Be a peaceful warrior.
Seems easy: a soldier for peace. Easy to be peaceful! Om Namah Shivaya, ten Sun Salutation As, and call it a day. Namaste! Now let’s go share some organic kale and rejoice.
Of course, last time I checked, there was also the warrior part. The word “warrior” and yoga don’t seem to go hand in hand. The word itself contains “war,” the antithesis of yoga’s ideals of peace, nonviolence and compassion. But who defines what does and does not qualify as peace, nonviolence and compassion? Could there be such a thing as a peaceful, nonviolent, compassionate war?
Where do we stand?
One of my personal heroes, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., an advocate of nonviolent action against injustice, said:
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
This is one of the truest statements of our time. Where do we stand, as peaceful warriors, in moments of controversy in our own lives and in the life of our greater community? When is the overwhelming urge to stand aside, to not get involved, to not speak up, actually a greater act of harm than rising to the occasion?
Every moment is a choice
Our yoga practice makes us aware of what we were previously unconscious of. I notice when I am jealous, angry, harmful, sad or cheating. And I begin to notice more of the world around me: when others are experiencing suffering that I have also experienced.
Every time I notice, I have a choice. Do I acknowledge it, remove my ego from the equation and check myself? Or do I roll on by, ignore what I see and pretend it doesn’t exist? This is what being a peaceful warrior is about. Every moment is a choice to do the right thing, from a place of true compassion, love and, most of all, action.
When I see somebody being mistreated, it is my choice to speak or act, or not. When I read about a great injustice in the world, it is my choice to forget and ignore it, or to take the harder road: to not forget, to not ignore, and to be moved to action.
The harder road
A warrior does not take the easy path. They do not surrender to complacency or walk past the wounded of our world. They see two roads: the path of ease and comfort, relying on privileges of race, money, gender, sexual orientation or power, or the path of acknowledging those privileges and standing with, and in support of, the people of this world who were not given them.
Dr. King also warned that the choice before us is no longer between violence and nonviolence: “It is either nonviolence or nonexistence.” Decades later, his words remain painfully relevant.
Every day, it is our choice to take the path that is truly nonviolent: standing up for those without a voice, committing to never ignore or un-see the injustices of the world, and never forgetting what we already have. When we not only witness but are moved to act in support of others, we are truly practicing nonviolence. Then we are truly yogis: spiritual warriors on the path of peace.
