Warrior of the Light

by Paulo Coelho

“Master, I have fallen into the abyss,” he says. “The waters are deep and dark.” “Remember one thing,” replies his master. “You do not drown simply by plunging into water, you only drown if you stay beneath the surface.”

The Warrior of the Light behaves like a child. People are shocked; they have forgotten that a child needs to have fun and to play, to be slightly irreverent and to ask awkward, childish questions, to talk nonsense that not even he believes in. And they say, horrified: “So this is the spiritual path, is it? He’s so immature!” The Warrior feels proud of such comments. And he remains in touch with God through his innocence and his joy, without ever losing sight of his mission.

A responsible Warrior is one who has proved able to observe and to learn.

Sometimes, he has allowed himself to be carried along by a situation, without responding or reacting.

A responsible Warrior is not someone who takes the weight of the world on his shoulders, but someone who has learned to deal with the challenges of the moment.

A Warrior of the Light listens to what his opponent has to say. He only fights if absolutely necessary.

The Warrior allows the decision to reveal itself. If he has to say “yes,” he will say it bravely. If he has to say “no,” he will say it without a trace of cowardice.

Injustices happen. Everyone finds themselves in situations they do not deserve, usually when they are unable to defend themselves.

At such times, he remains silent. He does not waste energy on words, because they can do nothing. He knows it is best to use his strength to resist and have patience, knowing that Someone is watching, Someone who saw the unnecessary suffering and who will not accept it.

That Someone gives him what he most needs: time. Sooner or later, everything will onc...

A Warrior does not try to appear one way or the other, he simply is.

A Warrior does not keep company with those who wish to harm him. Nor is he seen in the company of those who want to “console” him.

After some years, he realizes that it is actually possible to reach his goal;

He is the one who decides what he will do and what he will never do.

There are moments when life leads him into a crisis and he is separated from things he has always loved; it is then that the Warrior reflects.

A Warrior of the Light is always committed. He is the slave of his dream and free to act.

If a battle is not progressing, he knows that he must sit down with the enemy and negotiate a truce; they have both practiced the art of the sword, now they need to understand each other.

The friends of the Warrior of the Light ask him where he draws his energy from. He says: “From the hidden enemy.” His friends ask who that is. The Warrior responds: “Someone we can no longer hurt.” It might be a boy who beat him in a childhood fight, the girlfriend who left him when he was eleven, or the teacher who said he was stupid. When he is tired, the Warrior reminds himself that these enemies have still not seen his courage.

He does not consider revenge, because the hidden enemy is no longer part of his story. He thinks only of improving his skills so that his deeds will be known throughout the world and reach the ears of those who have hurt him in the past.

Yesterday’s pain is the Warrior of the Light’s strength. A Warrior of the Light always ha...

But as he proceeds on his journey, he realizes that the people to whom he did not behave correctly always cross his path again. It is his chance to right the wrong he did them, and he always, unhesitatingly, seizes that chance.

When people gather to talk, he does not judge the behavior of others; he knows that evil uses an invisible net to spread its darkness. This net catches any snippet of information floating in the air and transforms it into the intrigue and envy that infest the human soul.

For this reason, when the Warrior speaks of his brother’s opinions, he imagines that his brother is there present, listening to what he is saying.

A Warrior of the Light does not accept gifts from his enemy.

Warriors of the Light are wounded by the most foolish things, they worry about trivialities, they believe themselves incapable of growing. Warriors of the Light sometimes believe themselves unworthy of any blessing or miracle.

That is why they are Warriors of the Light. Because they fail. Because they ask questions. Because they keep looking for a meaning. And, in the end, they will find it.

“Changes must be made that I do not feel like making.”

The experienced fighter puts up with insults; he knows the strength of his fist and the skill of his blows.

Faith Before going into battle, you must believe in the reasons for the fight.

Companions Choose your allies and learn to fight in company, for no one ever won a war singlehandedly.

Time A battle in winter is different from a battle in summer; a good Warrior is careful to select the ...

Space One does not fight in the same way in a mountain pass as one would on a plain. Think about your surroundings an...

Strategy The best Warrior is the one who p...

At such moments, the Warrior of the Light is not concerned with results. He examines his heart and asks: “Did I fight the Good Fight?”

He lights up his allotted part of the Universe and tries to point out galaxies and worlds to all those who gaze up at the sky.

Sometimes the Warrior feels as if he were living two lives at once. In one of them he is obliged to do all the things he does not want to do and to fight for ideas in which he does not believe. But there is another life, and he discovers it in his dreams, in his reading, and in his encounters with people who share his ideas.

The Warrior of the Light needs time to himself. And he uses that time for rest, contemplation, and contact with the Soul of the World. Even in the midst of a battle, he manages to meditate.

Occasionally, the Warrior sits down, relaxes, and lets everything that is happening around him continue to happen. He looks at the world as a spectator, he does not try to add to it or take away from it, he merely surrenders unresistingly to the movement of life.

Little by little, everything that seemed complicated begins to become simple. ...

He knows that the Universe functions in the same way as alchemy. Solve et coagula said the masters—“Concentrate and disperse your energies according to the situation.” There are moments when one should act and moments when one should accept. The Warrior knows how to distinguish between these moments.

A Warrior of the Light is not afraid of disappointments because he knows the power of his sword and the strength of his love. It is important to trust people. However,

“This life is absolutely insane.”

In surrendering to the miracle of the everyday, he notices that he cannot always foresee the consequences of his actions.

Yes, life is insane. But the great wisdom of the Warrior lies in choosing his insanity wisely.

A Warrior of the Light practices a powerful exercise for inner growth: He pays attention to the things he does automatically, such as breathing, blinking, or noticing the things around him.

He uses this technique whenever he is faced with a difficult situation.

“There are certain things I’d rather not talk about because people are so envious.” When he hears this, the Warrior laughs. Envy cannot harm you, if you don’t let it. Envy is part of life and everyone should learn to deal with it.

However, he rarely discusses his plans. And sometimes people believe this is because he is afraid of envy. But he knows that whenever he talks about a dream, he uses a little bit of the energy from that dream in order to do so. And by talking, he runs the risk of spending all the energy he needs to put the dream into action.

A Warrior of the Light knows the po...

And he realizes that, during war, his enemy is bound to win some of the battles. When this happens, he weeps bitter tears and rests in order to recover his energy a little. But he immediately resumes his battle for his dreams.