Study on the Book of Chivalry - 9

The study on the Book of Chivalry by Sir Geoffrey de Charney continues with the discussion of conduct towards friend and enemy.

The author, on the conduct to be shown towards friends and enemies states the following:

....be humble among their friends, proud and bold against their foes, tender and merciful toward those who need assistance, cruel avengers against their enemies, pleasant and amiable with all others...

...you should not converse at any length nor hold speech with your enemies, for you should bear in mind that they do not speak to you for your own good but to draw out of you what they can use to do you the greatest harm.

You should be generous in giving where the gift will be best used and as careful as you can that you let your enemies have nothing that is yours.

Love and serve your friends, hate and harm your enemies, relax with your friends, exert yourself with all your strength against your foes.

You should plan your enterprises cautiously and you should carry them out boldly.

....no one should fall into despair from cowardice nor be too confident from great daring, for falling into too great despair can make a man lose his position and his honor, and trusting too much in his daring can make a man lose his life foolishly; but when one is engaged on an armed enterprise, one should dread vile cowardice more than death.

....refrain from saying anything unpleasant things and to make sure that what you say is of some profit rather than merely courteous.

....you should treat your friends in such a way that you have no need to fear lest they become your enemies....

....when moving against your enemies to meet them in battle, never admit the idea that you might be defeated nor think how you might be captured or how you might flee, but be strong in heart, firm, and confident, always expecting victory, not defeat, whether or not you are on top, for whatever the situation, you will always do well because of the good hopes that you have.

The quotes give a sense of balance between to different forms of socializing.  The first being on how a warrior is to conduct him or herself towards their friends.  The second being on how warriors are to act towards his or her enemies or the enemies within. 

In regards towards friends, the Warrior treats friends as brothers or sisters in friendship and as allies or confidants in which the Warrior can relax and be his or her gentle self. 

In regards to to this balance of gentle and strong; one must understand this.  The Warrior is a balanced individual who knows the time and occasion to be either gentle or firm.  The Warrior is not an emotionally unstable or mental ill individual.  The Warrior is an amiable friend in times of peace and is also a force of justice in times of war.  Even in war, the Warrior is one who does not hold back on his or her prowess to achieve victory over the enemy or enemies. The Warrior is one that fights the inner enemies of fear, cowardice, doubts and overthinking to triumph over the physical opponent who is betting on an act of terror or intimidation. 

How does one achieve this mental/emotional balance?
The answer is this: by knowing oneself, knowing one's friends and creating the emotional balance by studying the ancient Warrior texts to understand this balance.

Yet one will ask the question: "Why need this balance when one can be aggressive or calm in two different modes of thinking?"
The answer is this: Thinking in two different modes of personalities is nothing short of being double minded, which can translate to moralistic double standards.  What affects one's mind will affect one's morals.  Therefore, a balance of the two extremities in personalities is vital to creating within oneself a complete and balanced human being. 

Therefore, the best lesson from this study is to know yourself and self introspect yourself so you can find the point of balance and build in time from there mentally and emotionally.  A saying of mine is this: "Fight your battles with your head, forget the heart."  Why do I say this?  A Warrior who is balanced is one who is able to fight his or her battles with his mind (which must utilize Logic, Reason, Wisdom, Knowledge) to fight the battle without having the Heart (the emotions) being involved.  This does not mean that a Warrior is a cold, killing, heartless, violent individual; rather the Warrior is balanced internally so as to not be swayed or influenced by emotions or motives that would unbalance the mind.  It is essentially being mentally and emotionally strong to withstand attacks on one's mind or emotions. 

Ask yourself this Brave Warrior: Am I swayed by my emotions or do certain things trigger my emotions?  Do I really know how to act between two extremes?  Can I fight my battles without feeling doubts or uncertainty?  When you ask yourself these questions, you begin your journey to balancing your mind and building a foundation of mental and emotional discipline.  Fight every battle with your mind full of Reasoning, Logic and Wisdom, do not rely on the Heart full of emotions.

Onward Brave Warrior!

