrior work and so we end this cycle
with what is the most important of warrior characteristics: forgiveness. Before we
delve into forgiveness, it is important to briefly look at one of the primary foundations
of warrior philosophy and that is "the mood of the warrior". The mood of the warrior is
very simple; a warrior creates their mood. They are responsible for their thoughts, feelings
and actions. As you reflect on the last six months, what you have learned will have manifested
itself as a change in your behavior towards others, a higher level of energy that is lighter and
more fluid and less "blame" or impact for what others do, have done, have not done and may
or may not do around and "to" you. This is the energetic result of forgiveness regardless
of whether you have even recognized it as such.
FORGIVE comes from the old English word "forgifan" meaning "to pardon".
It has ancient roots in Greek and Hebrew where forgiveness is expressed by a few different words:

Greek "cariuzoma"- to pardon/free
Hebrew "kaphar" - to cover over, purge
"calach"- to pardon/free
"nasa" - to sustain, to bear iniquity continuosly

Perhaps it is this last definition that Jesus spoke of in the Bible when he answered that one
should forgive continuously regardless of what has been done to you. If we put "forgive" into
the context of "freeing" then we can say that the goal of forgiveness is for giving "freedom".
Forbearance is for bear ing/ carrying an iniquity, hardship or challenges to cultivate an energetic,
spiritual or physical goal. Our ability to forgive is directly related to our INTENT to FREE ourselves energetically,
to FREE others in relation to ourselves and our level of energy. We start to
free up our OWN energy as we apply the mood of the warrior and CREATE our mood or
attitude and not "blame" it on others. What keeps most people from forgiving or freeing those
who have abused them, cheated them, betrayed them, conned them, etc. is that to forgive them
is to free up that energy they are using to make them responsible for everything "wrong" in their
life and become responsible for using that energy for creating what they WILL and
CHOOSE right here, right now and into their future. WHEW!
This is the energetic cycle or pattern that "forgiveness" often goes through on the path to
emptying/freeing the self of the energy that is bound up in our muscles, tendons, ligaments
and once free can be used towards productive goals. Remember that on the warrior's path,
we want to free up energy so we can move lightly and fluidly as we navigate the roles
and worlds of our life.
As we reflect on a situation that "makes us angry", we think "what an asshole or jerk that
person was/is." As we breath in deeply and out deeply to relax and continue to look at it, we
eventually "see" that "what a jerk i was to allow them to do that". At that point we no longer
blame them, we blame us. As the process continues and we breathe and move, we come to "see" that they did
what they did because of their intent, their energy and their level of knowledge, power,
inner harmony and love (or lack of) and that we did the same. At that point we can look at the
event and have no emotional attachment, no roller coaster ride and we have achieved "forgiveness"
or pardon/freedom energetically for them and us. We can bypass the whole pattern by cultivating
our energy to a level where "we can be injured, conned, cheated but never offended".
Or as it says biblically, "Love endures ALL, forgives ALL, bears ALL."
As Richard Bach puts it so well, "at the end of your life, the most important question will be,
what was the quality of your love?"
The quality of your love will be directly tied to your level of energy, your knowledge, power
and inner harmony. So if you have not started a yoga, taichi or movement program yet,
PLEASE DO (with INTENT) for your sake and the sake of those around you so you and they
will not be forsaken. FREE YOURSELF, FREE THEM and contemplate the energy level
of the warrior who was whipped, left by all his friends/students, nailed to a cross, crowned
with thorns, mocked and had the POWER to say, "forgive them, they know not what they do."
Injured mentally, emotionally, physically but not offended..................

By Peter Hill, Copyright 2004
www.getittogether.net

Week 27>>