The Warrior Sage

STUART WILDE’S ALTERNATIVE METAPHYSICS

By Rev. Dr. Patrick J. Harbula

            In an issue focused on relationship it may seem inappropriate to the casual reader for a magazine that calls itself Meditation to include a system potentially antagonistic towards relationships. Nevertheless, Stuart Wilde’s Warrior-Sage dynamic contains elements particularly useful in the area of relationship to self. Stuart the Wilde Man of the modern metaphysical movement breaks through traditional spiritual barriers, entertains with sharp wit, intentionally pushes people’s buttons and challenges his trainees to rise above the forced reality of “tick-tock,” societal conformity. His brash, direct and rebellious style as well as controversial ideas create an intriguing system I call alternative metaphysics.

            During the course of the Warrior Wisdom Training the Ethiopians become a satiric fall guy. Stuart repetitively reminds his trainees of the difference between what he calls “tribal consciousness” and the isolated path of the spiritual warrior. His philosophy expounds the theory that humanity has evolved from societies where people gain strength and are validated by their relationship with the group or tribe. Right, wrong and religious doctrine are determined by the consensus of people. Dogma manipulates and controls the people. The tribal consciousness maintains that everyone should take care of everyone else in the tribe. In this regard, Wilde picks on the Ethiopian cause – perhaps because of the extensive media coverage it has received – as an example of how readily people give away their power by concerning themselves with matters that are really none of their business.

            Stuart points out, “If you view the aura of a person who is concerned about feeding the hungry in Ethiopia, stopping terrorism in the Middle East or any other cause, you will see streams of energy extending from them to all of these conditions.” Their power is thus diffused. Conversely, the person who is focused only on their own condition and those issues which are directly part of their evolution has a very tight aura. Stuart says, “If someone on the street asks you for a sandwich, give it to him, but don’t worry about saving the epileptic whales.”

            The Wilde philosophy for some may be a bit extreme but one can find truth and wisdom in it. We all know how ineffectual we can feel when emotionally involved in matters over which we have no control. It is a simple matter of common sense to recognize if our own lives are not in order we cannot be of service to others.

“If someone on the street asks you for a sandwich, give it to him, but don’t worry about saving the epileptic whales.”

            Stuart uses image of a funnel or cone to illustrate the tick-tock syndrome. Grouped together, enmeshed and identified with others in the same boat, those at the bottom of this cone experience the greatest degree of struggle and restriction. Their horizon is limited by those around them so that they experience only the beliefs of others. In this lower end of tick-tock, people develop interpersonal relationships. They live in closely knit tribal communities; the family unit, also closely knit, is usually large.

            Those dissociating from the beliefs of others, developing a sense of identity, become more free to travel up the lines of the funnel. They experience a greater degree of life force and confidence. As people become less fearful they open and allow more energy into their lives. When the top of the funnel is reached the Warrior-Sage is open to greater metaphysical experiences, where the horizon is no longer limited. The God force previously thought to have originated from above (the illusion created by the funnel), is now experienced as an ally of whom the individual is a part.

            The main conceptual difference between this philosophy and most other metaphysical systems is that as we evolve we become less interested in those at the level of struggle. According to Stuart, “The Warrior-Sage may wish for everyone to being to climb to a new level, but he’s smart enough to realize it won’t happen just yet; we have to be careful not to waste energy yearning for something unavailable. The predicament of the people in the funnel is an unappealing paradigm of every situation one has left behind. The Warrior dedicates himself to higher things.” Most systems would maintain that the heart can encompass the concerns of less fortunate as well as those of “higher things.” The benevolent aspect of Stuart’s philosophy stems from the old “create your own reality” cliché. The starving Ethiopians have chosen their experience for the lessons they need to learn. Says Stuart, “How do you know you won’t be removing their opportunity to grow by feeding these people?” Stuart’s point that we help others to boost our own ego is convincing: “The most compassionate act we can do for others is to leave them alone.”

            The power of the Warrior-Sage comes from his internalization of reality. This is more than simply creating your own reality and then becoming emotionally imbalanced when things go wrong. The Warrior-Sage accepts all conditions as part of life’s possibilities and realizes that discomfort is part of the glory of human hood.

            “The stance of the Warrior-Sage is one of non-judgment.” This not only means critical judgment, but judgment of any kind. “By training your mind to hold no opinions you become passive and receptive. You remain centered deep within yourself. Your mind perceives things and does not react in the slightest. In a way, this attitude becomes an affirmation of your absolute acceptance of life.” Stuart demonstrates this quality by acting out the Warrior’s response to questions like, “What do you think about the Contra affair?” He calmly looks off into the distance and answers, “I try not to.”

