The Warrior’s Solution
In The Warrior’s Solution, Ken McLeod offers a powerful map for transforming reactive patterns into presence, drawing on meditative ritual, internal inquiry, and direct experience. Each session explores a crucial step—intention, sacrifice, death, and rest—guiding practitioners to face the inner opponent, dissolve conditioned identity, and meet life with unshakeable clarity. These talks form a cohesive and practical path for living with integrity, awareness, and authentic freedom.
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1. Accessing Power Without Being Ruled by It
This talk introduces the core inquiry of the retreat: how can one live in power without being ruled by it? “Being fully in the moment will, by necessity, bring you in touch with power,” Ken says, setting the stage for a transformative approach. Topics covered include the relationship between power and presence, the role of conditioning, and a primary practice for cultivating awareness in action.
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2. Intention, Alignment, and the Sword of Awareness
Ken deepens the exploration of presence with a powerful meditation using the five elements and a symbolic sword to awaken intention. “To intend is to direct attention,” he says, linking the act of intending to our capacity to face and cut through inner conditioning. Topics covered include internal material, the alignment of body and mind, and practices to embody awareness in action.
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3. Five Ethical Principles of the Warrior’s Path
In this talk, Ken introduces an experiential ethical framework based on presence rather than prescriptions. “In the end, nothing but balance needs defending,” he says, emphasizing the dynamic nature of ethical action rooted in awareness. Topics covered include internal and external imbalance, boundaries in relationship, and cultivating the courage to act in fear.
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4. Facing the Inner Opponent: The Practice of Sacrifice
This session centers on the theme of sacrifice—not as loss, but as transformation. “We’re going to make our conditioned personality holy,” Ken says, reframing personal patterns as material for awakening. Topics covered include the structure of emotional patterns, the inner opponent, and a powerful visualization practice to dissolve internal obstacles and reclaim attention.
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5. Broken Heart, True Presence: Feeling What We Avoid
Ken explores how the practice of presence demands the sacrifice of emotional avoidance, especially in the context of relationships. “You first experience ‘ouch,’” he says, inviting listeners to stay with discomfort rather than rearrange life to escape it. Topics covered include emotional solidity, internal resistance, relationship imbalance, and how to work with reactive patterns through attention and ritual.
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6. Die Now: Letting Go of the Illusion of Control
In this talk, Ken explores the liberating potential of death—not as an end, but as a gateway to transformation. “What can you hold onto when you die? Nothing,” he says, urging participants to die into the moment and act without fear. Topics covered include surrendering control, dismantling internalized power dynamics, and two profound meditation practices: “Who dies?” and “Saying goodbye.”
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7. Mind-Killing and Dying to Patterns
Ken exposes how reactive patterns are exploited—by both systems and ourselves—through the subtle process of “mind-killing.” “If you can die to the realm your pattern creates, you become free,” he explains, offering a powerful alternative to manipulation. Topics covered include how systems use your own patterns against you, the six methods of mind-killing, and how to experience a pattern fully so it collapses and no longer governs your life.
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8. The Warrior’s Path: Resting in Presence, Acting with Intention
Ken brings the series to a close by integrating the inner path of the warrior: from intention, sacrifice, and death to resting in clarity and action. “As soon as you sense imbalance, you intend, sacrifice, die—and then rest,” he says, emphasizing practice as direct engagement. Topics covered include Buddhist antidotes to mind-killing systems, the role of projected realms in reactive patterns, and a practical guide to manifesting what you truly want.