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DARK<br />KNIGHT<br />ACADEMY<br />THE PATH OF LEGENDS

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The Dark Knight Mind

The Dark Lords

The Dark Knight Mind<br />TABLE OF CONTENTS<br />PREFACE............................................................5<br />INTRODUCTION................................................. 6<br />Dark Knight Training: Overview...................................6<br />DARK KNIGHT MIND ........................................8<br />The Nine Maxims of the Dark Knight...........................8<br />Philosophy.................................................................... 15<br />Psychology....................................................................20<br />Dark Knight Quotes......................................................22<br />THE DARK KNIGHT BODY...............................28<br />THE DARK KNIGHT PERSONA........................29<br />Elements of Your Identity.............................................29<br />The Sanctum................................................................. 30<br />THE DARK KNIGHT'S JOURNEY.....................35<br />The Nine Summits........................................................ 35<br />Building the Will..........................................................41<br />Conquering Fear........................................................... 44<br />Nighttime Worlds..........................................................46<br />Developing the Persona................................................49<br />THE NINE TRAINING HALLS...........................52<br />DARK KNIGHT TRAINING ..............................55<br />Physical Training.......................................................... 56<br />Special Skills Training..................................................58<br />Spiritual Training.......................................................... 59<br />.
Page 5<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Dark Knight Yoga......................................................... 60<br />“Superpowers” Training............................................... 61<br />Master-Apprentice Training.........................................63<br />BASIC SKILLS TRAINING................................64<br />DARK KNIGHT TRIALS....................................68<br />THE LEAGUE OF DARK KNIGHTS...................75<br />About Us....................................................................... 75<br />Hierarchy...................................................................... 77<br />Oaths and Initiations.....................................................77<br />Dark Knight Clans........................................................ 80<br />TALES OF THE DARK KNIGHTS......................82<br />Real Life Dark Knights................................................82<br />Fictional Dark Knights................................................. 88<br />EPILOGUE........................................................99<br />APPENDIX A: RECOMMENDED READING.....100<br />Comic Books.............................................................. 100<br />Thriller Fiction............................................................101<br />Esoteric Fiction...........................................................103<br />Non-Fiction.................................................................104<br />NOTES............................................................ 106<br />DARK KNIGHTS.............................................111<br />Page 6<br />PREFACE<br />This book describes a new way of life, a new breed of men,<br />and a new organization that is being born in our time. It is a<br />path inspired by fictional superheroes, but which is very<br />practical and real. It is the way of those who pass through the<br />dark night of their souls and emerge stronger; who conquer<br />their fears and master their will; who become more than men in<br />service to an ideal. It is the way of the Dark Knights.<br />Dark Knight Academy was founded to bring this way of<br />life to all who are ready for it, and to establish it as a legitimate<br />life path. Dark Knights may hail from any religion, culture or<br />land, for every culture has a tradition of dark warriors who<br />conquer their fears and serve something greater than<br />themselves. ...<br />The Dark Lords<br />Page 7<br />INTRODUCTION<br />DARK KNIGHT TRAINING: OVERVIEW<br />WHAT ARE DARK KNIGHTS?<br />Dark Knights are a different breed of human being, who do not<br />fear the darkness like other men, or flee from their own<br />shadows. They are creatures of the night, who have faced the<br />dark nights of their own souls and been awakened.<br />Dark Knights are not evil, but they aren’t exactly good.<br />They are laws unto themselves. They dispense nighttime<br />justice when the daytime justice system fails. They prey upon<br />predators and criminals, and act as models of courage for those<br />who live in fear. They are men of strength and integrity in a<br />world drowning in weakness and corruption.<br />Dark Knights live for an ideal, in order to become more<br />than ordinary men. They are the type of beings many of us long<br />to be, deep within our souls: freer, braver, darker, greater –<br />heroes!<br />...<br />Think of this book as a blueprint or roadmap to a more heroic,<br />authentic and meaningful life – the life of the Dark Knight.<br />.
...<br />Why do we call them “Dark” Knights?

What distinguishes them from “white” knights, or just plain knights?<br />Dark Knights take the “darker”, negative emotions, such as<br />hatred, fear and anger, and transform them into something<br />positive. They don’t deny these emotions, or consider them<br />inherently evil, but use them as a source of motivation and<br />passion. They learn to control and channel their passions into<br />something beneficial, rather than being consumed and<br />destroyed by them. This is what the Dark Knight Path is<br />designed to do.<br />IS THIS ABOUT BECOMING BATMAN?<br />You may be wondering if the purpose of this book is to show<br />you how to become Batman, or to idolize Batman. The answer<br />is: definitely not! This is not a role-playing or cosplaying<br />manual, or a bible of “Batmanism”. The Dark Knight Path is<br />strongly inspired by Batman, along with other fictional and<br />non-fictional characters, but it is meant to be a general path for<br />people who seek a more heroic and exceptional life. Each Dark<br />Knight disciple must develop his own unique persona, with his<br />own name, symbolism and purpose, unique to his life<br />experience. Your goal should be to develop your authentic<br />more powerful Dark Knight self; if you find yourself trying to<br />imitate or idolize Batman, you are missing the main point of<br />our path!<br />Nor do aspiring Dark Knights have to be superficially similar<br />to Bruce Wayne. They may come from any national, ethnic or<br />religious background or gender. Some will be more intellectual,<br />others more physical, others more spiritual. Some will be<br />psychologically darker, others lighter. Some will be materially<br />much wealthier, more educated or from a more privileged<br />background than others. But all Dark Knights will share a<br />common ethos and spirit, gained from walking a common path<br />and having a similar inner transformation. We are thus a<br />Brotherhood of Dark Knights, united not primarily by our love<br />for a fictional character, but by our dedication to the way of life<br />described in these pages.<br />Page 9<br />DARK KNIGHT MIND<br />.