Study on the Book of Chivalry - 8

The study of the Book of Chivalry by Sir Geoffrey de Charney continues with the understanding of why a Warrior must be conditioned physically and mentally.

The author begins to tackle the subject by first examining what causes an individual to want to become a glutton or one who avoids martial deeds for fear of suffering in the following:

In the first place, if you have this bad tendency for being excessively fond of cosseting this wretched body in your youth, you will want to go to sleep early, and wake up late, and if your hours of sleep are interrupted, you will suffer greatly from this, and the longer you sleep the less time you will have to acquire knowledge and to learn something of value.

The pampering of these wretched bodies also requires white sheets and soft beds, and if these are sometimes lacking, such men's backs and ribs ache so much that they can nothing all day.  And these good beds encourage rest and an abundance of sleep, which prevents them from hearing much that would be of profit to them.  

And in addition, to sustain these wretched men's bodies, which have little time to live, they have to be provided with the best food and wine that are to be found, and require to eat at the right time, or otherwise they will be in too much distress because of the great delight they take in such things.

The author makes it clear that when it comes to things that we live off of such as food, comfort, and easy life or sleep, these things can become a harmful addiction.  In fact one can say, that root of these addictions is mental apathy which can also be rooted within being lax with one's convictions.  Most people seek to enjoy the good life, but no one wants to enjoy the life with Cause and Purpose.

For the warrior rest, food and comfort have their respectful places and must not be goals or the ends to a goal.  Rather these things must not valued over making the choice or decision with integrity.  The author states his answer on the matter with the following:

It is quite the opposite for those who want to win honor, for they adapt to the seasons: when it is cold, they endure the cold, and when it is hot, they put up with the heat.  And they are prepared to accept all this for the great pleasure they experience in winning honor and in living honorably. 

And we learn from the above mentioned men of worth that the practice of arms always gives back what is put in whatever the delay.

Now you can see that these wretched people who are so fainthearted will never feel secure from living in greater fear and dread of losing their lives than do those good men at arms who have exposed themselves to so many physical dangers ad perilous adventures in order to achieve honor; for they are so accustomed to and familiar with such things that they are quite unaffected by such pathetic fears to which these wretches are so often subject.  And while the cowards have a great desire to live and a great fear of dying, it is quite contrary for the men of worth who do not mind whether they live or die, provided that their life be good enough for them to die with honor.  

It is evident that the manner a Warrior conducts his or herself is to perfect the body while sharpening the mind simultaneously.  Notice a specific pattern in the quotes, when one becomes accustomed to good food as opposed to food portioned enough to survive, physical laziness settles in, this leads to mental apathy which creates the desire for a relaxed lifestyle of extra sleep and avoiding anything dangerous.  The Warrior does the exact opposite.  How?

The Warrior takes every opportunity to condition his or her body to endure pain, hardship and danger to achieve one result, one goal: honor maintained or heightened, a life (or lives) saved from danger, or achieving a deed of heroism.  This means that physical training, conditioning, strict dieting, busy  are the trademarks of the Warrior Lifestyle. 

The key concept to keep in mind is Vigilance.  Vigilance of mind and spirit is what keeps a Warrior from falling into the traps of physical and mental apathy which ultimately leads one into the pit of moral collapse.  Keeping true to the Warrior Lifestyle, staying focused on the Vision for Cause and Purpose is the drive for Warrior to stand up and push themselves past the threat of danger and hardship to overcome the prison of laziness to achieve honor and heroism realized. 

Brave Knight, condition your body and soul for the battle to come.

Study on the Book of Chivalry - 7

The study of the Book of Chivalry by Sir Geoffrey de Charney continues with the discussion and insight into the influence and charisma of the right Lady in relation to the Warrior.

The author begins with the following questions:

Which one of two ladies should have the greater joy in her lover when they are both at a feast in a great company and they are aware of each other's situation?  Is it the one who loves the good knight, and she sees her lover come into the hall where all are at table and she sees him honored, saluted, and celebrated by all manner of people and brought to favorable attention before ladies and damsels, knights and squires, and she observes the great renown and the glory attributed to him by everyone?

