Warriors for the Human Spirit are leaders, activists, and citizens who want to make a meaningful contribution in this time of increasing assaults on the human spirit and all life. To serve well, to be effective with their energy and influence, they train to refrain from fear and aggression and to embody the best human qualities of generosity, insight, and compassion. They are leaders who have already developed many skills in community engagement, productive workplaces and systems thinking. Yet these hard-won skills and valuable experiences are not sufficient; a different category of skills and capacities is needed if they are to act wisely and well, persevere, and use their influence and power to offer sane, life-affirming responses as challenges to people and planet intensify.

Who is a Warrior?

Warriors are people who focus their lives and work on making a difference. They respond to a sense of service that gives meaning to their lives beyond petty definitions of happiness and self-satisfaction. They are of all ages, faiths, professions, and cultures. Depending on their age, they have contributed in many different ways or are aspiring to contribute.

The Warriors arise when the people need protection. We step into this role of contribution and service, learning to assess what is possible and what is not. We are broken-hearted in witnessing what is being lost. We are exhausted from efforts that can no longer bear fruit. Yet we have abiding faith in the human spirit, in the capacity of people to be generous, creative, kind and compassionate–no matter what. It is our faith in the human spirit that inspires us to undertake the discipline of training to be of service for this time.

While despair might permeate the greater part of the nation,
others achieved a new realization of the fact that
only readiness for self-sacrifice could enable a community to survive.
Some of the greatest saints in history
lived in times of national decadence,
raising the banner of duty and service
against the flood of depravity and despair.

Sir John Glubb, historian²

^[2] I used Glubb’s six stages of a civilization’s rise and fall as a major frame in Who Do We Choose To Be?

Program Description

The Europe 2020 Warrior Training is from March to December 2020, in two major phases:

Phase One

MARCH–JUNE 2020 – INITIATORY EXPERIENCES CENTERED AROUND IN-PERSON RETREAT 

• March – April: Personal Contemplations to prepare for training. You receive two monthly video contemplations from Meg.
• April 26 – May 2: In-person Retreat for Warriors
• May – June: Deepening your understanding. In small study groups and two Zoom sessions with Meg and Jerry, we will review and deepen the teachings from the retreat.

Phase Two

JULY–DECEMBER 2020 – FURTHER TRAINING AND INTEGRATING INTO THE COMMUNITY OF WARRIORS

In the second phase of Warrior training, you will integrate into the larger community of Warriors in the Warrior Concerto, where Warriors from earlier trainings are now actively engaged with deepening their training and supporting one another in a variety of ways.

From July – December you will:

1. Join the online course, “Warriorship without a Warrior.” There is a set curriculum and small groups led by a guide/facilitator. Once a month there is a two-hour Zoom with Meg and Jerry.
2. Participate in two 3-hour online meditation and Qi Gong retreats led by Jerry and Ulrike.
3. Have easy access to personal conversations with Meg.

In December 2020 you will be given the choice to continue to deepen and expand your training as a Warrior by joining the Warrior’s Concerto for 2021. This robust community of Warriors from 27 countries study together in an online learning environment with Meg and Jerry, and practice together in bi-monthly online meditation retreats with Jerry and Ulrike. There are also many other self-organized groups that have been established by members our community. There will be an additional cost for Concerto membership.