The Dark Knight Path places great importance on cultivating<br />the body, the will and a life of action, but it is ultimately about<br />developing a certain mindset, which we call Dark Knight Mind.<br />Dark Knight Mind is a mentality that can only achieved<br />through action; it is not something to be understood as an<br />intellectual abstraction, but to be experienced as a lived reality.<br />Most of this book is concerned with describing the practices<br />that will help you experience Dark Knight Mind. We begin by<br />describing Dark Knight Mind abstractly, by identifying its<br />main principles.<br />THE N INE M AXIMS<br />OF<br />THE D ARK<br />KNIGHT<br />The Nine Maxims of the Dark Knight are nine principles which<br />the Dark Lords have identified as the most vital to success on<br />the Dark Knight Path. They are the basis of our Dark Knight<br />training system, and they form the basic creed of every Dark<br />Knight. Commit these Maxims to memory as soon as possible<br />– print them out and pin them to your wall, chant them during<br />training, meditate upon them, write them out repeatedly – do<br />whatever it takes to ingrain them into your mind. More<br />importantly, begin to apply them in your life, by seeing every<br />new challenge as an obstacle which can be overcome by<br />applying one or more of the Nine Maxims.<br />Page 10<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />1. Strengthen the body; it is your foundation.<br />2. To conquer fear you must become fear.<br />3. The will is everything – the will to act.<br />4. Seek the darkness and be silent.<br />5. Devote yourself to an ideal; become more than a man.<br />6. Controlled passion is power.<br />7. Theatricality and deception are powerful agents.<br />8. Always be mindful of your surroundings.<br />9. Master the Way of Strategy.<br />MAXIM ONE: THE BODY<br />Strengthen the body; it is your foundation.<br />The way of the Dark Knight begins with physical fitness –<br />calisthenics, martial arts, yoga, weightlifting, hiking, sports,<br />nutrition, etc. A fit body is the foundation your power, selfdiscipline<br />and strength; it is a direct manifestation of your inner spirit.<br />Your body cannot be fooled like your mind; it always tells the<br />truth.<br />Your body knows what you fear, what you like, what you love, what you hate.<br />But your body can be mastered, molded, made subject to your will, and this is the first<br />task of the Dark Knight-in-training.<br />MAXIM TWO: FEAR<br />To conquer fear you must become fear.<br />The path of the Dark Knight will bring you into intense contact<br />.
with the evil that men do and the things you most fear. To<br />survive this contact, you must learn to face your fears and<br />overcome them. As R’as al Ghul said to Bruce Wayne:<br />“To conquer fear you must become fear.”<br />Or as the Shadow’s motto goes:<br />“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The<br />Shadow knows.”<br />These two quotes capture the essence of Maxim Two: know the<br />evil that lurks in the hearts of men, and conquer your fear of<br />Page 11<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />that evil by becoming it.<br />Does this mean that a Dark Knight must become a criminal to<br />fight crime? In a sense, yes. For just as Bruce Wayne travelled<br />the world during his training, learning the ways of criminals in<br />order to get inside their minds, every aspiring Dark Knight<br />must awaken his own inner criminal and face his own worst<br />fears in order to conquer them.<br />MAXIM THREE: THE WILL<br />The will is everything – the will to act.<br />To the Dark Knight, the will is<br />MAXIM FOUR: DARKNESS<br />Seek the darkness and be silent.<br />The Dark Knight is a creature of the darkness. He goes into the<br />unlit places where others fear to tread, and watches from the<br />shadows. In this place, he can see more than those blinded by<br />the bright lights. In the night, the beasts of prey come out to<br />feed, and the darker truths are revealed. The Dark Knight ...<br />The Dark Knight is a man of few words. He observes, he<br />thinks, he acts. He does not waste energy on vain speech or<br />writing. He lets his actions do most of his talking. He stays<br />silent, so that he may better hear the approach of predators in<br />the night, and better hunt them without being detected. When<br />he does speak, his words carry weight, and strike fear in the<br />heart of his enemies.<br />Maxim Four means becoming a master of stealth and<br />shadow. ...<br />MAXIM FIVE: AN IDEAL<br />Devote yourself to an ideal; become more than a man.<br />A Dark Knight is not merely a martial artist, a detective, a<br />crime-fighter, an inventor or a businessman. He may be all of<br />these things, but he is much more, for he has devoted his life to<br />Page 12<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />something higher than fitness, fighting, law-enforcement,<br />.