And if one of the other ladies loves the miserable wretch who, for no good reason, is unwilling to bear arms, she will see him come into that very hall and perceive and understand that no one pays him any attention or shows him honor or notices him, and he remains hidden behind everyone else, for no one brings him forward. 

The author uses the example of two ladies who support two different knights.  Both knights having different affects on other people.  The question is asked: how does this pertain to me?

The answer is this: the saying "behind every powerful man, is a more powerful woman" is true pertaining to Warriorhood and living the Warrior lifestyle.  In other words, who you (as a Warrior) trust with your heart, will be an influence on your training and your deeds of heroism. 

What do I mean by this?  The Warrior is not just a fighting individual, he is a cultured man of Wisdom, Discernment, Stoic Reasoning and Honor. The decision he makes, will have a positive or negative impact on his lifestyle.  This pertains especially to his choosing a girlfriend or wife. 

In today's times, the concept of love and relationship has been pulled in every direction imagined.  Yet we also see the darkness of divorce and it's impact on families and other people; marital strife, crimes committed within marriage, loss of direction, ungratefulness within a marriage.  The list is endless.  Yet in spite of all of this, the Warrior does not waver or falter to the darkness.  he fights against it with the weapons of Stoic Reasoning, Discernment, Wisdom, Vision, Cause and Purpose. 

The question that arises is: How does the Warrior go about finding or choosing the right woman?

The answer can be given or drawn upon by the author's comments in the following:

How do such people dare to love when they do not know nor do they want to know about the worthy deeds that they should know about and ought to perform, especially those who for good reason should undertake them?

Therefore, men should love secretly, protect, serve, and honor all those ladies and damsels who inspire knights, me at arms, and squires to undertake worthy deeds that bring them honor and increase their renown.

And these noble ladies should, as is their duty, love and honor these worthy men at arms who, in order to deserve their noble love and their benevolence, expose themselves to so much physical danger as the vocation of arms requires from those who aim to reach and achieve that high honor through which they hope to deserve to win the love of their ladies.

The comments made by the author give the qualities and the expected consequences from a relationship with the right woman for the Warrior.  In the first comment, the question is aimed at the woman who is self centered and does not care for what is important to the Warrior namely living by the lifestyle and following its every precept.  And it also points the consequences of a relationship that does not have vision for the short and long term goals.  A couple brought together that do not share the same vision are bound to suffer much.  For the Warrior is a leader guided by Vision and Purpose.  Therefore, the woman that the Warrior should seek must be a woman who shares the same Vision as him. 

The second comment is a directive given by the author.  The Warrior (after finding the right woman)  must love, honor, cherish serve, protect and value his love with everything within him and must be inspired to strive for betterment of himself and of his relationship to his girlfriend or wife.  The Warrior must take every initiative to better the relationship and seize any and every opportunity to better his life by means of work, training or deeds of heroism or prowess done with inspiration from his lady love. 

Yet the question arises that says: What qualities in a woman must I look for so I don't end up with the wrong woman?"  The answer is given in the third comment.  According to the author, the woman that that the Warrior must find and make his life partner must be a woman who loves and cherishes her love, one who inspires if not pushes him to be the better Warrior or the better man.  One who shares the same vision for the short and long term goals of the relationship.  She must be a woman who understands her love and who is willing to accept the reality of life and the Warrior Lifestyle.  In fact it is the ideal for Warriors to find women who are Warriors themselves and marry them (provided they share the same vision regarding marriage and family).  However, if the woman who you as a Warrior to compromise in any way living by Warrior Wisdom or following the Warrior lifestyle or she blatantly tells you to drop it for her sake; it is better to leave her rather than to stay and wither away into an empty of your true self. 

I am not preaching to order you to do what I tell, rather I am giving the directive and example of how Warriors must conduct themselves in regards to Love, Relationships and even what to look for in a woman.  For those that are convinced that they do not need a woman to help fulfill their mission in life as Warriors, I commend them.  For those that seek a relationship, use discernment and follow Warrior Wisdom when choosing the woman whom you want to open up to. 

Brave Knight, choose wisely your Lady Love.