The Warrior’s Spiritual Path
by Jef Bartow
The term spiritual Warrior is becoming popular these days. One way this spiritual designation has developed comes from the teachings of don Juan Matus. As part of a new group of sorcerers, don Juan helped transform the sorcery of antiquity into a true method for spiritual growth. A Warrior describes one who is committed to using this new sorcery to Freedom and Infinity. Besides calling his method "The Warriors Path," he also termed it “The Path of Knowledge.”Of the various spiritual growth venues, don Juan’s is one of the few defined during this Aquarian Age. It does rely on a "Nagual," who is very similar to a Master/Guru/Teacher. Therefore, to bring this spiritual Path truly into the Aquarian Age, we need to replace the Nagual with a structured process based on self-initiation and periodic mentoring. Our Living Spirit’s Warrior’s Spiritual Path does just this. In addition to this change, don Juan also used drugs as a spiritual catalyst for some students. We choose not to employ artificial or mind altering substances as a part of spiritual growth.If you have been reading these Spiritual Path articles, you can skip from here right to do beginning of The Warrior’s Spiritual Path below. If not, continue reading from here to understand more about our Aquarian Spiritual Paths.The “Spiritual Path” is most assuredly a path of psychological transformation and human transmutation until we each become our potential as a spiritual Being. Within the teachings of don Juan Matus, our guide is usually the Nagual. As we fully move into the Gemini (communication/education) phase of the Aquarian Age, we have an ideal opportunity to replace the Piscean Guru/Master/Savior/Nagual with an integrated structure and process for psychological and spiritual growth.
Suggested reading for this path:
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The process for spiritual growth in the past would seem to be very different depending on which Eastern or Western philosophy/theology one embraces. In actuality, they can all be synthesized by what has been defined as the "Initiatory Process" (accelerated growth vs. evolution) within metaphysics. Insightfully documented by Alice A. Bailey during the first half of the 20th century and Fred Kipp in his book Our Spiritual Destiny, the Initiatory Process does not utilize the symbols or terms defined by don Juan. In addition, neither metaphysics nor don Juan's teachings have been able to provide a systematic structure for accomplishing freedom, Infinity or conscious attainment of our higher spiritual nature within the parameters of normal life expectancy.By looking into the energetic science of astrology, we find a powerful key to a systematic structure which can reduce and finally eliminate the need for a Nagual. The process-centered astrology of Dane Rudhyar integrates our life processes of involution, evolution and devolution with a psychological astrology. Through integrating and synthesizing this process-centered astrology with the initiatory spiritual growth process and the teachings of don Juan, a truly Aquarian Age spiritual Warrior’s Path can be created.The Warrior’s Spiritual Path
Don Juan divides all reality into two parts. The Tonal is everything that we perceive as reality, including God. The Nagual (same word as spiritual teacher) is the true reality from which the Tonal is created. The Tonal in don Juan’s teachings are similar to those within Eastern mysticism in which our daily life is actually a dreamed state of suffering. Metaphysically, the Tonal is our Objective universe (Objectivity) and the Nagual is our Subjective universe (Subjectivity). Don Juan’s teachings instruct us how to reconnect and consciously live in the Nagual. From our true nature within the Nagual, we transform our ties to and nature within the Tonal until we achieve total freedom within Infinity. There are three main parts or phases in this Path of spiritual growth. These three are the Mastery of Awareness, the Mastery of Stalking and the Mastery of Intent. Also similar to Eastern mysticism, one pursues all three simultaneously, just like the eight practices of the Noble Eightfold Path. Even so, Mastery of all comes in phases, not simultaneously.As you might imagine, the Mastery of Awareness is focused on us becoming aware of all aspects of the Tonal and Nagual (the totality of reality). From this continually increasing awareness, we use various techniques for "stalking" ourselves. Stalking is focused discipline to transform our Personality and behavior. Stalking is how we become oriented to Infinity and prepared to gain freedom. Finally, learning to live by Intent is simply understood as living by purpose or living by the dictates of Spirit (Infinity).A critical spiritualizing exercise, which becomes a way of life on this Path is called Dreaming. For most of us, dreaming while asleep is mostly an unconscious process. Only a part of our daily consciousness experiences the dream and only during one phase of sleep (REM periods). A Warrior's dreaming is consciously experiencing the myriad parts and levels of the Subjective (Nagual). By doing so, we build "the Double" and our Energy Body, which become the center of our subjective conscious reality. The end result is becoming able to live in the Nagual as easily as we live in the outer world with our I-consciousness and physical body.