invention, etc. The Dark Knight is a man with a calling, on a<br />quest for his own brand of justice and perfection. He is a role<br />model and an embodiment of integrity. He is not merely out to<br />better himself, but to inspire others, and to bring hope and<br />justice where there is none.<br />In this way, the Dark Knight becomes something more than a<br />man; he becomes a living symbol of our highest aspirations and<br />values. He becomes a Dark Knight, who achieves a<br />superhuman greatness and immortality that only comes to those<br />who embody ideals higher than themselves.<br />...<br />The Dark Knight must devote himself to an authentic ideal –<br />i.e., one that is the result of his own experience and moral<br />awakening. A person who lives according to a script handed to<br />him by society, who never truly questions the values and roles<br />expected of him, doesn’t rise to the title of Dark Knight. A<br />soldier, a police officer, a teacher or a philanthropist doing his<br />duty may be a perfectly honorable person, but that doesn’t<br />make him a hero. The Dark Knight’s path must be individual, it<br />must challenge something about that person’s values and/or the<br />values of his society, and it must go “above and beyond the call<br />of duty”, as the saying goes.<br />...<br />(How to find authentic ideal? From Dark Awakening. What is<br />the moral lesson of the Awakening? What reality does it force<br />the victim to face? What ideal does it compel him to embrace?<br />In the Batman stories, the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents<br />forced to him face the reality of violent crime against the<br />innocent, and compelled him to fight back against criminals. ...<br />MAXIM SIX: PASSION<br />Controlled passion is power.<br />The Dark Knight is driven by passion – rage against injustices,<br />Page 13<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />lust for heroic experiences, fear of enemies, love of family,<br />desire for power, yearning for knowledge, fervor for religion,<br />etc. Each Dark Knight’s dominant passions are different, and<br />define his persona and path. The point is to discover them, and<br />to make them your source of energy, inspiration and power.<br />Dark Knights do not subscribe to the view that their passions<br />are something to be eliminated or transcended, as some<br />extreme rationalist or Buddhist devotees might hold. Rather,<br />they cultivate their passions, as the legendary Shogun<br />Yoritomo-Tashi advised:<br />“Why fear to reanimate ALL the possibilities that lie<br />dormant in our natures? Is it not desirable to cultivate all<br />plants indiscriminately? There are those that are<br />poisonous, true, yet even these are indispensable in the<br />practice of medicine. Large doses of certain drugs cause<br />death; but, administered wisely with the hand of a skilful<br />physician, they bring relief and very often a complete<br />cure. The same may be said of many forces that are evil<br />only because they are not disciplined.”<br />.
In other words, the passions must be<br />controlled, to prevent<br />them from becoming a source of evil that consumes and<br />destroys you. Prisons are full of men who acted on their<br />passions impulsively, and thus threw away their lives.<br />We see an illustration of the danger of passion in<br />Batman<br />Begins, when Bruce Wayne, burning with rage at the release of<br />the man who killed his parents, approaches him with a gun<br />with the intent to shoot him down. If luck had not intervened to<br />stop Wayne from completing his act of vengeance, he might<br />have spent many years in prison himself as a convicted<br />murderer. He might never have travelled the world,<br />encountered his Dark Knight mentor, developed his Dark<br />Knight skills, or become a symbol of justice, who did far more<br />to right the wrong of his parents’ murder than any act of swift<br />vengeance ever could.<br />Ra's al Ghul notes the power of Wayne's passion when he tells<br />him:<br />Page 14<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />What you really fear is inside yourself. You fear your own<br />power. You fear your anger, the drive to do great or<br />terrible things. You have learned to bury your guilt with<br />anger. I will teach you to confront it, and to face the truth.<br />You know how to fight six men. We can teach you how to<br />engage six hundred. You know how to disappear. We can<br />teach you to become truly invisible.<br />Bruce Wayne’s life from that moment on under al Ghul's<br />tutelage becomes a lesson in the power of self-discipline in the<br />service of great passion. The point is that a Dark Knight must<br />have both: passion and control of their passion; one or the other<br />alone will never make you truly powerful.<br />MAXIM SEVEN: THEATRICALITY & DECEPTION<br />Theatricality and deception are powerful agents.<br />One of the Dark Knight’s greatest powers is his ability to use<br />his persona to work his magic upon the minds of his foes, and<br />upon society at large. He creates a larger than life persona, uses<br />dramatic acts, deception and symbols to produce a much more<br />powerful impact than he would have as an ordinary crimefighter.<br />In the Batman stories, the Caped Crusader made his<br />presence felt throughout Gotham City by having the police<br />commissioner summon him with a giant “bat-signal” in the sky<br />whenever there was trouble. This wasn’t just a practical way to<br />communicate, but a strong message to the citizens of Gotham<br />that Batman was on the beat, and all criminals should beware!<br />Batman’s pervasive use of his bat symbol – on his uniform,<br />vehicles, weapons, names, communications, etc. – was a<br />brilliant way to advertise the “Batman brand” and create a<br />mystique that was much more powerful than a single man.<br />Similarly, deception (example of deception) ...<br />Therefore a Dark Knight should cultivate some of the skills of<br />the stage magician and the actor – a flair for the dramatic, an<br />ability to deceive, to misdirect, to hypnotize, to entertain – and<br />.
