http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-hidden-spirituality-of-men.html
The Hidden Spirituality of Men
The Great Work is “not a role that we have chosen. It is a role given to us, beyond any consultation with ourselves. … We are, as it were, thrown into existence with a challenge and a role that is beyond any personal choice. The nobility of our lives, however, depends upon the manner in which we come to understand and fulfill our assigned role.” Noble warriors are called for. The archetype of the spiritual warrior helps to answer in a constructive way some important issues: What to do with male aggression and competition? How to steer both in healthy directions?
Aggression is in all of us. Whether you’re athlete or preacher, businessperson or taxi driver, aggression will emerge. It’s easy to identify the negative ways it expresses itself: as war, as conquest (whether in business or sex), as passivity (aggression turned against oneself: “I can’t do that…”), as selfish competition (“I can’t win unless you lose”) and more. But what are the healthy ways to engage it? How to turn aggression into nobility, to use Berry’s term?
To me, the key is understanding the distinction between a warrior and a soldier. A Vietnam veteran who volunteered to go to war at 17 described this eloquently: “When I was in the army, I was a soldier. I was a puppet doing whatever anybody told me to do, even if it meant going against what my heart told me was right. I didn’t know nothing about being a warrior until I hit the streets and marched alongside my brothers for something I really believed in. When I found something I believed in, a higher power found me.” He quit being a soldier and became a warrior when he followed his soul’s orders, not his officer’s; in his case, this meant protesting war and going to jail for it. The late Buddhist meditation master Chögyam Trungpa talks about the “sad and tender heart of the warrior.” The warrior is in touch with his heart—the joy, the sadness, the expansiveness of it.
However, not everyone understands this distinction. I believe the confusion of soldier and warrior feeds militarism and the reptilian brain. It’s also an expression of homophobia, since I suspect heterosexism is behind much of the continued ignorance and fear of the real meaning of warriorhood. The warrior, unlike the soldier, is a lover. The warrior is so much in touch with his heart that he can give it to the world. The warrior loves not only his nearest kin and mate but also the world and God. The warrior relates to God as a lover.
How different is this from right-wing depictions of God as judge and not lover? This view of God leads to the distortions of masculinity. The confusion of warrior and soldier feeds unhealthy relationships, with God, self and society. It feeds empire-building, and the builders of empire would like nothing more than to enlist young men who believe soldiering equals warriorhood. We can’t afford this ignorance any longer. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If the warrior is different from the soldier, there must be distinct ways by which the warrior develops his or her strength. If the warrior is the mystic in action, then let’s try the following four steps on for size. They derive from the mystical/prophetic or mystical/warrior journey in the creation spirituality tradition.
- The Via Positiva. This is the way of celebrating life, of seeing the world with its beauty and goodness, its grace and generosity—and being open to seeing more. This is the way of reverence, respect and gratitude. It’s the way of original blessing, whereby we live out the truth that the universe and life itself, for all the struggle and pain they dispense, have birthed us as individuals and communities with what we need for happiness and for sharing joy.
- The Via Negativa. The Via Negativa goes into the darkness, the wounds, the pain and silence and solitude of existence to find what we have to learn there. It’s a way of letting go and letting be, of emptying and being emptied, of moving beyond judgment and beyond control, and learning to breathe, to sit, to be still, to dwell in silence, to taste nothingness without flinching and, ultimately, to focus. It’s the way of grieving. Without grief we can’t move on to the next stage, one of giving birth. The ancient German theologian, Meister Eckhart von Hochheim, calls the process of letting go “eternal.” The warrior faces death and, because he or she has, loves life more passionately.
- The Via Creativa. Having fallen in love with life often (Via Positiva) and having been emptied and learned to let go and let be numerous times (Via Negativa), the spiritual warrior is ready to give birth. Creativity is the weapon, the sword, of the spiritual warrior—who is mother as well as father, and who digs deep into a wellspring of wildness that provides the energy for new life, connections, images and moral imagination by which to change things in a deep, not superficial, way. The true warrior is a co-creator, a worker with Spirit, a worker for Spirit. The warrior’s hands are the hands of Spirit at work; the warrior’s mind is seized by Spirit precisely in the work of creativity. As 13th century Catholic philosopher and theologian St. Thomas Aquinas put it, “The same Spirit that hovered over the waters at the beginning of creation hovers over the mind of the artist at work.” Every warrior is an artist at work for the people that they might live.
- The Via Transformativa. Claims to artistry and to creativity and to co-creation need to be tested. The Spirit requires discernment and evaluation. The primary test for claims of spirit work is that of justice and compassion. Does the work I’m doing pass the justice test? Does it fill gaps between haves and have-nots or make the chasm deeper? Does it contribute to healing and empowerment of the powerless or re-establish the privileges of the few at the expense of the many?