            “But what about the drug problem?”

            “Isn’t the sunset beautiful?” he responds.

            What many would interpret as avoidance or denial, Stuart claims is centered detachment.

            An outgrowth of Stuart’s philosophy, the Warrior’s Wisdom training is loosely modeled on the Mongolian army led by Genghis Khan. In the process of the training, we’re told that the Mongols were the bravest and most fierce warriors of their time. They would ride for days without rest to insure the outcome of their conquests. The women would fight alongside the men.

            But Stuart offers some further historical emendations to the European versions of the Mongolian conquest story: The army was no more vicious than any other of the time. European historians, culturally biased, passed down an inaccurate and unjust picture of this army. In fact the Mongols were much more benevolent to their captives than the other cultures of their time. They allowed them to maintain and practice their belief systems, often integrating them into their own way of life.

            The Mongol, in addition to being a mighty warrior, was a crafty devil. With life frequently changing, the Mongol lived by rules of choice rather than those of social standards. Stuart challenges his students: “The next time someone comes up and asks you to put a donation in the cup, just tell them no. See if you feel more powerful. Or, if you’re feeling really Mongolian, take the cup.”

            Such a suggestion is calculated to outrage, to offend, to stir thought. Stuart adds, “I’m not saying you should go around stealing everybody’s cup! Just do it once to prove to yourself you can do it. It’s an affirmation!”

            The five-day Warrior’s Wisdom course includes varied exercises to increase one’s sense of power, from a pig chase to a fire walk. The walk occurred on the third evening of the training. All trainees participated, no matter how petrified initially. After two-hour’s preparations involving self-hypnotic meditations, a little bumping and grinding to the beat of the old Lou Reed classic, “Take a Walk on the Wild Side,” every participant believed the walk could be done. This is Stuart’s message: you have the power to do whatever you want. When you dissociate yourself from mass belief you discover your power of choice. Believe you can walk on coals, and you can do it. Believe you have a fulfilling life, and you will. Believe you are OK the way you are and it is so. [Editors’ note: A crucial question regarding the fire walk: Is this a process that promotes change in beliefs, enlisting the alignment of will, or is it an effective manipulation, a form of mass hypnosis which actually encourages the giving up of individual will? Or does its involvement of the will depend on a choice consciously determined by the participant? We feel obligated to our readers to present this caveat.]

            Stuart’s personality can easily put people off. It seems part of his battle plan. “It is important to flip yourself and others into a contrary point of view for it opens the mind to unusual possibilities.” Thus the motivation for seemingly unsympathetic attitudes.

            He cites another example of this contrary by a “bloke with a can,” he reached out, helped himself to a quarter and said, “Thank you.” He explained that he chose “to see the beggar not as in need but as a businessman affirming his abundance by giving.”

            Stuart’s philosophy is anti-organization. There is nothing to join, nothing to sign up for. “When you leave here as a Warrior, you have only yourself, which is the way of spiritual evolution.” Even if you wanted to join, you would most likely be discouraged by Stuart’s anti-relationship demeanor.

            The dynamic created by Stuart’s magnetically obtrusive style sets up an interesting dichotomy. There are valuable truths presented but they are difficult to absorb in the normal mode, i.e., through emulation of the teacher. It forces people to do their own work of integrating. There is no force outside to rely on in this system. You must confront the God force within yourself as the source of fulfillment. One thing for sure, no one is going to put Stuart Wilde on a pedestal, a student tendency most teachers spend a lot of energy battling.

            No code of morality goes along with the teachings, yet the system provides techniques for manifesting and manipulating energy. Wilde asks that people consider carefully how they want to use their power, but he seems indifferent as to whether they use their powers altruistically or selfishly. He only warns of the power.

            Stuart pointedly asks, “How many systems will tell you to do whatever you want? How many systems will offer you that kind of power?” Agreeing with his philosophy or not, observes must concur that Stuart lives his principles. Here is a man society might label as a promiscuous alcoholic who openly jokes about drinking (drinks while he’s joking), encourages warriors to cheat on their spouses, if it seems like the right thing to do. “And if you get caught, lie about it.”