Page 15<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />to frighten. These methods work both to win allies and<br />intimidate enemies – the methods a politician uses to win votes<br />in an election campaign can also be used to demoralize<br />enemies in a psychological warfare campaign. The Dark<br />Knight should understand how to do both to win his wars.<br />This Maxim comes from Ra’s al Ghul’s statement to<br />Bruce Wayne in<br />Batman Begins, that “theatricality and<br />deception are powerful agents.” But as Bane says to Batman in<br />the third film, Dark Knight Rises: “Theatricality and deception<br />are powerful agents to the uninitiated... but we are initiated,<br />aren't we Bruce?” In other words, these techniques work best<br />on those who haven’t received Dark Knight training or some<br />other initiation into the “dark arts”. If your target is<br />sophisticated – perhaps a former Dark Knight who has<br />“turned” and become a Bane-like villain – you will need to up<br />your game or use other methods to gain a psychological<br />advantage over them.<br />MAXIM EIGHT: MINDFULNESS<br />Always be mindful of your surroundings.<br />Dark Knights walk a dangerous path, fraught with foes and<br />pitfalls that threaten them with destruction. For this reason, the<br />Dark Knight must always be mindful of his surroundings, in<br />both the physical and spiritual sense.<br />Physical mindfulness means developing a keen awareness of<br />all your senses, using mindfulness meditation, sensory<br />exercises, and … It means keenly observing everything and<br />remembering important details.<br />Spiritual mindfulness means being in tune to the minds of<br />others – their feelings, thoughts, hopes and fears. It is what<br />Japanese martial artists call<br />haragei: non-verbal, intuitive<br />communication, anticipation and awareness of threats. It means<br />developing a “sixth sense” for danger.<br />Mindful of self, mindful of others, mindful of environment<br />Page 16<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />No matter where you are, you are always “surrounded by<br />yourself.” ...<br />MAXIM NINE: STRATEGY<br />Master the Way of Strategy.<br />A Dark Knight is a warrior, who lives passionately for his ideal<br />and thus comes into conflict with other passionate men with<br />conflicting ideals. To win these conflicts, the Dark Knight must<br />learn the Way of Strategy.<br />What does this mean? Strategy means the time-tested<br />principles of the warriors, used to defeat other men. It means<br />developing an indomitable spirit, so one always gets back up<br />.
after being knocked down. It is developed through a deep study<br />of martial arts, and the thoughts of great strategists. It is<br />developed in the struggle for life, by facing and defeating ever<br />obstacle in one's path.<br />Even if the Dark Knight's passion is some peaceful craft or<br />business, he still must learn the Way of Strategy. Why is this<br />so? Because every enterprise benefits when one employs<br />strategy and thinks with a warrior's mind. You must have a<br />plan, be prepared for adversity, and have the inner strength to<br />overcome it. This is the virtue of the Way of Strategy. You will<br />face adversity in any enterprise, whether it is from competitors<br />in a business, or pests on a farm, or bad weather, or bad luck,<br />or political opposition, or simply your own laziness. All of<br />these can be defeated by strategy and a warrior's mind.<br />The Dark Knight knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men,<br />and trusts not to their good will and intentions. He knows that<br />this world is a place of conflict, in which the strong survive and<br />the winners make the rules. Like them or not, these are simply<br />facts. So the Dark Knight trusts in Strategy, not in good will,<br />and lets this becomes his guiding law.<br />OTHER POSSIBILITIES:<br />Secrecy: Reveal your identity to no one who need not know it.<br />Page 17<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />Resilience, flexibility<br />A Dark Knight’s life is full of surprises and unforeseen<br />situations .... He must therefore be prepared for any eventuality,<br />both physically and mentally. Physically, this means being<br />agile, flexible and energetic. Mentally, it means being alert,<br />unflappable, unafraid, and in the place known as “the zone” or<br />the “flow state”<br />… having developing a mindset of resilience and<br />adaptability<br />APPLYING THE NINE MAXIMS<br />The Nine Maxims may sound impressive on paper, but how<br />does one actually apply them in their work as a Dark Knight?<br />(… give examples)<br />PHILOSOPHY<br />What is a Dark Knight’s philosophy of life? It’s a difficult<br />question to answer, because each Dark Knight’s path depends<br />on his unique circumstances and experience. However, we can<br />identify some common elements to the philosophies of those<br />who call themselves Dark Knights, which we describe below.<br />EXISTENTIALISM<br />Dark Knights believe they have free will to determine their<br />fate, create their identity and choose their purpose in life. If<br />you subscribe to a religion or philosophy that conflicts with<br />.
this – for example, one that obligates you to place God’s will or<br />the interests of a tribe or nation before your own – you may<br />find our path problematic.<br />IRRATIONALISM<br />Page 18<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />The Path described here is not entirely rational; it appeals to<br />mythical, mystical, romantic concepts that some hard-headed<br />rationalists will reject. However, the justification for our<br />irrationalism is itself rational: because we believe, and have<br />found through experience, that these irrational notions are<br />powerful and effective – they give the disciple a sense of<br />purpose and motivation that a more rational approach to life<br />tends to lack. Dark Knights cultivate a poetic sense of their<br />life’s mission deliberately, then pursue it with technical<br />precision.<br />VITALISM<br />ACTIONISM (WORD FOR THIS??)<br />“It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that<br />defines you.” — Rachel Dawes to Bruce Wayne, Batman<br />Begins<br />A Dark Knight prefers actions to words, real-life tests to<br />thought experiments, heroic deeds to grandiose thoughts. He<br />leaves impotent philosophizing to the coffee shop warriors,<br />preferring to go out on the streets to test himself and seek his<br />destiny. The proof of a Dark Knight’s philosophy is not found<br />in his clever arguments or moralistic appeals, but in his real<br />world success.<br />Bruce Lee expressed a Dark Knight’s practical attitude when<br />he said: “If you spend too much time thinking about a thing,<br />you’ll never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily<br />toward your goal,” and “use only that which works, and take it<br />from any place you can find it.”<br />WILL<br />Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Zen<br />“Zen is a religion of will-power”<br />WILL TO HEROISM<br />Those who embark upon the Dark Knight’s journey may do so<br />Page 19<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />for many reasons, but they all share a dissatisfaction with their<br />ordinary, Daytime World existence. Buddhists speak of dukkha<br />– the unsatisfactoriness of existence – and counsel overcoming<br />our attachments to the things of the world. On our path, we<br />speak of ... – the unsatisfactoriness of the unheroic life – and<br />teach that cultivating will to heroism is the key to walking a<br />.
