Warrior of the Light

by Paulo Coelho

His gratitude, however, is not limited to the spiritual world; he never forgets his friends, for their blood, mingled with his on the battlefield.

All the world’s roads lead to the heart of the Warrior; he plunges unhesitatingly into the river of passions always flowing through his life.

A Warrior can distinguish between the transient and the enduring.

Then he opens his heart to the Universe and asks God to give him the inspiration he needs to turn every blow from his enemy into a lesson in self-defence.

A Warrior of the Light never resorts to trickery, but he knows how to distract his opponent.

A Warrior of the Light knows what he wants. And he has no need to waste time on explanations.

“In war, the key to victory is the ability to surprise one’s opponent.”

A Warrior takes every opportunity to teach himself.

He knows that he has learned something with every battle he has fought, but many of those lessons have caused him unnecessary suffering. More than once he has wasted his time fighting for a lie. And he has suffered for people who did not deserve his love. Victors never make the same mistake twice. That is why the Warrior only risks his heart for something worthwhile.

A Warrior of the Light knows that certain moments repeat themselves.

Then the Warrior realizes that these repeated experiences have but one aim: to teach him what he does not want to learn.

A Warrior does not spend his days trying to play the role that others have chosen for him.

The moment that he Begins to walk along it, the Warrior of the Light recognizes the Path. Each stone, each bend cries welcome to him. He identifies with the mountains and the streams, he sees something of his own soul in the plants and the animals and the birds of the field. Then, accepting the help of God and of God’s Signs, he allows his Personal Legend to guide him toward the tasks that life has reserved for him.

In these words lies all his power: He chose the path along which he is walking and so has no complaints.

From now on—and for the next few hundred years—the Universe is going to help Warriors of the Light and hinder the prejudiced. The Earth’s energy needs to be renewed.

New ideas need space.

Anything of importance will remain. Anything useless will disappear. It is not the Warrior’s responsibility, however, to judge the dreams of others, and he does not waste time criticizing other people’s decisions.

In order to have faith in his own path, he does not need to prove that someone else’s path is wrong.

A Warrior of the Light carefully studies the position that he intends to conquer. However difficult the objective, there is always a way of overcoming obstacles. He seeks out alternative paths, he sharpens his sword, he tries to fill his heart with the necessary determination to face the challenge. But as he advances, the Warrior realizes that there are difficulties he had not reckoned with. If he waits for the ideal moment, he will never set off. The Warrior requires a touch of madness to take the next step. The Warrior uses that touch of madness. For—in both love and war—it is impossible to foresee everything.

A Warrior of the Light knows his own faults. But he also knows his qualities.

the reason the tiger does not fear the hyena is because he is aware of his own strength.

He tries to establish what he can truly rely on. And he always checks that he carries three things with him: faith, hope, and love.

The Warrior of the Light knows that no one is stupid and that life teaches everyone—however long that may take. He always does his best and expects the best of others. Through his generosity, he tries to show each person how much they are capable of achieving. Some of his companions say: “Some people are so ungrateful.” The Warrior is not discouraged by this. And he continues to encourage others because this is also a way of encouraging himself.

That is why he is a Warrior of the Light, because he has been through all this and yet has never lost hope of being better than he is.

T.H. Huxley: “The consequences of our actions are the scarecrows of fools and the beacons of wise men.” “The chessboard is the world; the pieces are the gestures of our daily lives; the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us, but we know that his play is always fair, just, and patient.”

A Warrior knows that his best teachers are the people with whom he shares the battlefield.

It is dangerous to ask for advice. It is even more dangerous to give advice. When he needs help, he tries to see how his friends resolve—or fail to resolve—their problems.

If he is in search of inspiration, he reads, on the lips of his neighbor, the words that his guardian ...

Lao Tzu says of the journey of the Warrior of the Light: “The Way involves respect for all small and subtle things. Learn to recognize the right moment to adopt the necessary attitudes.”

“Accumulating love brings luck, accumulating hatred brings calamity. Anyone who fails to recognize problems leaves the door open for tragedies to rush in.”

“The battle is not the same as the quarrel.”

The Warrior of the Light meditates. He sits in a quiet place in his tent and surrenders himself to the divine light. When he does this, he tries not to think about anything; he shuts himself off from the search for pleasure, from challenges and revelations, and allows his gifts and powers to reveal themselves. Even if he does not recognize them then, these gifts and powers will take care of his life and will influence his day-to-day existence. While he meditates, the Warrior is not himself, but a spark from the Soul of the World. Meditation gives him an understanding of his responsibilities and of how he should behave accordingly. A Warrior of the Light knows that in the silence of his heart he will hear an order that will guide him.

A Warrior of the Light sometimes thinks: “If I do not do something, it will not be done.” It is not quite like that: He must act, but he must allow room for the Universe to act too.

A Warrior balances solitude and dependence.

A Warrior of the Light makes use of solitude, but is not used by it.

The Warrior of the Light sometimes behaves like water, flowing around the obstacles he encounters.

Therein lies the strength of water: It cannot be touched by a hammer or ripped to shreds by a knife. The strongest sword in the world cannot scar its surface. The river adapts itself to whatever route proves possible, but the river never forgets its one objective: the sea. So fragile at its source, it gradually gathers the strength of the other rivers it encounters. And, after a certain point, its power is absolute.

he accepts each challenge as an opportunity to transform himself.

It is important not to forget that sometimes strength is more effective than strategy.

That is why the Warrior never underestimates brute force. When it proves too violent, he withdraws from the battlefield until his enemy has exhausted himself.

The Warrior of the Light knows when the enemy is stronger. If he decides to confront him, he will be destroyed instantly. If he responds to his provocations, he will fall into a trap. So he uses diplomacy to resolve the difficult situation in which he finds himself. When the enemy behaves childishly, he does the same. When he challenges him to a fight, he pretends not to understand.

In such situations, the Warrior remains patient—the enemy will soon go off in search of others to provoke.

A Warrior of the Light is never indifferent to injustice. He knows that all are one and that each individual action affects everyone on the planet. That is why, when confronted by the suffering of others, he uses his sword to restore order. But even though he fights against oppression, at no point does he attempt to judge the oppressor. Each person will answer for his actions before God and so, once the Warrior has completed his task, he makes no further comment. A Warrior of the Light is in the world in order to help his fellow man, not to condemn his neighbor.

Lanza del Vasto: “A revolution takes time to settle in.”

A Warrior never picks fruit while it is still green.

A Warrior of the Light often loses heart. He believes that nothing can stir in him the emotion he desires. He is forced to spend many nights feeling that he is one of the vanquished, and nothing seems able to restore his enthusiasm. His friends say: “Perhaps his fight is over.” The Warrior feels pain and confusion when he hears such remarks because he knows that he has not yet reached the place he wanted to reach. But he is stubborn and refuses to relinquish his aims. Then, when he least expects it, a new door opens.

A Warrior of the Light always keeps his heart free of any feelings of hatred. When he goes into battle he remembers what Christ said: “Love your enemies.” And he obeys.

The Warrior remembers the past. He knows about man’s Spiritual Quest and that this Quest has been responsible for some of history’s finest pages. But also some of history’s worst chapters: massacres, sacrifices, and obscurantism. It was used for personal ends and has seen its ideas used to defend the most terrible of intentions.

The Warrior has no doubts because he follows one infallible saying: “By their fruits ye shall know them,” said Jesus. Following this rule, he never goes wrong.

the Warrior knows that intuition is God’s language and he continues listening to the wind and talking to the stars.