This book is firstly for the thinkers of the world who have seen for themselves that humanity cannot continue indefinitely upon its present course, and that a drastic change in human attitudes and thinking is necessary if world prosperity is to be ensured. Secondly, it is for those to whom the truth is more important than words, who believe that experiential knowledge is life's priceless gift, and who acknowledge the interrelationship, interdependence and interaction of all life. But perhaps most important of all, this book is for those who have up until now been seeking a truth they sense exists, but which they have not yet been able to find. These are the truly gentle souls who do not despair, but who wait patiently in true humility. Maintaining within their hearts the quietness of life, these people know that their opportunity will one day come.

A warrior accepts the challenges of life in true humility. No matter what his destiny may be, it can never be a cause for discontent, but a living challenge which it is his privilege to surmount.

There exists a vast difference between arrogance and humility. Arrogance is based upon the assumption that one is superior to someone or something else. Humility is based upon the knowledge that one is not elevated above or more important than anything else. But man regards himself as being humble when he upholds what he terms respect for a superior; therefore in his conceit he worships arrogance.

The only time a man will face a challenge is when reason assures him that he will come out on top. It is the rare man indeed who will willingly undertake a task which he thinks might be to his detriment. Such reasoning is always founded in the belief that not to succeed is a disgrace, and is to become less in the eyes of one's fellow men. This, in turn, presupposes that one is somehow elevated in the first place, because only if one has a position of importance can one possibly lose it. Unlike average man, the warrior knows that he is neither more important nor less important than anything else. He knows this by virtue of the fact that he is alive. The priceless gift of life with which he has been endowed is the same life-force as that bestowed upon a king, a beggar and an insect. Such knowledge is very sobering indeed, and it is only the conceited fool who will fail to be humbled by this fact. The warrior takes no part in arrogance, but through his humility he has a profound respect for all of life, no matter if that life is himself, a king, a beggar, an animal, a plant, an insect or an atom.

Man often confuses humility with arrogance and therefore has no real respect for life. Think of the soldier fleeing for his life. Would you have acted differently to the soldier had you been in his position? Faced with certain death you would have taken your chances just as he did. Yet in daily life man loves to complain, and through this to indulge in feelings of helplessness. Essentially there is nothing wrong in feeling helpless, but to indulge in this feeling is a very different kettle of fish. If the soldier had merely indulged in his feeling of helplessness he would have been a dead soldier.

Indulging in a sense of helplessness is habitual for mankind, and is usually regarded as the sign of a humble man. By declaring that he is helpless in a given situation a man always manages to manipulate others into shouldering his responsibility for him. Considering that there are always those who are looking for an opportunity to prove themselves, a helpless man never wants for a helping hand. Helplessness is obviously then a most convenient tool to use whenever faced with some challenge which is either feared or despised. The fact that people are normally willing to assist a helpless man does not change the fact that such a man is merely manipulating others to his own advantage. There is nothing humble about manipulation. On the contrary, it is arrogant.

In observing warriors one can easily be led to believe that they are extremely self-confident people. However, it should be realised that there is an enormous difference between what man generally terms self-confidence and the deeper implications of the term. This term is important in that it clarifies the difference between two distinct concepts, namely impeccability and perfection. It is not easy to define impeccability without getting caught up in the concept of perfection, and yet there is a fine distinction between the two. This distinction lies in the difference between arrogance and humility, two further concepts which can only be understood through the term self-confidence. If we are to come to grips with the Warrior's Path these terms must be carefully defined.

Self-confidence, as it is generally understood, implies arrogant presumption; humility implies being impeccable in one's actions and feelings.

In order to grasp this we must realise that whenever average man is certain of his fellow man's approval he acts with a great deal of assurance and calls this self-confidence. However, the moment the man senses that his fellow man is not in agreement with him he suddenly lacks his previous bravado. This happens, firstly, because of man's arrogance in persisting in his belief that one person can be more important than another, and secondly, because man is dependant upon his fellow man's approval in order to maintain his sense of self-importance.

Since the warrior does not regard himself as being more important or less important than his fellow man, it does not matter to him if he loses face in the eyes of his fellow men. In other words, the warrior does not strive to be self-important and therefore does not care about public approval. This freedom from having to seek approval is true humility. Since he no longer has to fear the impact his actions may have upon his sense of self-importance, the warrior's only consideration is to act upon his own knowledge to the very best of his ability. Accordingly, a warrior understands self-confidence to mean confidence in one's own ability to act like an impeccable warrior.

To conquer power and then to choose the Path of Freedom is very difficult in one sense and, paradoxically, very simple in another. The key lies in humility, a natural quality in every human being, but a potential which has to be brought forth and nurtured, just like any talent has to be uncovered and developed. True humility is not a sense of subservience, but a spontaneous act of the heart, born of the intelligent appreciation of the interrelationship of life.

Man generally has much to learn about listening to his heart. However, the tendency in the world today is to scoff at feeling, and this only takes man further away from listening to his heart. For ages the accent has been placed upon the development of the rational mind, and it is largely due to this that man has also forgotten the true meaning of humility. What man has come to accept as humility is in reality nothing more than a sense of subservience imposed upon the individual by the effects of social conditioning. As has already been pointed out, true humility is an act of the heart, and as such is a feeling, not a forced act based upon the sense of needing to be subservient. This is a point of vital importance, and it must be grasped in all of its implications if the warrior is going to survive the battle against power. As the teachings unfold we will find ourselves returning again and again to the concept of humility - each time to grasp a deeper and more profound implication, but for now let us confine ourselves only to the broader meaning of this concept.

In order to understand the concept of humility fully, it must be remembered that by the time the warrior has reached this point in his training he has already conquered both fear and sobriety. Having conquered his fear, and therefore having the necessary sobriety at his command with which to see his life for what it is, the warrior is now in a position to accept himself in the true sense of the word. Theoretically, the warrior should have been able to do this from the time he overcame his fear, but it must be remembered that in practice the teachings overlap one another. This is analogous to a child at school who is not expected to achieve one hundred percent in any one particular grade, but after mastering enough of the work in that specific grade, will be passed to the next. This is exactly what happens in life itself; because of the interdependence of life, we cannot progress beyond a certain level of expertise without first having acquired the skills gained at a higher level of experience. Therefore, although the warrior will have gone a long way towards accepting himself for what he is after conquering his fear, he can only accept himself unequivocally once he is facing power in battle.

The danger which power poses for the warrior lies in the fact that, in having power, the warrior is now in a position to be able to do whatever he desires. Thus the greatest temptation of all is to use power to mask the feeling of inferiority. Consequently, the real crux in the battle against power is the warrior's fight to overcome his feelings of inferiority and unworthiness. The only way to overcome the sense of unworthiness is to acquire that deep and sincere humility in which there is no sense of judgement, in spite of all standing clearly revealed in the light of sobriety. In other words, the warrior must see himself honestly, as he truly is, without an attempt to mask his shortcomings, or to justify his actions, whether these are physical, emotional or mental. This is by far the hardest thing in the world to do, and it requires an act of supreme ruthlessness, for in the harsh light of sobriety we are always shocked at what we see.

None of us are angels, and to peer into the mirror of justice is inevitably to be overcome by a devastating sense of guilt. Yet, it is also only in this moment that we have the opportunity to acquire true humility, provided that we are capable of perceiving the interrelationship of all life. If, in that moment, the warrior can look at himself honestly, and without hating himself, accept the fact that he is indeed worthy of life, since he is still alive, then his sense of shame and guilt will become superseded by a very real sense of humility. It is not that the warrior in any way justifies his past, but rather he sees, in that moment of truth, that it is only because of his past that he has been able to succeed in becoming a warrior.

Shame will not erase even one iota of our guilt, and no amount of regret will turn back the clock, but to turn our backs upon our past, in horror, is to make the past futile and irrelevant. This is something true warriors can never do, for the simple reason that their respect for life is too great. For example, if we must kill in order to eat, then we must at least honour the spirit of the plant or animal that has given its life so that we may live. Likewise, if we can only learn the value of life by trampling upon those around us, then it is our duty to honour the spirits of those who have suffered at our hands so that we may learn. Therefore to refuse to acknowledge the truth about our actions in the past is in reality to spurn the sacrifices of all those who have helped us on our way - an ungrateful act of cruelty, arising out of a shameful sense of self-importance.

People who see themselves as being spiritual are as misguided as those who see themselves as unworthy of life. To elevate oneself to a position of superiority is just as futile as to adopt a sense of inferiority so as to opt out of life in some way. To strive to be a dictator is as insane as to become a beggar, irrespective of whether we beg for money, for recognition, or for love. All such acts are based upon the fact that the people concerned cannot accept themselves for who and what they are. They do not acknowledge to themselves their true nature and purpose within life, but instead believe that they should rather be something else. In doing this they turn their back upon life and upon their true destiny. Such people never learn the meaning of humility, for they choose instead to indulge in self-importance, which has its roots firmly entrenched in self-pity.

The only way we can learn to accept ourselves is through seeing life in its true perspective, and acknowledging that in having been allowed to walk this earth we have also in effect taken it upon ourselves to hurt, to maim, and to kill, so that we may learn the value of life. This is the way in which power has set it up - a shockingly stark truth indeed, but one that also has inherent within it a heartrending beauty. The warrior who has discovered this truth, and who has seen it for himself, becomes filled with an overpowering sense of awe, for in that knowledge he grasps with every fibre of his being the very meaning and purpose of life.

Seeing clearly the interdependence, the interaction, and the interrelationship of all life, the warrior can now sense all the beings who have touched his life in some way. It is as if each and every one of those beings is reaching out to him to touch again the innermost core of his own being. Long-forgotten memories of those who gave their lives so that he may live, and of those who suffered at his hands whilst he fumbled with learning, are stirred into existence once more. Yet, in the full knowledge of the interrelationship of life, there never is any sense of criticism or judgement - only a profound understanding of the fact that all forms of life must walk this same path. In acknowledging this the warrior knows beyond all doubt that there can be no blame where due recognition has been awarded, and for the first time in his life, he experiences true peace.

In that moment of peace and harmony, the warrior sees with utter clarity just how very much he has been given. It is a supremely poignant moment - a moment which is so heartrendingly beautiful that no warrior is ever the same again after this experience. In view of the incredible gift bestowed upon him through having been allowed to participate in life, what does the warrior have that he can possibly give in return for such an unspeakable gift - such a high honour? All the money in the world cannot compensate for it. Not even the best service can ever warrant such an honour. So what then can the warrior give in return?

It is then that the warrior realises he has no alternative but to drop his hands to his sides, and to step back, lowering his head in true humility. Standing with empty hands and lowered head, the warrior is overcome by the poverty of his human resources. Yet, how can he in all honesty turn his back upon this moment without first having in some way expressed his gratitude? For the warrior to walk away at this point, without giving at least a token of his appreciation, would render the whole concept of walking a path with a heart completely meaningless.

Having nothing else that he can possibly give, and knowing that nothing less is called for, the warrior gladly gives the only thing he can - his heart, and in this, he gives also his freedom. Opening his heart wide, the warrior pours out upon the world every bit of feeling, warmth and love that he possesses. He holds back nothing, for he knows that not even all of what is in his heart can ever be enough to settle the debt. Nor does the warrior care about the possible consequences of throwing open his heart, for what can be taken from him that he has not already been given in such great abundance?

However, in giving his heart to the world the warrior knows that he has also willingly sacrificed his freedom for ever. In the context of his humanness the warrior will always remain a free being - free from being hooked to his fellow men, free from social conditioning, and free in being able to think and feel and act according to his own chosen frame of reference. But, in the context of his warriorship, the warrior is now bound for all time to all of life. At the very moment that he could have accepted his full freedom the warrior chooses instead to use it on behalf of all of life. Never again will he be able to separate himself from his fellow creatures, for the simple reason that he no longer desires to do so. Instead the warrior has chosen to cast his lot with theirs. And so, time and time again, lifetime after lifetime, he takes his place amongst his fellow men, not only to meet them in the midst of their folly, but also to stand amongst them as a pillar of strength and comfort, as a leader and a friend.

Such is the true nature of humility; that state of awareness which is the very essence of warriorship, and the true meaning of being Atl'aman. But it must be stressed that it is impossible to reach this state unless there is a full acceptance of oneself. When a man or a woman continually wallows in self-importance or self-pity, in feelings of superiority or of inferiority, in a sense of being spiritual or in a sense of being unworthy, there can be no recognition of the priceless gift of life, or of the privilege of being able to walk a path with a heart. Therefore, for the true warrior, the state of humility is not a sign of status which he wears like a badge, but rather an expression of his innermost feelings, born from the knowledge that he is neither greater nor lesser than anything or anyone else in the universe.

At the end of the day there is in truth very little difference between humility and true love, the two being but different expressions of the one force. Humility is a passive acceptance of the process of life; love is an active participation in that process. We can equally well rephrase this aphorism by saying that humility is the ability to accept oneself for who and what one truly is, whereas love is the gift the warrior gives in return for all that he has been given.

Humility and love are both so simple, but also so very profound. Neither are at all easy to attain if one doesn't yet know how to love oneself. Furthermore, both these words are perhaps also the most badly-understood words in any language, and have therefore become horrendously twisted. Yet neither humility nor love can be avoided for ever, simply because they are both inherent within the destiny of all human beings. Sooner or later every man and woman has to walk the Path with a Heart, and in so doing, comes to stand before the legendary Holy Graal. Looking upon that object of unspeakable beauty is in itself a truly humbling experience. In that moment of sheer magic, the person finally understands that this bright and radiant receptacle is not a myth, but is in reality the luminous cocoon of man, in the shining depths of which is reflected the true meaning and purpose of love.

Therefore if a warrior is defeated in his battle against power it is only because he did not achieve that humility to enable him to see the interrelationship of life. As a result of this, he cannot accept himself for what he truly is, simply because he has never known how to love himself.

One final point should be touched upon here, for without at least mentioning it, this section would not be complete. The quarter assigned to power is the South - the place of warmth. The South is described as being the gateway to the nagal's world, and in this respect it should be realised that the principal duty and purpose of any nagal is to lead beings to freedom. From what has been stated so far concerning the four natural enemies, but most especially power, it should not be difficult for the reader to understand why the South should be termed the gateway to the nagal's world. In the final analysis all true warriors walk the Path of Freedom, simply because for them this is the only path with a heart. Therefore it is not so strange that the gateway to the nagal's world should be warmth. The truth which emerges here, is that to be a real man or woman of knowledge, warriors must have fought and defeated all four natural enemies - only then can they rightfully claim the title of 'Toltec'. In other words, the warrior can and does live his life like a Toltec, and even though he may speak of himself as being a Toltec, he is nonetheless never so vain as to forget that what he is really inferring is that he is heir to the Toltec tradition. The humility of the warrior is such that he does not try to claim the title of Toltec for himself until he knows within his heart of hearts that he has lived his entire life impeccably - only then is he willing to accept the highest honour of all. In this respect it should be realised that the accolade of 'Toltec' is not something which is, or can, be conferred; instead it is an inner knowing which is never worn as an epaulette or badge. All true Toltecs know, and for them it is enough that they alone should know, for herein lies their real honour.

Also inherent within the title of 'Toltec' is the poignant truth concerning the warrior's battle against old age. In choosing the Path of Total Freedom, the warrior has also relinquished the will to delay the aging process, and for that matter, death. As a result, the warrior knows that he is fighting a losing battle, and yet the impeccability of his spirit is such that he does not despair, nor does he resent the fact that he will never defeat this, his final enemy. Instead the warrior gives this battle his all, and allows his spirit to flow free and clear to rejoice in the wonder of the definitive journey. As incomprehensible as this may be from the angle of average man's normal awareness, the warrior who is fighting the battle against old age is in effect going to his death singing!

The fact that men and women in general do not have the necessary humility to accept themselves and their circumstances for what they are is the greatest cause of all acts of self-importance and self-pity. Consequently, people get totally caught up in trying to change themselves into something they were never meant to be, and desperately try to change their lives by attempting to run away from their challenges. This lack of humility arises from man's belief in the concept of inequality.

Instead of looking around and acknowledging the fact that all men and women have their own particular fate, and therefore challenges, man chooses instead to compare himself with others and to believe that he is either superior or inferior to them. Yet, at the end of the day, every individual's fate is unique, and thus is no better or worse than any other. Our challenges, likewise, are not any easier or more difficult than another's, simply because what may be easy for one individual could well be extremely difficult for another. It is ridiculous to believe that the challenge of being ugly is more difficult than the challenge of being beautiful, or that the challenge of being wealthy is easier than that of being poor.

Challenges are unique to every individual. What makes a challenge difficult or easy is the level of power inherent within it. Easy challenges do not require a great deal of effort, and therefore their yields are poor. Difficult challenges, on the other hand, require a great deal of effort, and in exercising the will in order to conquer them, they yield magnificent gifts of power.

To meet one's fellow men in the midst of their folly means that although one is fully objective towards every aspect of life and towards every action of every being, yet one can also see the meaning and purpose within the process of life, and in that perception of the greater whole, one can embrace all without accusation and without judgement. From this point on, sobriety escalates rapidly, and as a result one thing will lead to another, until finally the apprentice finds that he has, through his own personal experience, come to understand fully that all of life is indeed interrelated, interdependent, and interactive. Having come to this realisation, the apprentice is now also able to see that all of life is in truth equal, that there is in reality no difference between his own life or that of another human being, that of an animal, an insect, a plant, or a mineral. The forms are different, and so too the level of awareness and the fate, but not the life contained within those forms.

Having achieved this much in his training and development, the apprentice has in effect restructured the island of his tonal fully, and in the process has also adjusted his relationship to the world around him significantly. This restructuring and adjustment means that the apprentice has now acquired what can be rightfully termed a proper tonal. Having everything on his island of the tonal in its correct spot, and having adjusted his relationship to the world so as to meet his fellow men in the midst of their folly, the apprentice has not only acquired the humility of the warrior, but has also learned the Way of the Hunter, thereby earning for himself the title of a Warrior of the First Attention.

In addition to this, the newly-recruited warrior has also accepted the responsibility inherent within his destiny as a magical being of the universe, in that he has, without realising it, become proficient in the task of transmutation. By transmuting egotism from self-importance and self-pity into humility, the warrior has begun his career as a magical being, and although there still remains much to be transmuted, the warrior is now ready to commence the process of transformation.

In the final analysis, to stop the world is as simple and as difficult as making the decision to feel good about oneself. For those apprentices who fail, this is a barrier which they insist on seeing as insurmountable. For those who succeed, it is not easy either, but having chosen to live, rather than to exist, such apprentices force out of themselves that inner strength which is ultimately the mark of the true warrior.

Needless to say, the decision to feel good about oneself cannot be based on the arrogant assumption that one is somehow superior to the rest of life around one. Nor can it be based on that feeling of inferiority which makes people withdraw into their own private little space. To feel good about oneself, in the true sense of the word, is only possible once one has grasped the interrelationship of all life. Only once we have been able to see that all of life is interactive, and therefore also interdependent, do we acquire that true humility which brings us to the acceptance of ourselves and our lives as having a purpose, and therefore also a value, which it is our duty to uncover. In order to stop the world therefore, we must be able to stand out in the open, and in the face of the full force of life, claim our power.

If you are going to stop the world you must claim your power, but no man can claim his power if he feels unworthy of it.

You should know, firstly, that the whole world and everything in it is an endless mystery; secondly, that it is our duty as warriors to solve this mystery, but we should never engage the hope of being able to do so; thirdly, that because warriors are aware of the endless mystery surrounding them, they acknowledge that they too are a part of this mystery, and because they know that it is their duty to solve this mystery, they become at-one with the mystery; fourthly, being at-one with the mystery, the warrior comes to understand that the crux of this mystery is the infinite mystery of beingness, irrespective of whether beingness means an atom, a mineral, a plant, an animal, a human, or even a superhuman entity. Having come to this realisation the warrior enters into a state of true humility, for within the mystery of beingness, all are equal.