The Mastery of Awareness
As the word indicates, the core of this first phase on this spiritual Path is all about awareness. This awareness includes who we are now, who we have been and who we decide to be for the future. As regards our past, don Juan created a technique of "recapitulation." This systematic review and energy recapturing of every significant and mundane life experience becomes a powerful way of transmuting our karma. Rather than going into hibernation from the outer world for six months or longer, our Living Spirit’s Warrior’s Path molds recapitulation into a daily meditative exercise utilized in deeper and deeper review phases.Another key part of becoming aware is to deal with various aspects of our self-importance. Besides learning about and detaching from seven key sources of self-importance, at this stage we also learn to identify and detach from our "Herd" conditioning. At the same time, Warriors takes steps to resolve the lingering fears in life and issues of security.Learning to consciously live in Dreaming can take years to decades. A good first phase is for us to learn to make our normal dreaming a valuable communication channel from our subjective Beingness to our outer Personality. By the end of this phase of growth, we have now also learned how to consciously dream (sometimes called Lucid dreaming) as a means of extending our conscious awareness into more and more parts and levels of the Subjective.Similar to our other Aquarian spiritual Paths, our Personality transformation at this point includes defining a new set of values to live by; learning to resolve our relationship issues; transforming our habitual feeling and thinking patterns and self-indulgences and learning three new spiritualizing habits for life. We also gain control of the energy flow within our bodies including how we use and experience sex in our lives. Another key part in our awareness training comes in how we can use both appreciation and Beauty as exercises in allowing the free flow of spiritual meaning into our outer lives (the Tonal).By the end of this phase of growth, a Warrior becomes focused on living by principles, transforming selfish desire into a will for good and taking steps to live a more balanced objective (Tonal) and subjective (Nagual) existence. With diligent effort, the Warrior is now on the precipice of a major reorientation to all aspects of life. 
The Mastery of Stalking
The exercises and techniques for stalking are so different from dreaming that don Juan actually classified Warriors into two groups: stalkers and dreamers. This classification relates to the strengths of the individual in stalking and dreaming. Regardless of which group, we must all learn to stalk ourselves and our life. Although not just about stalking, this major second phase of growth will bring about an internal focus of discipline within a Warrior.An ideal spiritualizing habit for this is what don Juan called "controlled folly." As the name implies, it is definitely a balance of opposites in orientation and behavior. Another powerful spiritualizing part of this phase in growth is what don Juan taught as dealing with our "petty tyrants." In dealing with our external tyrants in life, we learn to see and transform our own internal petty tyrant.Another part of stalking is a focus on getting to our place of "silent knowledge." In essence, this is making a transition from our normal center of ego and thinking to a continuous conscious intuitiveness. In this stage of growth, it is accompanied by learning to listen deeply and open up to and begin living by Intent. In addition, learning to consciously qualify our life activities with a different perspective becomes another level of stalking ourselves. Finally, we are now ready to move to a new level of Dreaming.Consistent with other spiritual Path venues, this stage becomes a good time to deal with our physical body issues, learning a new higher level of creativity while implementing specific goals for our outer and inner life. As a partner to controlled folly, we also learn to live with joyous humility while resolving lingering issues with family and friends. This stage on our spiritual journey also becomes where we take our recapitulation of life experiences to a deeper level. What this does is reclaim our use and misuse of energy from our past as a means of creating a new level of will and motivation for the intense transformations ahead.Completing the Mastery of Stalking also includes dealing with our remaining ego, sexual nature and Achilles' heel in life. To help us with these and other ingrained personality traits, learning forbearance and to live with integrity and faith become powerful transformation tools. In addition, before moving to our next phase of growth, we need to resolve our lingering attachments to society’s conditioning (the Tonal) as a way of realigning to Intent. The Mastery of Intent
This major third phase of spiritual growth is about a whole new orientation in life and Spirit. Our focused discipline in stalking has now become an automatic internal process. New vistas of objective intuitiveness, truth and the Nagual are opened up as we commit to a deeper level of self surrender and purification. What assists us Warriors in this transition of orientation is learning and living equanimity. This refined attitude and orientation includes nonattachment, nondiscrimination, even-mindedness and letting go. What is produced is a deep and subtle joy, freedom of mind and heart and a profound faith.
This equanimity ushers in a higher focus of compassion and charity to those we encounter and are drawn to by the dictates of Intent. With this new orientation, we are also led to a deepening of our goal orientation while seeing our spiritual values of the past raised a new level. A major accomplishment with this new orientation is what has been defined within spirituality as Mastery.
The Mastery of Intent will carry us far beyond this first level Mastery. At this point, we truly know that we are "in this world, but not of it." We are now learning what spiritual Balance is really about. Although we would sooner leave this reality for Infinity, we also know that our job is just beginning in living with Intent and selfless service of Infinity. Therefore, we are challenged to internalize this new landscape of Spirit and Intent as we live an outer life of perseverance.
For many Warriors, completing this next phase of growth will truly test how well each has internalized equanimity, perseverance, integrity to Intent and nonattachment to the Tonal. Life does not become easier, only more focused on living the dictates of Infinity (Spirit). When freedom does come, it is easily embraced with a full release of anything that seems unfinished.
