A Warrior's Greatest Weapon & Greatest Poison

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Truth. Truth is something a warrior is supposed to strive to align himself with. Why? Because if you do not know what the truth is, how will you accurately recognize & prevent threats? Truth therefore is a warrior's best weapon in protecting. 

There is a second side however to the sword of truth. If you do not appropriately wield a double-edged blade, you will injure yourself. Truth is no different. 

If you conform yourself to truth (reality) you can do immense good and help a lot of people. If you claim to be living out the truth but in fact, your behavior and life does not reflect what you say, it is like cutting yourself with the 2nd side of that double-edged sword. For the truth makes no exceptions, and cares not for your rank, prestige, opinion-of-self, socio-economic status, race, religion, etc. The truth just is. If you fail to live up to it, you will be cut. It will defeat you.

If truth is a warrior's best weapon, than perhaps the greatest detriment & poison to a warrior is lying. Lies by definition are "non-truths." They are not true, factually incorrect, wrong, etc. 

Truth is pure being - it simply exists. Truth can exist without lies but lies can only exist if truth exists. Lies then, are essentially, non-being, not-exist. It stands to reason then, if a warrior's life is built on lies, it is built on that which does not exist. It's not built on a foundation of sand (for at least sand is something) it is literally built on NOTHING - NO-THING. Such a warrior cannot stand, and will always be exposed. 

I would argue that such a warrior, who has built their entire foundation on lies, is not even a warrior. For a warrior defends truth, as best he can, and if he strays from the path of truth, comes back to it after discovering he has erred. 

Remember, if you do not live for truth, you cannot help anyone. Because truth IS reality. If you cannot perceive reality accurately, you cannot prevent, or protect against threats to ensure safety, security and peace. 

In your life, there will be several watershed moments where you are given a choice - take a stand on truth or compromise and go with the easy lie. Hear me fellow warrior, ALWAYS stand for truth. The lie looks beneficial, but remember, lies literally are NON-BEING; they do not exist! You cannot build the foundation of a home on nothing. The truth is substantial, the truth is REAL. Lies will offer the false promise of short-term pleasure but will always hurt you in the long run.

The warrior knows this. Usually from experience. The truth is, lying doesn't even help you in the short-term. It creates lack of peace of mind, causes mental strain (because you have to remember to keep your story straight), and takes one more chip out of your character. Once enough of these chips are made, your character will crumble into dust. 

The truth is, as Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do." The warrior who lies becomes a liar. Lying prevents you from dealing with reality because you cannot see reality. The lies then end up hurting you greatly in the long run. Because you are blind to reality. 

My friend, I urge you not to think you are the exception to this. "I have been lying my whole life and no one has caught me yet." So say all before the fall. You cannot outrun the consequences forever - only delay payment. But once you are made to settle the debt, you will be destroyed. 

A warrior prevents this fate by sticking to the truth at all times. The other reason you must do this if you want to live like a warrior is because of one more crucial element:

If you tell the truth, and people see you live the truth, that fosters TRUST. Without trust, you have nothing. If your wife doesn't trust you in your marriage, you have nothing. If your students don't trust you as a teacher, you have nothing. If your employees don't trust you as their employer, you have nothing. LYING DESTROYS TRUST. Perhaps faster than any other poison.

The hard thing about trust is that it cannot be demanded - it must be earned. There is no way to cheat at earning trust. It takes a great amount of effort to earn trust but only one lie, one mistake, to ruin the entire foundation you built.
As Jim Rohn once said, "You can't hire someone to do your push-ups for you." Likewise, you cannot hire someone to build trust for you. Living according to the truth fosters trust, and lying destroys it. Do you really want to live a life where NO ONE trusts you? I do not. 

Warriors know that in order to protect themselves and others, trust is required. It isn't optional, it is a must. Trust is impossible where lies exist. Prevent this today by telling the truth. Maybe you've been a pathological liar up to this point, begin anew right now! Cast off that behavior and begin to tell the truth. It will feel so good because for the first time in a long time, you'll be breathing the FREE AIR OF REALITY. 

Imagine truth to be clean air, and lying to be a vacuum. What would happen to you if we surrounded you in a true vacuum with no air? You would suffocate. This is what lies do. You suffocate in the vacuum of your own creation. If you would just live by the truth, then you could breathe the free air. 

St. Augustine was right, the truth is like a lion. You don't need to defend it. But if you are not on truth's side, that lion will devour you. Truth is piercing, truth is focused, it penetrates every shadow, and every crack. No darkness in the world is powerful enough to defeat even the smallest flashlight - because the light exists and the darkness is simply the absence of light. 

As a warrior, you are the light! Do not hide in the shadows; that is where COWARDS dwell - afraid to show their deeds in the light lest they be perceived and judged by all. A warrior walking in truth has nothing to fear from the judgment of others. Therefore, walk in the light - be the light when everything around you is dark and evil. 

Truth is light and lying is darkness. You decide which you'd rather be - an agent of truth or a liar? I for one will stand for truth. In utter defiance of the consequences. Because the truth will always be more beneficial to you and those you are trusted to protect. If you give a damn about anyone, be the light and the truth. If you only care about yourself, feel free to stay in the shadows with the rest of the cowards – for only the strong can tolerate the heat of the light.

I will protect the paths of truth! What will you do?

​Lanshe Sensei