            Many of the popular New Age self growth systems tell us to embrace and integrate our shadows. We observe Stuart Wilde as a man not only embracing his shadow but flaunting it. Looking at Stuart without judgment can certainly make it easier to accept our own shadow. I don’t mean this to sound like a back-handed compliment. The ability to accept and integrate the dark side can help enhance health and peace of mind. The Stuart Wilde teaching causes us to question our values; this is among its most powerful effects. Are our beliefs based on what is right for us or are they the accepted standards of the social unconscious?

            A question arises in the study of this system, “Is a true teaching of metaphysical power presented, or is it the hoax of a charismatic jester?” Stuart’s version of this inquiry is addressed in his book The Quickening: “At this point you are either nauseated by this whole Quickening philosophy and thinking, ‘I’ll trash this book, better still I’ll mail it to someone I don’t like.’ Or you’re thinking, ‘It’s true, I know it’s true.’ There’s a freedom, an exhilaration, a special world – maybe this bozo knows what he’s talking about after all.”

            In the same book, Stuart asks some pointed questions of the reader for assessment of congruence with the path of the Warrior. “If your mind is concerned with safety and survival, how many of your daily thoughts center on these needs? Can you release everything if you have to – family, friends, your neighborhood, money, your country, your origins – everything you believe in? What level of self-sustaining individuality have you mastered? Can you exist in a dimension of consciousness where there is no one to help you, no one to save you if you fall, to advise you? What measure of loneliness can you sustain? Can you place your faith in an invisible world, where no one recognizes you or thanks you if you do well, where there is no ego gratification, no awards, no accolades? Do you believe in institutions, or can you see them for what they are? Do you control absolutely your needs or do you rely on others? Do you dominate your destiny or are you affirming your prison sentence by paying into the pension plan? What of your philosophy? Is it yours? Have you proven it to yourself? What questions have you asked? Or are you blindly following some twaddle you read about? Finally, what of The Quickening? Is it ‘just a few gummy spiritual platitudes,’ standing in the light and all that good stuff, channeled perhaps from the armpit of some spaco [sic] or does it frighten you? If it does not, you may not even be close.”

            I have questions of my own in relation to the path of the Warrior-Sage. Is it true that enlightenment or a quickening necessitates disregard for others, or is there an embracing of your own sense of power and through that sense a strengthening of the realization of unity with all life? Is the seemingly cynical intolerance of the weakness in others a sign of power or an indication of the repression of weakness? Is a system based on detachment and giving up relationship a road to freedom or an escape from the fear of intimacy?

            The answers to these questions express my concerns about possible shortcomings in the Warrior-Sage process. I also ask the question “What if Stuart is right and our real purpose for being here is not to be concerned with others affairs, but to be the God force in action, experiencing all of life’s conditions with vibrancy and enthusiasm without the restrictions of moral judgment?” Lastly, I ask if it is possible that life and growth can embrace both ends of the spectrum? I believe we can have it all. We can learn from Stuart’s excellent presentation of relationship to self and the power it bestows; we can also progress through our expression of relationship with others.

            From my own inner sense and my experience with the Warrior training I see the balanced Warrior as one who wields the sword of will with a sense of detachment from the drama and can actively affect the world, both personal and relational, from the perspective of the centered self.

            I do not necessarily recommend the Wilde philosophy to everyone. For those with a developed sense of personal self and strong personal boundaries seeking to develop compassion, I believe this training could be a regression or at best a waste of time. But for those who, controlled by a programmed morality, are overly empathetic toward others, this might be beneficial. Especially for those of us who have tendencies to be the martyrs of the world, putting the needs of others first, having little sense of power, this may be the best system available for building personal boundaries for a well-rounded fulfilling life. However, such a participant must be careful not to tip the scales in the opposite extreme and become an inflated, selfish cynic. I thank Stuart Wilde for giving me a new perspective on life, causing me to question who I really am and inspiring me to accept what I have found.

Stuart Wilde is the author of several books including: Affirmations, The Force, Miracles, Life Was Never Meant To Be A Struggle, The Quickening and The Trick to Money is Having Some. For more information: Contact White Dove International, Inc. P.O. Box 1000, Taos NM 87571 or call (505) 785-0500.

For more articles from the Meditation Magazine Archives, please visit this link:
http://livingpurposeinstitute.com/articles-2/meditation-articles/

For information on Living Purpose Institute: life coaching, life coach training and certification, workshops, classes, meditation ceremonies, ceremonial sweat lodge ceremonies, retreats, videos, and much more, please visit:
http://livingpurposeinstitute.com/