more heroic path.<br />Every act of will is a decision to be something different than<br />you are now. Every would-be Dark Knight must use his will to<br />decide to become something stronger, freer and more heroic<br />than his old self. Your will to a heroic ideal is your ticket out of<br />the trap of mundane, Daytime existence, into the rarified<br />realms of the Dark Knights. Can you find it within you?<br />FINDING YOUR IDEAL<br />Maxim five emphasize the importance of devoting yourself to<br />an ideal, but it begs the question: what should that ideal be?<br />Here you must let your Dark Awakening guide you; what was<br />the overriding moral or lesson of that experience? What cause<br />is it telling you to devote your life to?<br />...<br />In the case of Bruce Wayne, his experience of seeing his<br />parents gunned down by a common criminal ignited in him a<br />burning hatred of crime against the innocent, and a desire to<br />stamp it out.<br />THE DARK SIDE<br />When the Dark Acolyte passes through his dark night of the<br />soul on his path to Dark Knighthood, there is a real danger that<br />he may not return to the daylight at all. He may be seduced by<br />the darkness, by the sense of power he feels there, and turn<br />completely to the “dark side”. If this happens, the Dark Knight<br />becomes a villain – Bane rather than Batman, Shiwan Khan<br />rather than the Shadow, Darth Vader rather than Obi-Wan<br />Kenobi.<br />Page 20<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />A LAW UNTO YOURSELF<br />The Dark Knight’s journey requires the disciple to step outside<br />the mundane laws of the Daytime World and act according to<br />higher laws of his own discovery. The fully realized Dark<br />Knight becomes a law unto himself, having faced inner and<br />outer demons and accomplished heroic deeds that justify his<br />authority.<br />What separates a Dark Knight from a villain? In truth, very<br />little; Dark Knights may seem like villains to those who follow<br />the laws of the Daytime World blindly, or who have become<br />corrupted by that world. ...<br />Our purpose here is not to dictate your morality or ethics in<br />detail. Rather, we are describing a<br />path of awakening and<br />transformation that may be used by individuals with very<br />different moral and ethical codes, based on different individual<br />and cultural experiences, to become something more than<br />ordinary men. The only ethical and moral code we share are<br />our Nine Maxims – our emphasis on mastering the mind and<br />body, conquering our fears, devoting ourselves to an ideal,<br />creating a larger than life persona, etc. If someone follows this<br />path with integrity but has values that others consider “evil”,<br />that is not our concern. Dark Knights are “beyond good and<br />evil” (as Nietzsche put it), in that we don’t try to dictate a<br />.
moral code that is absolutely true for everyone, everywhere;<br />rather, we emphasize the importance of individual experience,<br />integrity and awakening.<br />IMPECCABILITY<br />A Dark Knight’s life is a quest for perfection; it is an attempt to<br />merge one’s actions and one’s ideals into a harmonious and<br />powerful whole. The Dark Knight looks at the totality of a<br />person’s life as a reflection of their philosophy and state of<br />mind. If a person is brilliant in some narrow area of<br />knowledge, but their home is in shambles, their demeanor<br />shoddy or their personal life a mess, they are not masters<br />worthy of emulation. This is where a stereotypically Western<br />Page 21<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />approach to life, with its celebration of specialists, “absentminded<br />professors”<br />and autistic geniuses, is unsatisfactory for Dark Knights.<br />We prefer a more “Zen” approach, of seeking impeccability and mindfulness in all<br />one’s actions.<br />A true master of life should reflect their mastery in everything they do, including their mannerisms, speech and appearance.

The smallest things reflect one’s inner nature, and must be tended to<br />with care.<br />(quote Zen master)<br />FLOWISM<br />Here is a brief description of a philosophy and way of life that<br />I'm calling "Flowism":<br />Flowism is the pursuit of the experience known as flow – a<br />heightened state of consciousness in which one is operating on<br />instinct, in the moment, with supranormal precision, creativity,<br />confidence and perception. Flow is "the zone" where all peak<br />performers and geniuses strive to be: where Michelangelo was<br />when he painted the Sistine Chapel in an artistic frenzy; where<br />Newton and Einstein must have been often during their annus<br />mirabiles ("miracle years") of epochal scientific discovery;<br />where extreme sports enthusiasts go when they are facing life<br />or death decisions on mountain slopes and giant waves. Flow<br />may also be experienced via psychedelic drugs, dance, music,<br />meditation, martial arts, sexual passion, public performance,<br />religious ceremony, military battle and countless other ways.<br />To the Flowite, life is given its value during these moments of<br />peak experience; the rest of one's time is just preparation and<br />training for the flow states.<br />This may be all that needs to be said about Flowism. It is not<br />something that can be understood through words and thoughts,<br />but must be experienced directly. Perhaps Zen, with its doctrine<br />of mushin ("no-mind"), the yogic paths to "samadhi", the<br />spartan warrior creeds, various shamanic ecstatic practices and<br />hedonic artistic schools are the closest historical analogues of<br />Flowism. Neither a philosophy in the Western sense nor a<br />Page 22<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />.
