Becoming a warrior means that we can look directly at ourselves, see the nature of our cowardly mind, and step out of it. We can trade our small-minded struggle for security for a much vaster vision, one of fearlessness, openness, and genuine heroism. That doesn’t happen all at once. It is a gradual process.

Our first inkling of that possibility comes when we begin to sense the claustrophobia and stuffiness of our self-imposed cocoon. At that point, our safe home begins to feel like a trap, and we begin to sense that an alternative is possible. We begin to have tremendous longing for some kind of ventilation, and finally we actually experience a delightful breath of fresh air coming into our stale nest.

From “The Superhuman Life of Gesar of Ling” in The Collected Works of Chogyam Trungpa, Volume Eight, page 409.

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