What is the “Warrior’s Cry”?

Dignities

Shambhalians recite something called the “warrior’s cry” at special events such as Shambhala Day, a birthday, or a wedding, and during the “lhasang” purification ceremony. It’s a way for the community to express its inspiration and to invoke the energies of bravery and gentleness.

The Warrior’s Cry is a series of Tibetan words:

KI KI SO SO ASHE LHA GYAL LO TAK SENG KHUNG DRUK DI YAR KYE

Here’s what it means:

KI and SO are seed syllables. “KI is connected with the Chinese word for ch’I, as in Tai Ch’i. It is a central strength that exists in your heart. SO is invoking that strength,” explained the Druk Sakyong. “ASHE is the unconditional confidence and compassion that is the birthright of all beings; Ashe is the nobility that the warrior trains to fully embody. LHA GYAL LO means ‘May lha be victorious.’ LHA is the Tibetan word that means the ‘deity,’ which is the highest part of our being, our inherent wisdom. The last part of the warrior’s cry says, ‘Tiger, Lion, Garuda, Dragon—May these arise here.’ The garuda is a mythical animal that hatches fully-grown. The dragon lives in perfect harmony with all the elements—earth, water, fire, and air. Together these four animals symbolize the stages of the spiritual warrior’s journey. They express the development of the qualities of mindfulness, simplicity, contentment, joyous exertion, expansive mind, and the realization of basic goodness, our true nature.”

Quoted material reprinted with permission from An Introduction to Shambhala Culture (2012). Halifax, Nova Scotia: Tiger, pp. 17-18.