religion in the monotheistic sense, Flowism represents a return<br />to mankind's primordial spirituality, informed by modern<br />science.<br />A Flowite saying: "To fly the soul the mind must flow!"<br />PSYCHOLOGY<br />The Shadow: repressed fears, desires, emotions in our<br />subconscious minds. The part of our being we hide from<br />ourselves and others. Batman: bats.<br />The Self: person’s entire being, with integrated conscious and<br />subconscious. Authentic self. This could also be called the<br />Dark Knight Self. Batman: The Batman.<br />The Anima/Animus: feminine aspect of male psyche or vice<br />versa. Batman: Rachel Dawes.<br />The Persona: the person we are in the Daytime World; the<br />mask we allow the world to see. The Persona shields our<br />conscious mind from negative, disturbing thoughts. It also<br />disguises the identity of our Dark Knight Self, protecting him<br />and his loved ones from harm. Batman: Bruce Wayne,<br />billionaire playboy.<br />...<br />Carl Jung said:<br />“Filling the conscious mind with ideal conceptions is a<br />characteristic of Western theosophy, but not the<br />confrontation with the Shadow and the world of darkness.<br />One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of<br />light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter<br />procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not<br />popular.”<br />Traditionally, Western spirituality has long emphasized the<br />“light side” world and shunned the world of darkness as<br />Page 23<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />something evil and corrupting. According to Jung, this has<br />made many Western people psychologically imbalanced,<br />fearful and neurotic. A Dark Knight represents the Western<br />man who has integrated his dark side and made peace with the<br />world of darkness. He has consciously used his Shadow as a<br />source of power, overcome his fears, and become an aweinspiring<br />figure to those who have not yet confronted their own Shadows.<br />THE FIVE STAGES OF A DARK KNIGHT’S GRIEF<br />Elisabeth Kübler-Ross defined the five stages of grief as denial,<br />anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Kübler-Ross<br />developed these stages from her work with terminally ill<br />patients, to understand how they cope with the reality of death<br />and dying. Since every Dark Knight’s journey begins with<br />intense grief, and involves the death of your old, Daytime Self,<br />it is useful to look at the “Kübler-Ross model” as it relates to<br />the Dark Knight path.<br />.
Denial: Immediately after his Trauma, the acolyte is still in<br />shock, not yet ready to face the trauma of the death of his old<br />life, enter the Nighttime World or become a transformed<br />person. He tries to pretend that his life can continue as if<br />nothing has changed.<br />Anger: As the new reality begins to set in, the acolyte rages<br />against the injustice of the Trauma. He may act out against real<br />or imagined sources of suffering in unpredictable ways. The<br />acolyte has entered the Nighttime World, or the “dark night of<br />the soul”, and allows himself to be driven by his anger and<br />other emotions.<br />Bargaining: In this stage, the acolyte develops some control of<br />his anger, and finds a way to begin to harness it for something<br />more constructive. This is where the Threshold Crossing<br />occurs, and the acolyte enters into a new regime of training that<br />will conquer his anger, fear and other emotions that torment<br />him.<br />Page 24<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Depression:<br />Acceptance: The acolyte finally comes to grips with the reality<br />that his old self is dead, and accepts<br />INNER SANCTUM<br />The “Inner Sanctum” is a mental version of your Outer<br />Sanctum: a place you build in your mind, where you can<br />always take refuge and connect to your greater Dark Knight<br />self.<br />Inner Sanctums will be unique to each Dark Knight, just as the<br />Outer Sanctums is. It should be a place of creativity,<br />illumination and awakening, that taps into your deepest sources<br />of inspiration on the Dark Knight Path. Perhaps your Inner<br />Sanctum is a monastery at the summit of a mountain, where the<br />ancient masters of wisdom dwell. It could be a stone temple in<br />a remote desert, where you commune with whatever gods or<br />spirits inspire you. Maybe it is a high tech lair dug deep in a<br />mountain or on an uncharted island, where you plan and ...<br />your ... Perhaps it is an ice cave in an arctic wilderness, where<br />you find the solitude and space need by a superman. Maybe it<br />is a space station in orbit, equipped with all your computers<br />and devices, from which you monitor global events and swoop<br />down on trouble spots. Be as imaginative as your like in<br />building your Inner Sanctum; unlike your Outer Sanctum, there<br />are no limits to what you might build except your own<br />imagination.<br />... (exercise to begin building)<br />(exercise to use the Inner Sanctum)<br />Go into your Inner Sanctum whenever you need a place of<br />power, wisdom and resources.<br />DARK KNIGHT QUOTES<br />“I guess we’re all two people. One daylight, and the one we<br />.
keep in shadow.” —Bruce Wayne, Batman<br />Page 25<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />“They told me there was nothing out there, nothing to fear. But<br />the night my parents were murdered I caught a glimpse of<br />something. I've looked for it ever since. I went around the<br />world, searched in all the shadows. And there is something out<br />there in the darkness, something terrifying, something that will<br />not stop until it gets revenge... Me.”<br />“Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies shared my dread.”<br />—Bruce Wayne, Batman Begins<br />“If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote<br />yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, then you<br />become something else entirely....Legend.”<br />“You travelled the world... Now you must journey inwards... to<br />what you really fear... it's inside you... there is no turning back.”<br />“What you really fear is inside yourself. You fear your own<br />power. You fear your anger, the drive to do great or terrible<br />things.”<br />“Men fear most what they cannot see.”<br />“You must become more than just a man in the mind of your<br />opponent.”<br />—Henri Ducard, Batman Begins<br />“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow<br />knows!” —from The Shadow radio program<br />“With self-discipline most anything is possible.”<br />“Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great<br />actions speak to all mankind.”<br />“No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk<br />his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great<br />cause.”<br />“I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the<br />doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labor<br />Page 26<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes,<br />not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man<br />who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter<br />toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph,”<br />“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs,<br />even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those<br />poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they<br />live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”<br />—Theodore Roosevelt<br />.
“Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be<br />trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here<br />to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate<br />enlightenment.”<br />“Do not look upon this world with fear and loathing. Bravely<br />face whatever the gods offer.” —Morihei Ueshiba<br />“The only way to find the path is to set fire to my own life.” —<br />Rabindranath Tagore<br />“There is no coming to consciousness without pain. People will<br />do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing<br />their own Soul. One does not become enlightened by imagining<br />figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.”<br />“Filling the conscious mind with ideal conceptions is a<br />characteristic of Western theosophy, but not the confrontation<br />with the Shadow and the world of darkness. One does not<br />become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by<br />making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however,<br />is disagreeable and therefore not popular.”<br />—Carl Jung<br />"Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own<br />self-transformation." —Lao Tzu<br />Page 27<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />"We have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of<br />all time have gone before us; the labyrinth is thoroughly<br />known: we have only to follow the thread of the hero path. And<br />where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a<br />god: where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay<br />ourselves; where we had thought to travel outward, we shall<br />come to the center of our own existence; and where we had<br />thought to be alone, we shall be with all the world."<br />“We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the<br />one that is waiting for us.”<br />—Joseph Campbell<br />“Run from what’s comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you<br />fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.” —<br />Jalaladdin Rumi<br />“There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you<br />to get better, stronger, richer, quicker, or smarter. Everything is<br />within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside of yourself.”<br />“Do not sleep under a roof. Carry no money or food. Go alone<br />to places frightening to the common brand of men. Become a<br />criminal of purpose. Be put in jail, and extricate yourself by<br />your own wisdom.”<br />―Miyamoto Musashi<br />“All great things must first wear terrifying and monstrous<br />masks in order to inscribe themselves on the hearts of<br />humanity.”<br />“He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself<br />.
does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an<br />abyss the abyss also gazes into you.”<br />“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”<br />—Friedrich Nietzsche<br />"You are what your deep, driving desire is.<br />As your deep, driving desire is, so is your will.<br />Page 28<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />As your will is, so is your deed.<br />As your deed is, so is your destiny." —Upanishads<br />“Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one<br />elementary rule . . . that the moment one definitely commits<br />oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to<br />help one that would never otherwise have occurred. . .<br />.Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.” —<br />Goethe<br />“Singlemindedness is all-powerful.”―Tsunetomo Yamamoto<br />“There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay<br />there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A<br />man must constantly exceed his level.”<br />“Defeat is a state of mind. No one is ever defeated until defeat<br />has been accepted as reality. To me, defeat in anything is<br />merely temporary, and its punishment is but an urge for me to<br />greater effort to achieve my goal. Defeat simply tells me that<br />something is wrong in my doing; it is a path leading to success<br />and truth.”<br />“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll<br />never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily toward<br />your goal.”<br />—Bruce Lee<br />“Why fear to reanimate ALL the possibilities that lie dormant<br />in our natures? Is it not desirable to cultivate all plants<br />indiscriminately? There are those that are poisonous, true, yet<br />even these are indispensable in the practice of medicine. Large<br />doses of certain drugs cause death; but, administered wisely<br />with the hand of a skilful physician, they bring relief and very<br />often a complete cure. The same may be said of many forces<br />that are evil only because they are not disciplined.”<br />—Yoritomo-Tashi<br />“Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or<br />Page 29<br />Dark Knight Mind<br />morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They<br />make use of a very small portion of their possible<br />consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much<br />like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get<br />into a habit of using and moving only his lttle finger. Great<br />.
emergencies and crises show us how much greater our vital<br />resources are than we had supposed.”<br />—William James<br />“Take care of your Thoughts because they become Words.<br />Take care of your Words because they will become Actions.<br />Take care of your Actions because they will become Habits.<br />Take care of your Habits because they will form your<br />Character.<br />Take care of your Character because it will form your Destiny,<br />and your Destiny will be your Life.”<br />—The 14th Dalai Lama<br />"If you must begin then go all the way, because if you begin<br />and quit, the unfinished business you have left behind begins to<br />haunt you all the time." —Chogyam Trungpa<br />Page 30<br />THE D ARK K NIGHT<br />BODY<br />Diet<br />Exercise<br />Hatha Yoga<br />.
Page 31<br />THE D ARK K NIGHT<br />PERSONA<br />The Dark Knight path is designed to transform you into a new<br />being – to create a stronger, darker, greater persona and make it<br />“the real you.” A Dark Knight is not merely an exceptionally<br />competent, driven and fearless operator who lives for an ideal.<br />You can find such people working anonymously in all walks of<br />life, from politics to education to the military to law<br />enforcement. What separates the Dark Knight from such<br />individuals is the Dark Knight’s use of symbolism, persona,<br />theatricality, heroism and even fear to achieve his goals. The<br />Dark Knight is engaged in<br />psychological manipulation of<br />friend and foe alike – he is a kind of magician or actor, who<br />may take an entire city, nation or the whole world as his stage.<br />The<br />What sort of life should a Dark Knight strive for? What<br />material things should he acquire,<br />ELEMENTS OF YOUR IDENTITY<br />Your Dark Knight persona will be determined by your<br />particular path and passions, but every Dark Knight's persona<br />should include the following elements.<br />Page 32<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />.
