Then warriors develop a strategy using the four attributes of warriorship: control, discipline, forbearance, and timing.
On the path of knowledge there are four steps. The first step is the decision to become apprentices. After the apprentices change their views about themselves and the world they take the second step and become warriors, which is to say, beings capable of the utmost discipline and control over themselves. The third step, after acquiring forbearance and timing, is to become men of knowledge. When men of knowledge learn to see they have taken the fourth step and have become seers.
Control and discipline refer to an inner state. A warrior is self-oriented, not in a selfish way but in the sense of a total examination of the self.
Forbearance and timing are not quite an inner state. They are in the domain of the man of knowledge.
The idea of using a petty tyrant is not only for perfecting the warrior’s spirit, but also for enjoyment and happiness. Even the worst tyrants can bring delight, provided, of course, that one is a warrior.
The mistake average men make in confronting petty tyrants is not to have a strategy to fall back on; the fatal flaw is that average men take themselves too seriously; their actions and feelings, as well as those of the petty tyrants, are all-important. Warriors, on the other hand, not only have a well-thought-out strategy, but are free from self-importance. What restrains their self-importance is that they have understood that reality is an interpretation we make.
Petty tyrants take themselves with deadly seriousness while warriors do not. What usually exhausts us is the wear and tear on our self-importance. Any man who has an iota of pride is ripped apart by being made to feel worthless.
To tune the spirit when someone is trampling on you is called control. Instead of feeling sorry for himself a warrior immediately goes to work mapping the petty tyrant’s strong points, his weaknesses, his quirks of behavior.
To gather all this information while they are beating you up is called discipline. A perfect petty tyrant has no redeeming feature.
Forbearance is to wait patiently–no rush, no anxiety–a simple, joyful holding back of what is due.
A warrior knows that he is waiting and what he is waiting for. Right there is the great joy of warriorship.
Timing is the quality that governs the release of all that is held back. Control, discipline, and forbearance are like a dam behind which everything is pooled. Timing is the gate in the dam.
Forbearance means holding back with the spirit something that the warrior knows is rightfully due. It doesn’t mean that a warrior goes around plotting to do anybody mischief, or planning to settle past scores. Forbearance is something independent. As long as the warrior has control, discipline, and timing, forbearance assures giving whatever is due to whoever deserves it.
To be defeated by a small-fry petty tyrant is not deadly, but devastating. Warriors who succumb to a small-fry petty tyrant are obliterated by their own sense of failure and unworthiness.
Anyone who joins the petty tyrant is defeated. To act in anger, without control and discipline, to have no forbearance, is to be defeated.
After warriors are defeated they either regroup themselves or they abandon the quest for knowledge and join the ranks of the petty tyrants for life.
~Carlos Castaneda, The fire from within.
At this point, The Morrigan is teaching me the traits of godhood. And no, not the koetting traits. Something completely different.
I have been instructed to astral project to a tree and meditate at the top of the tree. It is there my questions will be answered.
Thank you Babd.
Ok y’all im back with another update:
I have learned some various truths involving divinity, which are very controversial, for this reason I won’t touch on them until I feel ready for it. However what I will be touching on is Battle Frenzy
Well, what is Battle Frenzy well it’s a lot like the Norse Berserker state. Except there’s a difference. At least in my gnosis and experience.
The Mythos: There are legends about the Morrigan involving battle. Some where she uses witchcraft to turn the tides of battle, some where she “keeps the death of the fallen” and then some where she possesses the bodies of her soldiers, filling them with an unconquerable frenzy. Much like Odin and the Berserker.
The UPG: According to the Morrigan, Battle Frenzy is, indeed, a state of rage. But its controlled rage. Generally speaking, those that can demonstrate a stronger control than those around them, are nails that just cant be removed from the wall. Especially if they’re capable of the 4 attributes.