Today I am six years old. Today I celebrate the moment I decided to live my life, to break away from the dark and gruesome hold of all things fear, all things addiction, all things swiftly forcing betrayal to my own innate goodness.
Six years ago today I made the choice to be sober and in doing so started on the path to becoming a true warrior. A warrior is strong in the face of all things, but his heart is soft and gentle. His determination like a great Vajra of meteoric iron, indestructible and powerful, sharp as the blade of blades, piercing into the deepest dark and illuminating the way with the brightest and purest light imaginable. A warrior cries out to the world his outrageous promise, his Windhorse Rising song, his anthem of open heart. A warrior is not afraid of anything - fearless, living his life in honesty, compassion, and devotion to all. This day spent in the shining light of warm friends and family also keen to light this light and keep it forever burning bright. Here with Lama Ole Nydahl, a man who has also fiercely battled for his life as I have, walked the earth as a fearless warrior in his own right, enduring the endless roads of a Bodhisattva’s path to reach the unreachable, the devout and the forgotten. No man has done for Dharma in the west as he has, and despite all odds and checkered pasts he has emerged victorious. He stands tall, with an open heart and a gleam in his eye opening those around him like a flower in fervent bloom. In this sense he is a true warrior. The Dharma warrior fears nothing, never stops, and never lets the dark overtake him. Today I reignite my fire of inspiration, my solid oath continues. Never to forget who I really am and where I have been, while joyfully allowing my past to shape who I am to become.
Today is a day of celebration. A day to stand up, to cry out, to sing at the top of our lungs a song of victory and courage. For all those still in the trenches, losing hope, slipping into the darkened waters of despair and hopelessness - fear not - for there is light at the other end. There is always light. Nothing lasts forever, nothing is impossible, nothing is unattainable if you’re willing to work through. You can get better, you can triumph over the fear, the addiction, with Dharma you can conquer all. We all know someone in these circumstances, fighting to survive, trying just to stay above water. Reach out to them, be kind to them, for the smallest of gestures can create avalanches of change in someone’s heart. Open your heart to those who need it most. Like this we can all be warriors. Standing tall and mighty, our gentle gaze affecting all that come into contact with us. Gone is the aggression and ignorance, replaced with courage and true strength sealed in stone. In the clear space of great emptiness the insurmountable is left in the dust. Never again back to the dark. Today I will sing the Warrior Song loud and proud from the highest rooftop. Today I celebrate my continued steps on this life-long path, one that I no longer have to bear alone, nor walk it without a guide. Today I celebrate six years of life, love, light, hope and warriorship. I invite you to join me in this celebration; my family, my friends, my dearest fellow path travelers, let us be Warriors together.
