“It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a soldier to fight on a battlefield.” William Butler Yeats
What is a warrior? Today, not many go off to war and so the way of the warrior has transformed into something that is no longer just a physical pursuit designed to fell an opponent, but rather a pathway towards inner peace. Any person can be considered a warrior as long as they take the inner journey to do battle with themselves as they search for inner peace. With training, a warrior realizes that the true opponent is no longer outside of us but exists within us. Understanding that budo is really an inner battle O’Sensei advocated for masakatsu agatsu or “the truest victory is the victory over the self.” Any person can toil at war, but it takes great deal of courage to overcome one’s self. William Butler Yeats said, “It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a soldier to fight on a battlefield.” Furuya Sensei once wrote, “In our training, we are looking to transform ourselves into something we hold as an ideal about ourselves. We should become wiser, more profound and more caring human beings. We come to understand our selves better and more deeply. We become more ‘humane’ human beings. In our own practice we should see how we can develop ourselves and transform ourselves into our ‘true’ selves.” Therefore, a warrior is any person who is engaged in the battle to gain victory over themselves – masakatsu agatsu.
It can be difficult to understand that every person is a warrior who is at war with ourselves and that they are just at a different place on the path. Every person is suffering is a primary understanding in Aikido. When I’m suffering, I hope for kindness, compassion and forgiveness. To receive it, I must also be willing to see that others are also suffering and in need of kindness, compassion and forgiveness.
Today’s goal: Be strong enough to give people what it is that you need because if you are truly a warrior then you realize that others suffer just like you.