Another wrong step
As if nothing had changed overnight, the warrior takes another wrong step and dives once again into the abyss. Ghosts provoke him, loneliness torments him. Now that he is more aware of his acts, he did not think this would happen.
But it did. Shrouded by darkness, he talks to his master.
"Master, I fell again into the abyss ", he says.” The waters are deep and dark".
"Remember something ", responds the master. "What drowns is not the dive, but the fact of staying under water ".
The warrior uses his remaining strength to get out of the situation he is in.

Understanding the sense of truce
A warrior of the light does not keep always repeating the same struggle. If the fight, after some time, neither goes forwards or backwards, he understands that he must sit down with the enemy and discuss a truce.
Both have already practiced the art of fencing and now need to reach an agreement. It is a gesture of dignity – and not of cowardliness. It is a balance of strengths, and a change of strategy.
After outlining the plans for peace, the warriors return to their houses. They don’t need to prove anything to anyone; they fought the good Fight, and kept faith. Each one gave in a little, thus learning the art of negotiation.

Taking care about what you say
A warrior knows that the darkness uses an invisible net to spread its evil. This net catches any information floating in the air and transforms it into intrigue. All that is said about someone always ends up being heard by that person’s enemies, increased by a dark burden of poison and evil.
For that reason, the warrior when talking about his brother’s attitudes, imagines that he is present, listening to what he says. Thus, he develops the art of prudence and dignity.
He gets closer and closer to the light that came in through his window and now lights up all his soul.

Love and battle
Warrior of the light sometimes fights against someone he loves.
He has learnt that silence means absolute equilibrium of the body, of the spirit and of the soul. A man who preserves his unity is never dominated by the storms of existence; he has strength to overcome difficulties and forge ahead.
However, often he feels challenged by those from whom he seeks to learn the art of fencing. His disciples provoke him into a fight.
The warrior shows his skill: with some strokes, he hurls the students’ swords on the ground and harmony returns to the place where they have met.
"Why do that, if you are so superior"? asks a traveller.
“Because in this way I keep the channel of communication open", replies the warrior.

Loneliness and dependence
A warrior, when he suffers an injustice, usually tries to be alone - so as not to show his pain to others.
It is good and bad behaviour at the same time.
One thing is to let his heart heal its own wounds slowly. Another thing is to stay in deep meditation all day, fearful of appearing weak.
Inside each of us is an angel and a demon and their voices are very much alike. Because of that difficulty, the demon nurtures this solitary conversation, trying to show us how we are vulnerable. The angel needs someone’s mouth to express himself.

Haste and patience
A warrior of the light needs patience and speed at the same time. The two greatest errors of strategy are: to act too early or to let the opportunity go away.
To avoid this, the warrior handles each situation as if it was unique, and does not use formulas, recipes or other persons’ opinions.
The caliph Moauiyat asked Omr Ben Al-Aas what was the secret of his great political adroitness:
“I never intervene in a matter without having studied my withdrawal beforehand; on the other hand, I never entered and wanted at once to leave quickly”, was the reply.

Peace and activity
In the fight interval, the warrior rests.
Very often days go by without doing anything, because his heart demands this.
But his intuition stays alert. He does not commit the capital sin of Sloth, because he knows where it may lead: to the warm sensation of Sunday afternoons, where time goes by – and nothing else.
A warrior rests and laughs. But is always alert.

Copyright @ 2005 by Paulo Coelho
Warrior of Light Online, published by www.paulocoelho.com.br