The prophets always speak on behalf of justice; they’re attuned to injustice, which they feel like a kick in the gut. Injustice arouses the passion of anger and the prophet/warrior is in touch with his or her anger and passions. But instead of just responding in a reptilian brain action-reaction mode, the prophet uses the anger as fuel to fire effective and creative ways to enact justice and healing. And the authentic warrior remains humble, or close to the Earth (humus, from which “humility” is derived, means “Earth” in Latin), and aware that he or she is only an instrument of the work of Spirit. Not a messiah. A prophet is a weak and needy human being like everyone else, fully capable of evil and mistakes. And needy also for the Via Positiva to be a regular part of one’s spiritual practise, a need for filling up and refreshing in the cool waters of peace and joy that life’s small moments can bring. Nevertheless, in all of this the warrior/prophet remains fierce for justice and compassion to happen.
More from Veronica, selected from Ode magazine (8 articles available)
related stories
-
(4 comments)
-
(1 comment)
-
(19 comments)
Robyn
Melissa
Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
Hilary
Ann
Judi
Ronnie
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Andrew
Jana
Annie B.
Veronica
48 comments
add your comment »thanks...you...
Kabin
Konteyner
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Candace I couldn't agree with you more. I'm not a mother however there are a lot of momma's boys out there. They need to learn the balance and understand the cycle of a woman. All most of them do is compare us to a female dog. IF they understood the menstrual cycle and menopause tehy might understand us a little better. My partner right now we think is experiancing peri-menopause and we'll find out in 2 weeks and if she is I can help her because I've been there. She can't go to her family because they all had hysterectomies so they don't know about it either but I do because I was going through it ebforw my hyterectomy last November. She got to Experiance that with me. It was awesome for both of us and a great learning tool fo both of us.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Great article, but I fear the promise of change lies with the forthcoming generations and their parents, specifically their mothers. My grandmother used to say that the first women some men learn to use and exploit are their mothers. And she is right, a lot of women today are still spoiling their sons ridiculously, being over attentive, 'helicoptering' I believe is the term, and are not teaching their sons proper balance. And though I will probably get hit over the heads for saying this, simply making the choice to have children without the benefit of having a man around in some way, shape or form, doesn't help either.
I would like to the mothers of future generations give their sons a better education of what it is especially like to be a woman; (there are still some men that don't understand why a woman has a menstrual cycle) and with that, teach the values of love, patience, individuality, balance, intuition, trust, vulnerability and an abhorance of violence. Women have aided and abetted men's behavior for too long, and now that we have more power in this century than ever before, if there are young males in our lives, the power lies within us, to form warriors, instead of soldiers.
But even before making the decision to have children, women must learn TO BE BALANCED AND WHOLE........
And that's a whole nother' story!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Dear Donald, :)
...but whenever the warrior fights, he assumes that it is necessary for him to fight. Is your male archetype, 'the guardian' , who doesn't fight 'unnecessarily', any different at all ?
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
I think that it is important to go beyond the warrior and towards the guardian. Merriam Webster defines warrior as: "A man engaged or experienced in warfare." Does anyone see the problem here? How are we to go beyond a destructive, conqueror society if we still uphold the warrior model as ideal? I believe we need to look towards the original male archetype - the guardian. He protects and defends his family, or in the case of society, the weak, the underdog. A great guardian doesn't fight unnecessarily. He doesn't have false bravado. He knows himself. He is calm, filled with inner peace, and assertive. He can be true to himself.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
I think you can find a good start in the website www.ishafoundation.org (i.e.) if you have no spiritual practices to get you on your 'WAY' right now. I am deeply impressed by Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev and his methods.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
As a woman in recovery I am constantly in awe of some of the mens spirituality. Some of these men put some o the women I know to shame with their spirituality. When I see a man show true emotion I have great admiration for them. I just wish all men could show their feelings w/o shame. There is nothing to be ashamed of and I know a lot of it is from their upbringing. Real men DON'T cry. So the message that's being sent is if you show emotion and cry, you're weak. That is so wrong. When I see a man struggling by not crying I tell them it's ok to cry it helps cleanse the soul and the truth will set you free. So listen up men it's ok to be spiritual, emotional and show it. Blessed Be and God Bless you all.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Very Nicely Done Veronica!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Thank you for your spirit and your insights.
It is great to see men seeking out the feminine side of themselves. Women are fighting their corner to have the feminine recognised more in society and in economic life but they too have to explore the masculine in themselves and love it rather than rebel against it. We need to see both sides in ourselves, and love it so that we can recognise it in others and love them for it too.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
it is good to know men want to free themselves from the shadow of what they are told they should be.women have gained more freedom, and therefore can express all aspects of their personalities and there being.it is wnderful that men too can cultivate their whole being as opposed to only aspects of it.you go guys!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Facebook account: