What Is a Spiritual Virago?

FIRST, WHAT THE HECK IS “VIRAGO”?

“The woman who refuses to see her sexual organs as mere wood chips, designed to make the man’s life more comfortable, is in danger of becoming a lesbian–an active, phallic woman; an intellectual virago with a fire of her own…” -Sigmund Freud

UNDERSTANDING THE SPIRITUAL WARRIOR CONCEPT

“The ideal warriorship is that the warrior should be sad and tender, and because of that, the warrior can be very brave as well.” -Chogyam Trungpa

So a “spiritual virago” is a modern female-identified spiritual warrior, but what exactly is a “spiritual warrior”? This is a term from Tibetan Buddhism (remember the Dalai Lama?). It means someone “who combats the universal enemy: self-ignorance…a heroic being with a brave mind and ethical impulse. Different from other paths, which focus on individual salvation, the spiritual warrior’s only complete and right practice is that which compassionately helps other beings with wisdom.” ⁴

In Tibetan, a warrior (“pawo”) is not violent or aggressive–it is simply someone brave. In Chogyam Trungpa’s book The Sacred Path of the Warrior, he explains that a spiritual warrior is not a “soldier.” It is someone who feels all of their emotions–good and bad, seeks to expand their knowledge and compassion, shares, gives, forgives, avoids revenge, and seeks to be of service to others.

Chopra.com reports, “The path of the spiritual warrior is not an easy one. It can challenge you, require sacrifice, and forces you into the cognitive dissonance often encountered when you search to discover the causes of your ignorance.” ⁵ On the other side of this “war,” the spiritual warrior fights against the self is truth and unconditional love, according to ToltecSpirit.com. ⁶

In Jack Kornfield’s book A Path With Heart, he paraphrases Don Juan: “Only as a [spiritual] warrior can one withstand the path of knowledge. A warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His [or her] life is an endless challenge and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. Challenges are simply challenges. The basic difference between an ordinary man person and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man person takes everything as a blessing or a curse.” ⁷

Native American tradition also includes a “spiritual warfare” concept. For example, Cree Medicine Man Sean Walking Bear says:

“Spiritual warfare is the battle in the mental and physical against all adversaries of the Creator. They are obstacles. They distance us from the Creator. They can attack us psychologically and biologically. They are what some may call demons, evil spirits. Their attacks are endless and last from birth to death, but it is still possible to have peace.” ⁸

A similar philosophy can even be found in Christianity…aside from the fact that Jesus was an exemplary spiritual warrior, think of St. Francis’ prayer:

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; for it is in the giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to external life.” ⁹

BuddhaWeekly.com provides these examples of how a modern spiritual warrior might approach life:

“Missed a meditation session? Do a hundred metaphorical laps around the stupa as a self-imposed discipline. Craving a new luxury car? Sit, and meditate on the attachment–and how that money could benefit so many others. Lied to a friend? Come clean, then promise not to do it again. In moral conduct, an even more rigorous ‘military’ code–the precepts of the Buddha–makes sure the spiritual ‘soldier’ focuses on compassion and wisdom, and ultimately, enlightenment.” ¹⁰

In a nutshell, dedicating oneself to a spiritual warrior path can lead to self-liberation > global shift in consciousness > changing the world. It’s pretty heavy stuff.

HOW “SPIRITUAL VIRAGO” IS DEFINED ON THIS SITE

“The real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air but to walk on earth.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

“There are many interpretations and definitions for the term ‘Spiritual Warrior’ written in numerous tomes and spiritual books. In this article, I’m adding my own definition and developing some of the concepts of what it means to be a ‘Spiritual Warrior.’ (Note that I use the masculine only for a purpose of simplicity, but, regardless of sex and gender, anyone could be a Spiritual Warrior).” [I’ll leave this source anonymous].

Considering that others (above) who identify as spiritual warriors, i.e. people who are supposed to embrace doing “hard stuff,” feel that including self-identified women is too hard, I decided that SpiritualVirago.com would come up with its own concept. Additionally, Chogyam Trungpa, the one who brought the spiritual warrior philosophy and practice to the West, is widely-known in the Buddhism community to have slept with his female students (including minors–he had a 16-year-old wife) and to have sexually assaulted both his male and female followers. He was also a well-documented alcoholic and gave his HIV-infected protege free reign to infect his numerous sex partners with HIV. ^{11 12 13 14 15} Additionally, much like the Catholic Church has tried to cover up and ignore their child sex abuse scandal, the 14th Dalai Lama is fully-aware of Chogyam Trungpa’s conduct (and other Buddhist leaders sexual assault scandals) and has done nothing…except make victims feel worse. ^{16 17 18} For the same reason, Martin Luther King Day is always hard for me–love what he did for Black Americans, hate what he did to women. This bullshit gives us women a head start on working on our spiritual mastery sadly (This is not to say that women don’t rape or that only women get sexually abused, but this timeless “boys club” story is D-E-E-P-L-Y ingrained in our collective “pain bodies,” as Eckhart Tolle calls them.) On that note, before I begin, I feel compelled to say that I am a flawed person, a human being, my ego can be strong, and my compassion can be low. Just because I have been inspired and compelled to start this website doesn’t mean I am a guru (as Tony Robbins says: “I am not your guru.”). I believe teachers learns as much from their students as they teach them.

Before jumping into the definition of “spiritual virago,” I am reminded of something I read in the Conversations with God books by Neale Donald Walsh. In a nutshell, it’s a lot easier, for example, to practice loving kindness when you spend hours a day meditating in a quiet temple with like-minded people instead of fighting freeway traffic at rush hour, being woken up in the middle of the night by a screaming baby, and getting bills you can’t afford to pay in the mail. Let’s make sure we are comparing oranges to oranges here. The SpiritualVirago.com philosophy is most definitely geared towards those of us living outside the temple walls…because out here is the frontline of spiritual warfare. We’re facing direct fire everyday.

Many of those who are called to this path have experienced a great deal of trauma in their lives, and that theme is featured prominently on this site. If you haven’t read my story yet to understand what brought me to this moment, that’ll give you more context. I see a spiritual virago as a self-identified female who has dug very deep into the mud and muck of her own suffering. She has combat crawled through the ugliest, most painful parts of her experiences. She will not accept a half-life, for example, in which orgasms are not sought, expected, or desired because the sexual trauma she has experienced is too great. It may take decades, but she will do the work to live fully (with orgasms, in this case) and figure out how to integrate her traumas into her full life. I believe in and practice the Shambhala traditions, and those themes are featured prominently here.

SPIRITUAL VIRAGO PROCESS

“The goal of warriorship is to reconnect to the nowness of reality, so that you can go forward without destroying simplicity, without destroying your connection to this earth.” -Chogyam Trungpa

1. Deconstructing the deepest levels of the self with an interdisciplinary approach (sociology, psychology, history, science, travel) with particular attention given to her personal traumas, triggers, and programmed reactions.
2. Developing deep knowledge, awareness, and critical thinking skills, which often leads to a life off the beaten path. She now knows what it means for her to be a self-identified woman in this world.
3. Cultivating her spiritual fitness (when the next challenge arises, a spiritual virago is ready and starts her process over again already knowing and trusting in her ability to manage the obstacle)
4. Leading by nothing more than her example, people around the spiritual virago become inspired to make positive changes in their own lives
5. Once she understands her leadership potential, a spiritual virago channels that power towards spiritual activism (coaching/mothering others, writing a book, volunteering, protesting in the streets, speaking)
6. To reach true mastery, a spiritual virago starts the process over again and returns to step #1. She will continue repeating each step with an open-mind knowing that a spiritual virago must always stay sharp.

SPIRITUAL VIRAGO TRAITS

“Shambhala vision is not purely a philosophy. It is actually training yourself to be a warrior.” -Chogyam Trungpa

In having worked through the process above, a spiritual virago develops these traits:

1. Courage: She faces difficult challenges that may frighten her–trusting in her resilience–instead of only doing things that are comfortable, easy, predictable, or familiar.
2. Discipline: She independently regulates her own behavior, holds herself accountable, and takes responsibility for her actions. Behind her discipline is integrity.
3. Relentlessness: She is unflinchingly persistent particularly in regards to questioning her own excuses, stories, and justifications. To be relentless is not to be fearless, however, because a spiritual virago faces all of her emotions.
4. Compassion: She is warm-hearted, and, more than merely sympathizing for the suffering of others (and herself), she respects her/their happiness as well.
5. Wisdom: She understands that wisdom does not primarily come from her endless studies and investigations as much as it comes from her ability to think for herself and remain open-minded.
6. Embraced Female Energy: She has the ability to embody and honor her female energy under any circumstance (despite undertaking things that may historically be seen as masculine), especially to acknowledge her intuition.
7. Oneness: She understands the radical oneness of all beings (including animals, the planet, people she disagrees with, self-identified males, etc)
8. Rebelliousness: She does not accept the status quo, and she asks difficult and challenging questions of herself and others.
9. Purpose: She accepts her calling–her worthiness–as a spiritual virago without doubts. If this is the path with which she identifies, she knows she is not an imposter and mindfully accepts her role.
10. Authentic & Transparent: Under any circumstance, she knows who she is and how she will respond. Everything a spiritual virago does is a true reflection of her authentic self. Likewise, she never hides behind a facade of secrecy or mindless politeness…including accepting her own grisly emotions. She is free of perfectionism because authenticity and transparency imply human fallibility.
11. Financially Empowered: She understands that money is power, and, therefore, controls her own finances. She possesses great financial literacy, a mindful money mindset, and understands that we vote with our dollars.
12. Body Mindfulness: A spiritual virago treats her body like a temple when it comes to nutrition, fitness, sleep, stress, self-care, and toxins/substances.

It is also important to consider that even identifying oneself as a spiritual virago (or a spiritual warrior) can be attachment, an act of ego. The purpose of this website is to empower, educate, and inspire people on this life path, to act as a resource, and to provide a hub for like-minded people.