Humble Warrior

I've been thinking about warriors and their reference to yoga, having seen some lovely sculptures and carvings at the V&A last weekend.

There are several variations of this posture, warrior 1, 2 and 3, reverse warrior and humble warrior.

In the Bhagavad Gita which is known as a book of wisdom about how to live a good, righteous and happy life. The main characters are Arjuna (who is a master archer/warrior) and his charioteer, Krishna who is God. Krishna guides Arjuna in how to manage the many dilemmas he faces on the battlefield.

This is from an article in Yoga Journal from The Bhagavad Gita.

“The unenlightened do things with attachment (wanting some results for themselves). An enlightened person does things with the same zeal, Arjuna, but without attachment, and thus guides others on the path of selfless action (karma yoga). A wise person will not disturb the mind of an unwise person who is still attached to the fruits of their actions. But by continuously performing perfect (selfless) actions the wise person influences others in all they do.”

One of the important themes in this story is about actions. We all know that words without actions can mean nothing. But note that by continuously performing (selfless) actions (i.e. with humility) will influence others.

There are two things which really resonate with me here.

1. Be a Warrior

   Sometimes the 'easy' option in life is to do or say nothing. For example turning a blind eye. However, this might not be the 'right' thing to do. I'm sure we've all experienced this in some way. This is the key thread through Arjuna and Krishna's dilemma.

2. Humility

   Having the strength to know when you are wrong and own up is a really great quality. Humble warrior pose is such a great teacher for this, whilst it is still very strong it shows that we need to bow down be gracious and respectful to others and their teachings and experiences. Which means loosing the ego. This is a verse in the Gita about humility. https://gitadaily.com/humility-opens-the-door-to-wisdom/

In other words, it's fine to be a warrior but with humility too. The last verse of the Gita is summarised in the Roopa Pai's version as 'Action with wisdom - an unbeatable combo'.

Have a lovely weekend.