Warrior’s Creed

I heard this poem many years ago and was reminded of it today. Poetry is essential to the human experience. It reaches past the ego mind to the depth of truth, beyond thinking.

Here is a poem about a man that is truly free. Free from fear and holding back. In pure service without doubts. Enjoy!

samuraiI have no parents; I make the heavens and the earth my parents
I have no home; I make awareness my home
I have no life or death; I make the tides of breathing my life and death
I have no divine power; I make honesty my divine power
I have no means; I make understanding my means
I have no magic secrets; I make character my magic secrets
I have no body; I make my endurance my body
I have no eyes; I make the flash of lightning my eyes
I have no ears; I make sensibility my ears
I have no limbs; I make promptness my limbs
I have no strategy; I make "unshadowed by thought" my strategy
I have no designs; I make ‘seizing opportunity by the forelock’ my design
I have no miracles; I make ‘right action’ my miracles
I have no principles; I make adaptability to all circumstances’ my principles
I have no tactics; I make emptiness and fullness my tactics
I have no talent; I make ready wit my talent
I have no friends; I make my mind my friend
I have no enemy; I make carelessness my enemy
I have no armor; I make benevolence and righteousness my armor
I have no castle; I make immovable-mind my castle
I have no sword; I make absence of self my sword

Anonymous 14th-century Samurai

 

What if you were this free? The true self, who you really are, is this free. Only the false self, the ego chattering mind, is imprisoned and makes the world full of problems.

PDF to print out: WarriorsCreed.pdf


Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *