Running Ruminations: Warrior Reflections

What is a warrior?  We have the image of a defender protecting the innocent in righteous anger.  *I* say this is not the true image of a true warrior.  A true warrior is one who is dispassionately compassionate.

Aren't those two words at odds with each other?  To some extent, yes.  But, that's a part of what makes the warrior.  She is able to hold two opposing concepts in her head and let them be.  So, dispassionately compassionate.  What does that mean?

Compassion is defined as, "The deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it."  (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/compassion)

Dispassion is defined as, "Freedom from passion, bias, or emotion. Objective." (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dispassion)

So being dispassionately compassionate means that she will show compassion in a way that is not emotionally charged.

That's not saying that there will be no emotion.  Because a warrior who is dispassionately compassionate can actually share the emotions of everyone around her.  And that's where the dispassion comes in.  She has to be able to differentiate between which is hers and what belongs to another.  Once she figures that out, she can then figure out if she is going to share the emotion with the person it belongs to or let it be.

It is a path that is full of oxymoronical paradoxes, but completely worth the journey.  *NOT* that the end result is worth it, but the JOURNEY.  But, that's a topic for another day.