Imagine this:

You are standing in a field, a battle field to be frank. All around you is evidence of the war at hand.  It is a scene of destruction, yet to your credit you are still standing as a mighty warrior. Perhaps you are almost victorious.  But maybe not quite. You still feel the pending danger, the approach of the enemy. It never leaves-this feeling of looking out for the attack-watching vigilantly, sword in hand at the ready.  Even as the victor you still fear the attack. Is it truly a victory if this feeling still remains within?

Imagine having this awareness on your battlefield.  Now picture some part of your life where you experience a sense of battle. Where in your life do you keep your sword at the ready to protect and attack as necessary?  Where in your life are you at the ready, wielding your sword?  Is it with a partner, the driver in front of you, the person who makes more money or is happier than you?  It is with the 99 % or with the 1%  or is it at the elusive system?  Where do you wield your sword? Just note it.

Now back to that physical battlefield.  What if you were standing there with this “enemy” approaching whether it be a person or a situation and as it approached, you did the unthinkable.

You lower your raised arm and drop the sword letting it fall to the ground saying quietly to yourself,”I lay down my sword.  I lay down my sword.”

What would become of you?  

Who would you be without the warrior identity?  

What if you then having laid down your sword, you stood up with chest wide open, eyes closed and breath deeply centered in  your body.  What if even there was the gentlest of smiles upon your lips as if in releasing your sword, you were able to feel a freedom you had not felt before.

That’s just it.

As long as you are a warrior (even a victorious one) you are still in battle.  You live in a state of battle.  And battle is synonymous with conflict and contradictory forces. How can we move forward freely when living in a state of contradiction (see where I am going with this?)

But when we lay down our swords, even in the face of an attack or an approach, we are free.  We may be on the battle field, but some part of our being has “opted out” of the fight.  We are simply now being a witness.  Imagine a field of warriors who have all laid down their swords and instead of fighting are quietly present with a sense of love or perhaps compassion for the challenges around them. It is like seeing the big picture so that by giving up our small attack we end the WHOLE WAR for everyone.

By relinquishing our desire to fight our own mini war, we bring freedom to those around us and to the great world.  But, here is the the tricky part, we must start with ourselves.  Only when there is no fight within us and we wield no sword are we capable of making any difference in the greater world.

This is what I offer to you this week.  This idea of laying down the sword in your life, even in the smallest or in the most challenging places. I do not mean you don’t act with wisdom for your physical safety but where are you waging an emotional or intellectual war?

Where in your life do you feel you are carrying a sword? 

Begin to note all the moments in which  you can feel the weight of the sword in your hand.

A partner forgetting to follow through on some action, a friend who said something hurtful, a child that would not listen, a boss who is unreasonable, a bill you feel you cannot pay.  Whatever it is, what if you simply before taking action, lay down your sword and witness what is happening without preparing to fight it.

What would it be like if you were to lay down your sword and stand back up without it?

In this way, we begin to see what is really happening.  Our first response is not to wield the sword but to see what is before us. By seeing whatever it is without a weapon, we offer our undefended self.  We have only one choice and that is to see what is before us.

And it is in this seeing that we offer are actually offering love, simply by witnessing what is.

This week, may we together enjoy the practice of laying down our swords and being willing to stand tall breathing fully knowing that we are not in a battle within ourselves, with another or in the world.  This is how we come to feel the lightness within.