The Intro to "Warrior Poets"

Introduction

I welcome you to this wonderful project where the Warrior poets and artists help us understand how our compassion, freedom and peace are wrapped up in an ancient understanding of all of life.  In the true sense of being interconnected to all beings there were no limits or borders to watch for as one wrote, painted, took a photograph or expressed themselves in this project. This would be our calling in our lives, in whatever field of compassion we find ourselves.

Our lives are a journey, a path and recently I rediscovered a performance. Old Will Shakespeare said “All the world’s a stage,” and I sometimes wonder if he was not pointing to something far deeper and broader than where we often place that quote. However we live our interconnectedness, our compassion for all people, it is a kind of performance, a dance and a song. Singing is not about being in tune, dancing is not just doing it correctly, but expressing who you are, and writing, poetry, drama, stories long and short are meant to tell the universe who you are and speak to the truth about life itself.

The role of “Warrior” is part of every culture and community. For some it is a more violent understanding, for others, as in Buddhism, it is one who lives out of the moment, in emptiness and with compassion. The Bodhisattva in Buddhism is another way to talk about this path.

The idea of Warrior poet came to me from Carlos Castaneda’s The Journey to Ixtlan where the hunter Warrior is an important concept.  As  volunteer with and then a member of the Ecumenical Institute/ Institute of Cultural Affairs in the 70’s and early ‘80’s this book and its understandings  played a role in our service to communities, with spiritual communities across the world.  I have discovered over the years that the wisdom of the Hunter Warrior is also the wisdom of the Warrior Poet!

The writing of Chogyam Trungpa, the founder of Naropa University, wrote the powerful book Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior which also spoke to me in a powerful way. Many of his poems help’s one to see the power of this path. I am grateful for this. 

Finally, our interconnectedness, our being performer on the stage of life is only really seen in our collaboration with others. Last summer at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics I rediscovered again the power of performance, shouting the word and working in collaboration with all beings. This is the foundation of poetry, of art, of all we do.

This project, this book is interconnectedness, performance and collaboration calling YOU to speak, dance and sing! Come on! The world is waiting! Thank you for taking this book in your hands and experiencing it. May you know, we are all warrior poets and Bodhisattva’s serving all beings, interconnected with each other and all creation! This is our act, our drama, even, our comedy.

Ko shin, March, 2013, Neshkoro, WI

Special thanks and many deep bows to my lifelong friend, Roger Sween for driving into the woods and editing my contributions tothis project. A true Warrior Poet and Human!

What Is a Warrior?
ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED in hearing the dharma, anyone who is interested in finding out about oneself, and anyone who is interested in practicing meditation is basically a warrior. The approach of cowardice is looking for some tremendous external help, whether it comes from the sky or from the earth. You are afraid of actually seeing yourself; therefore you use spirituality or religion as a seeming way of seeing yourself without looking directly at yourself at all. Basically, when people are embarrassed about themselves, there’s no fearlessness involved. Therefore, anybody who is interested in looking at oneself, finding out about oneself, and practicing on the spot could be regarded as a warrior.

Trungpa, Chogyam; Gimian, Carolyn Rose (2010-10-05). Ocean of Dharma (p. 4). Shambhala Publications. Kindle