written 21 June 2020
published 28 June 2020
Current discussion about police reform desires a shift from the "warrior" culture as currently expressed by aggression and domination. But writer, consultant and activist Margaret Wheatley, in a Daily Good interview on June 17th, 2020, excerpted here, describes a different type of warrior.
"The warriors arise when something needs protection. At this time, it is human capacities of 'human spirits': our generosity, our creativity, our kindness. The tradition of spiritual warriors or peaceful warriors occurs over and over again in history. We are standing on the shoulders of millions of other people who have trained as warriors. There's no such thing as a casual warrior. You have to have a level of dedication that is really unusual these days."
"Warriors for the human spirit are committed to serving people but vow not to add to aggression and not to add to fear. We want to be the embodiment of the best qualities of human beings: presence, good listening, confidence that isn't based on arrogance. We want to be there for others not for our own glory. A warrior for the human spirit is someone who makes a commitment to stay. Who practices compassion and insight wherever they are. Who knows they can't do anything without community."
"We feel more acutely the despair. The sadness is overwhelming for us because we're staying in the world and we're trying to be there, open to what's happening with people's suffering, the egregious abuses of power going on now. That openness brings our recognition of how much suffering is going on. We talk a lot about how to maintain a sense of humor, as part of our actual skill set, to deal with the despair and the sadness."
"I am never going to be free of despair because this is a despairing time. This is a time worthy of despair. But I'm not afraid of my despair. I recognize it is part of the price I pay for being awake and therefore I know I have alternatives. If I'm witnessing this despair, how can I serve? How can I get out of myself and the self-protection and find ways to be of service? With warriors-in-training, it's what can I do right here, right now? What we're offering is the reminder of what it means to be a good human being."
"It's an illusion to avoid something that is so real and present in our emotional bodies. How could you not feel despair when you're really taking in what's happening now? The work of the warrior is to fully take in what's going on because when we do, we discover the qualities we need: compassion, gentleness, non-aggression, and clear-seeing. You fully witness what's going on. Your heart opens, you feel compassion for others, and end up with a very satisfying life."
"The events of the past few months have convinced many people that we are already losing the systems and losing the planet. The question now is: as things get worse and worse, what is right action? What do we do? Who do I choose to be? Where can I still give service? Where can I live a meaningful life?"
"We need to be working with our children and our grandchildren now for them to know what it means to be a fully alive human. We need people being people. We need people recognizing our greatest human capacities: our consciousness and awareness, our ability to love, our ability to work together in harmonious ways and our ability to care about one another rather than just the self. This is what's been eradicated in global culture, consumer culture, political culture. I want us all to really focus on enlivening those qualities in ourselves and making sure now that we're bringing them to our children and grandchildren as well."
"You could start with that, but the first work is to start a conversation among like-minded others. Then you get into the possibility of what could we create here in our community? I use Theodore Roosevelt's statement: Do what you can, where you are with what you have."
For the full interview go to: http://www.dailygood.org/story/2533/
We are experiencing an evolution in human consciousness, each of us challenged to be the best of humanity in response to the worst.