Whilst self-importance is still intact, recapitulation never amounts to much more than bringing forth huge doses of self-pity whenever the apprentice concerned recalls how hard-done-by he or she has been in the past. True recapitulation can only really start taking effect when apprentices make the conscious effort to stop indulging in the belief that they are victims, and because of this, come to the realisation that it is only their self-importance which makes them feel victimised. This is a point of huge import, for where there is true humility there never can be any sense of being victimised - there can only be the sure knowledge that one is being challenged.

To be challenged is a far cry from being victimised. But because people all too often succumb to their fear, yet choose not to admit their cowardice to themselves, they cover for it by becoming most awfully self-righteous and complaining bitterly that it is not right that other people should be allowed to bully them. In the example of Sean, it is clear to see how, if left to his social conditioning, he could very easily believe Willis was bullying him unjustly. Sean would then feel very justified in sniffing indignantly, sticking his nose in the air and walking around with a hurt look on his face, so that the whole world may know how much he is suffering. However, to indulge in such behaviour is the height of arrogance and the very epitome of self-importance, for it implies that your holiness is so untouchable, and your perfection so complete, that you are the only person in the world who does not need the gifts of power challenges bring us. Therefore how dare anyone challenge you? Or, more precisely, how dare anyone be so beastly to you?

"A warrior is an honourable being in that his humility does not allow for any action which does not uphold the interrelationship of life."

The implications of this aphorism are extremely far-reaching, but by far the most important implication that concerns us here is that to have the honour of a warrior demands not only a recognition of the interrelationship of all life, but also a conscious upholding of this law. In other words, the true warrior cannot just pay lip service to the interrelationship of life, but must live it in every possible sense of the word. What this means is that the warrior acknowledges the fact that if he uplifts himself, then through the interaction of life he also uplifts all those around him.

To adopt the stance of selfishness within the process of life is, therefore, a far cry from what social conditioning has ingrained in men and women in general because, as we have seen, it is in fact the very basis of true humility, in that instead of blaming others, we accept full responsibility for who and what we are, as well as accepting responsibility for our own knowledge and our own state of being. By adopting a selfish approach to life we acknowledge that the only work to be done is on the self, and that through the interaction of life this will also benefit all of the world around us. Self-centredness, however, is the complete opposite, for there is nothing humble about being self-centred. On the contrary, to be self-centred is not only to be self-important, but is also the height of arrogance and conceit, and although the do-gooders of this world will scream and shout in defence of their actions, the truth of the matter is that charity begins at home. If you cannot sort out the mess in your own life, then how in hell's name are you ever going to be able to sort out the mess in someone else's life? Likewise, if you cannot stop calling forth people to victimise you, then who gives you the right to demand that the social authorities do a better job at protecting you? Such reasoning makes absolutely no sense to the warrior at all, because since it is you yourself who are calling forth victimisers, you are in effect demanding that the social authorities should protect you from your own behaviour!

From all of the above it should now be clear that by having no one to blame, and by being thrown back upon himself time and time again, the warrior has no option but to adopt a humble approach to life. By working with the mirror concept day in and day out, every apprentice, through the experiences in his or her life, sooner or later has to acknowledge the fact that he or she is indeed no better and no worse than anyone or anything else. In the final analysis we are all equal to each other and to every other life-form upon this planet. The only real differences between one being and another are the great many different ways in which we tend to materialise our challenges in life.

Although there are lots of people in this world who deem themselves to be better than others, the warrior is a being who has learned through working with mirrors that he is no angel and, in having learned to accept himself for who and what he honestly is, has no fear of owning all and everything which is on his island of the tonal. By having got to know every aspect of his being, from the very worst through to the very best, the warrior is incapable of judging another person, or being, for that matter, and here lies his greatest honour. Not being ashamed of the fact that he is no better than a petty criminal, and not bashful about the fact that he also has within him the qualities of the saint, the warrior is capable of facing all of life squarely, standing tall and with head held high. This the warrior can do, not because of arrogance, not because of self-importance, not because of false pride, but because he has acquired that utter humility which comes from the sure knowledge, firstly, that no one is better or worse than himself; and secondly, that he is an honourable being in that he is honest enough to own every aspect of his island of the tonal and courageous enough to fight for impeccability.

