Manual of The Warrior of Light

The Latin root of the word 'responsibility' reveals its true meaning: the capacity to respond, to react. A responsible warrior is one who has proved able to observe and to learn. He is even capable of being 'irresponsible'. Sometimes, he has allowed himself to be carried along by a situation, without responding or reacting. But he always learned his lesson; he took a stance, listened to advice and was humble enough to accept help. 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.

The warrior of 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.

The warrior of light unwittingly takes a false step and plunges into the abyss. Ghosts frighten him and solitude torments him. His aim had been to fight the Good Fight, and he had never imagined that this would happen to him, but it did. Shrouded in darkness, he makes contact with his master. '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.' And the warrior uses all his strength to escape from his predicament.

Sometimes evil pursues the warrior of light, and when it does, he calmly invites it into his tent. He asks evil: 'Do you want to hurt me or to use me to hurt others?' Evil pretends not to hear. It says that it knows the darkness in the warrior's soul. It touches wounds that have not yet healed and calls for vengeance. It mentions certain tricks and subtle poisons that will help him to destroy his enemies. The warrior of light listens. If conversation flags, he encourages evil to continue talking by asking all about its various plans. When he has heard everything, he gets up and leaves. Evil feels so weary and empty after all this talk that it does not have the strength to follow him.

Whenever the warrior draws his sword, he uses it. It can be used to clear a path, to help someone, to fend off danger, but a sword is a capricious thing and does not like to see its blade exposed for no good reason. That is why the warrior never makes threats. He can attack, defend himself or flee; all of these attitudes form part of combat. It is not, however, part of combat to diminish the force of a blow by talking about it. A warrior of light is always alert to the movements of his sword. But he never forgets that the sword is watching his every move as well. It was not made to be used by the mouth.

A warrior knows that an angel and a devil are both competing for his sword hand. The devil says: 'You will weaken. You will not know exactly when. You are afraid.' The angel says: 'You will weaken. You will not know exactly when. You are afraid.' The warrior is surprised. Both angel and devil have said the same thing. Then the devil goes on: 'Let me help you.' And the angel says: 'I will help you.' At that moment, the warrior understands the difference. The words may be the same, but these two allies are completely different. And he chooses the angel's hand.

The warrior knows that there are occasional pauses in the struggle. There is no point in forcing things; he must have patience and wait for the two sides to clash again. In the silence of the battlefield, he listens to his heart beating. He notices that he is tense, that he is afraid. The warrior takes stock of his life; he makes sure that his sword is sharp, his heart satisfied, that faith still burns in his soul. He knows that maintenance is as important as action. There is always something not quite right. And the warrior takes advantage of those moments when time stops to equip himself better.