— The entire temporary life of human beings is no more than a passing moment in relation to the order and truth of the world. The limitations of our thought and emotions, and our limitation within time and place, lead us to judge incorrectly the effects of our action and inaction. This is why Krishna tells Arjuna: look toward me and stand facing me, rather than surrendering to your passing emotions and limited logic.

— What creates karma and the negative consequences of action is not action itself, but the wrong feelings and motives attached to our actions. Krishna tells Arjuna that if he takes up his bow in pursuit of power, hatred, resentment, or anger, the karma of that act will without doubt follow him to the end. But if he takes up the bow in order to stand in the path of truth, the divine essence within him—which in the ancient Indian traditions is called Atman, the divine Self within the human being—becomes aligned with Brahman, the primordial and eternal light of the world. Then it is not he but Brahman who enters the battlefield. Where Brahman is, everything is Brahman: it is Brahman who takes up the bow, Brahman who releases the arrow, and Brahman who receives the arrow into its own being.

The person who is not a warrior acts for only two purposes: avoiding suffering or acquiring pleasure. The world, from this person’s perspective, is merely the giver of these two things, and their understanding of ethics takes shape only within the structure of blessing and curse. What such a person calls restraint and morality is only a mask over self-importance, preventing them from becoming frightened by what they really are. The warrior does not look at the world through blessing and curse. What determines the warrior’s action is neither the pursuit of pleasure nor the avoidance of suffering, but action for the sake of action. The warrior is free from self-importance and knows that what lies on the path of truth can ultimately produce nothing other than truth. The non-warrior does not act and is not present with the heart in what they do, yet even in their action refuses responsibility for what they have chosen. The warrior, by contrast, continually and humbly accepts responsibility for what they do.

The warrior acts in the moment of action. When it is time to go, the warrior goes; when it is time to stay, the warrior stays; when it is time for battle, the warrior does not lay down the bow. What must be done is done without trembling, and without allowing resentment, anger, or regret to become the dominant feeling in the heart. The warrior rejects inaction and indecision in a world where the timeless forces of light and darkness stand in an eternal struggle.

Aydin Areta