In that moment of clarity Sean felt totally in awe of the fact that people are indeed only our mirrors and, through this personal experience, also came to grasp for himself that, as is stated in the fourth postulate, the crux of this mystery is the infinite mystery of beingness, and within the mystery of beingness all are equal. Consequently, Sean could feel no anger towards his brother, but now through being able truly to see his own role in all of this, experienced a very deep sense of what is really meant by the phrase, the warrior enters into a state of true humility.

Self-importance leads to impatience, and impatience will cause you to fret about having to achieve warriorship sooner rather than later. Fretting impatiently, you will continue to blunder along in ignorance of your daily life, and in that ignorance you will miss your fleeting moments of chance. Only once you have acquired true humility and patience will power come to you unbidden.

In the beginning every warrior needs the warrior's shield in order to survive the arrows of the sharpshooters of the universe, and therefore that shield is very much a shield. However, once the warrior has entered the temple of death and has learned to dance the edge, the steps of his dance and the swiftness of his movements are all that is required. From this moment on the warrior uses his shield, not as a protection from the sharpshooters of the universe, but as a means whereby he strives to embrace more and more of life with his heart. In time that striving becomes a passion - a passion that is all-consuming and utterly inclusive.

Participating fully in the process of life, the true warrior no longer has any desire to avoid any challenge or any aspect of life. Therefore, tears and laughter, happiness and sorrow, good health and bad health, wealth and poverty, light and darkness, man and beast, plant and insect, all are embraced by the warrior with equal joy and in complete humility, for in his heart of hearts he knows from experience that within the mystery of beingness all are equal. Yet, realise that in having learned what it is to be free the Warriors of Freedom also do not balk at fighting ferociously everything that is inducive to slavery and any being that tries to entice either them or their fellow creatures into bondage. Such is the joy of the warrior and such is his passion for freedom. In that sense of freedom the warrior's life is one of constant change, constant innovation and is therefore forever new, and each act takes him or her on yet another exciting adventure in the unknown regions of the mystery of beingness.

In no longer expecting that he is ever going to get anywhere at all, and therefore also no longer expecting any kind of a reward, the apprentice has finally reached the outer fringes of power. Standing quite literally on the threshold of a brand new life, such an apprentice will do either one of two things. Either he will yield to the lack of sobriety and give up in one way or another, in which case, if he is being trained by a nagal who is dedicated to the Path of Freedom, that apprentice will have his apprenticeship terminated. Or alternatively, the apprentice comes to the realisation that because he is not likely to be going anywhere at all, he might just as well try, to the best of his ability, to live the Path with a Heart for whatever it may be worth. In that moment, although the apprentice will only become aware of it in retrospect, and only much further down the line, he not only forfeits his motive for having come to the Warrior's Path, but, paradoxically, is also rewarded with his freedom!

Once the apprentice has come to this point in his or her training there is nothing that will any longer hold the apprentice back in his or her progress. Making every effort to live the impeccable life of a warrior, the apprentice becomes so completely absorbed in constantly and diligently practising the teachings, that in time the practising becomes second nature, and therefore instead of trying to live like a warrior, the apprentice just simply starts to live like a warrior without even noticing it. In other words, what started off as a conscious not-doing becomes an unconscious reality, and in no longer having any expectations, or motive, the apprentice does the only thing he can - he starts to open up to the world around him. Without realising it, the apprentice has started to open his heart and to bring into being the force of inclusiveness and, by doing so, unconsciously becomes the myth - becomes the warrior! Yet the apprentice himself is still wholly unaware of the transformation, and it is only as power starts to come to him unbidden that it will suddenly dawn on him that his apprenticeship is over, that he is finally a warrior, and that power is at his command.

