The Cave of the Best Warrior

There was once a very strong and very tall man who used to be a soldier. He called himself the Best Warrior. He was in many wars and killed lots of people. In his little nation he was a hero. Everyone feared him and respected him. Whatever he wanted to do he did because no one would stop him. Where ever he went he would say ‘I am the Best Warrior’.

One day the soldier was claiming he was the Best Warrior when a little boy said ‘I don’t think you are the Best Warrior’.

The soldier was infuriated. He picked up the child and said ‘You are very lucky to be a child for many people have died for less than that. If I am not the best, who do you think is the Best Warrior?’

The child replied, ‘In the middle of the jungle, in a cave, is a man and he really is the Best Warrior.’

The soldier went into the jungle immediately to look for his rival. He wanted to kill him. Finally he found the cave and he called out a challenge.

‘Come out and fight me and we will see who is the Best Warrior.’ Imagine his surprise when and old man stepped out of the cave. The old man was so weak he could hardly walk.

The soldier laughed, ‘Somebody has played a trick on me. Someone told me you are the Best Warrior’.

With very kind eyes, the old man said ‘Whoever told you that spoke the truth. I am the Best Warrior’.

‘First a little boy. Now an old man. I don’t want to have to kill you.’

‘If you did, that would only prove that you are a murderer, not a warrior. I don’t think you have the courage to live alone, like me, in the jungle,’ the old man said.
‘Hmmmm,’ answered the soldier.

‘I challenge you to live one whole year in the jungle. After a year in the jungle, come and see me again and we’ll see who is the Best Warrior.’

The soldier accepted the challenge and he lived for a whole year in the jungle. He became a great hunter. He learned from the eagle. He learned from the jaguar. And he learned from the spider.

After that year he went back to see the old man. Again, the old man challenged him to stay another year and to use all the techniques he learned about hunting to hunt for knowledge. ‘After a year of hunting knowledge, come to see me again and let’s see who is the Best Warrior.’

Using the techniques of the hunter, the eagle, the jaguar, and the spider, the soldier learned everything about nature, about the stars, the animals and mathematics. He accumulated a lot of knowledge and the more he learned, the greater his ego grew. He said to himself, ‘There is no doubt, I am the BEST.’

When he saw the old man again, the old man challenged him to stay another year hunting himself. The soldier accepted the challenge.

He began hunting every emotion, every action, every reaction that he had. He started to see himself and face himself. He struggled with his belief system. He started accepting everything and loving himself. The transformation was so amazing that in a very short time, only three months of hunting himself, he really felt that the old man was his master, his teacher and truly the Best Warrior. He felt so much love for the old man. And he felt compassion for all the people he had hurt. He could hardly wait to see the old man again, so he went back to the cave and called out to him.

But the old man did not come from the cave. Hesitantly, the soldier stepped into the cave and all he found was an empty body. The old man had died.
Then the soldier decided he would stay in the cave and become the Best Warrior.

He is right there in that cave now, waiting for your challenge.