When this moment arrives in the life of the apprentice he or she is invariably overcome by the most indescribably intense feeling of utter humility - a humility which can only be expressed by opening the heart even further and wider than ever before. It is then that the warrior steps back and lowers his or her head, for in that moment there comes the realisation that none of our endeavours as human beings can ever bring us one step closer to warriorship, but only by having come to accept the limitations of our humanness do we find the key to warriorship, namely, the force of inclusiveness. There is nothing more devastatingly humbling than that realisation, and in that moment every warrior forfeits for ever any desire to strive for anything other than complete freedom - freedom from everything that keeps him or her from throwing wide open even the most secret and previously jealously-guarded recesses of the heart.

The true warrior quite literally has a face for everyone and for every occasion, for no two people or two occasions are alike, but because all people and all occurrences in the life of the warrior are of equal importance, they each deserve whatever is demanded by their needs. Therefore the different faces of the warrior are not masks behind which he or she hides, but are instead an expression of his or her innermost predilection for humility and unconditional love.

From what we have learned here, it should be clear that true honour is the product of the relationship between humility and understanding (2) and the void (0). The implications here are so vast that verbalisation is exceedingly difficult, but it will help to think of it in terms of what were probably the most profound words ever spoken by the philosopher Socrates when he said, "I am the wisest man in the whole world, for I alone know that I know nothing".

In this truly brilliant statement, Socrates tried his level best to verbalise the true nature of honour, and to the Toltec warrior who is thoroughly versed in the properties of words, those few words do indeed speak volumes. However, it takes a fair amount of explaining in order to qualify the nuances of these words and, in this respect, I personally have always been enormously envious of Socrates, for although those who are fully trained in the properties of words can verbalise anything that needs to be verbalised, the problem is that apprentices never come to the Warrior's Path already literate. However, to judge from the teachings of Socrates, his students were all fully literate when they came to him!

Nevertheless, realise that the overall import of this statement by Socrates is very much a statement of humility, in that Socrates understood enough about life to know that, relative to the greater life of which we are units, none of us knows much at all. It is only the ignorant fool living in the tiny cocoon of his view of the world who tends to think that his rational mind can provide the answers to everything. Therefore when Socrates said that he knows that he knows nothing, he was in fact stepping back to lower his head in utter humility, for he was fully willing to admit that even all of his wisdom as a philosopher was as nothing in comparison to all that he still did not know. To have such understanding that it automatically brings about humility, in itself already indicates the truly wise man.

Furthermore, in making reference to himself as "I alone", Socrates was referring to I, the all-one, meaning the totality of the self, and in saying that "I alone know", he was actually saying "I, the all-one know". It stands to reason that the only real knowledge there can be, is knowledge of the self, that is, knowledge of the totality of the self - the all-one - and when that knowledge is fully conscious, one can indeed say "I, the all-one know", or alternatively, "I know the all-one (which is me)". However, Socrates is not merely indicating that he knows the totality of the self, for he goes on to say "I alone know that", meaning "I, the all-one know that". What is that? Socrates himself answers this by saying "nothing", meaning no-thing, that aspect of awareness termed the void. However, he stresses the fact that this knowledge of the void is conscious, for he prefaces the answer with "I know (nothing)". In other words, what in effect Socrates is saying here, is "I know myself as the all-one who knows that termed no-thing, but I am fully conscious of what I know".

With such a knowledge, and with the humility that comes with the full understanding of what it is he does know, Socrates has every right to proclaim himself a wise man. Furthermore, since he places his wisdom firmly in perspective by saying "the whole world", meaning that he grasps full well that there is only one life, and therefore also only one totality of the self, he is indeed the wisest man, for only the wisest of the wise have the honour necessary not to try claiming knowledge for the personal self.

Therefore in this one brilliant statement, Socrates not only describes the relationship between individual identity, the totality of the self and the void, but he also very neatly defines the true meaning of honour within the context of the interrelationship of the one life. This is about the best I can do to impart at least some feeling for what is implied by honour. If I were to describe it in a nutshell, I would say that true honour is that humility which overcomes a warrior in the moment when he or she comes to understand the deeper implications of what it is to be absolutely free. To know oneself to be one with all selves, good, bad and indifferent, is to understand the meaning of what it is to be humbled, and to stand free from the need to judge, and to stand free from being judged, is true freedom. In that absolute freedom there is no-thing other than an utter sense of beingness, and, in the final analysis, what else can honour be but beingness?