COSTUME<br />... mask, ring, cape, cane<br />NAME<br />Your Dark Knight name should be simple and it should strike a<br />chord with your allies and enemies and alike. It will be closely<br />related to your<br />CALLING CARDS<br />Dark Knights may wish to develop one or more “calling cards”<br />that enhance their mystique, notoriety and theatricality. For<br />example, the Shadow had a chilling laugh that struck<br />paralyzing fear into the hearts of criminals just before he<br />struck. Batman had his “bat signal” which flashed above the<br />skies of Gotham, letting the city know that the Caped Crusader<br />was on the case.<br />A strictly professional, mundane operator might consider such<br />calling cards an unwise extravagance that will bring<br />unnecessary attention upon him. But remember that a Dark<br />Knight strives to be larger than life, and a symbol of something<br />greater. As Maxim 7 states, theatricality is a powerful agent<br />which can burn the Dark Knight’s symbolism into the minds of<br />those he wishes to influence. Calling cards, like a heroic name,<br />uniform and symbol, are another way to use theatricality to<br />enhance the Dark Knight’s effectiveness.<br />THE SANCTUM<br />“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and<br />again.” —Joseph Campbell<br />Sanctums are the Dark Knights’ personal strongholds, sacred<br />spaces and training centers. When Dark Knights are not out in<br />the world doing their work, they are usually found here.<br />Page 33<br />The Dark Knight Persona<br />PURPOSE<br />Sanctums may be used for a wide variety of practical tasks:<br />communications, computing, laboratory work, study,<br />equipment storage, training and meditation. They may also<br />function as survival shelters and secret “safe houses” from<br />which to operate against the Dark Knight’s foes.<br />It’s important to realize that your Sanctum is not only<br />physically very functional, but serves a vital psychological<br />purpose: it forces you to live your Dark Knight persona where<br />you are, every day. By actually going into your Sanctum, in<br />costume, you are stepping out of your Daytime identity and<br />into your Nighttime role in a visceral way. You are physically<br />reprogramming yourself to adopt new habits and a new<br />identity. It has been said that to become a new person and live<br />in a new way, you have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk<br />or think the thought. This is the spiritual purpose of your<br />.
Sanctum: it is not just a place to operate, train and study, but a<br />temple to your greater Dark Knight self.<br />You will want to give your Sanctum a name and furnishings<br />appropriate to your Dark Knight persona. Display your<br />costume, mask, weapons, gadgets, etc. in a dignified way<br />around the room. Keep your Sanctum clean and in perfect<br />working order. A shoddy Sanctum reflects a shoddy mind, and<br />is unworthy of a Dark Knight! Don’t have a television, alcohol,<br />drugs, junk food or anything else that encourages addictive or<br />unhealthy behavior. If you have problems with addiction, use<br />your Sanctum to break it by going there whenever you feel the<br />urge to feed your habit.<br />Fictional examples of Sanctums to look at for inspiration<br />include Batman’s Batcave, the Shadow’s Sanctum, the<br />Phantom's Skull Cave, the League of Shadows’ Temple, Doctor<br />Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum and the Executioner’s WarWagon.<br />DESIGN<br />Page 34<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Ideally, your Sanctum would be housed in a hidden location on<br />your private estate, with concealed tunnels allowing entrance<br />and exit for yourself and your vehicles, helicopter, jet, boat,<br />etc. However, if you don’t have the resources of a Bruce<br />Wayne, you will have to make do with a less ambitious design.<br />Below are a few ideas for Sanctums that can be built on more<br />modest budgets.<br />... Your sanctum could be as small as a large closet to a<br />dedicated room, shed, garage, buried shipping container, tree<br />house, cave, tunnel, tower, bunker, fortress or underground<br />complex.<br />CREEPERC@VE<br />CreeperC@ve is the cyber-sanctum of a Dark Knight who calls<br />himself the Creeper. The Creeper is an idealistic super-hacker<br />who uses his skills to fight injustice online – particularly by<br />governments and corporations who seek to shut down free<br />speech and impose central controls on the internet.<br />CreeperC@ve is located in the basement of a building in a<br />rather run-down industrial area of an Eastern European city.<br />The Creeper has wired the Sanctum with fiber optics and set up<br />his network in such a way that tracing his online activity is next<br />to impossible. The Creeper is rumored to work as a senior<br />network administrator at the nation's largest internet provider,<br />which allows him to further secure and disguise his hacking<br />activities.<br />The Creeper has gained access to thousands of government and<br />corporate servers, hacked email and social media accounts of<br />many powerful people the world over, and exposed the shady<br />dealings of dictators, corporate executives and elected officials<br />alike. For this, he has become something of an internet<br />celebrity, ...<br />THE DAEMONORIUM<br />.
The Daemonorium is the Sanctum of a rather sinister British<br />Dark Knight known as Lord Blackstone . Blackstone is the<br />Page 35<br />The Dark Knight Persona<br />Grand Master of a so-called “Black Lodge” and is well<br />connected to the British power and money elite. Lord<br />Blackstone's forte is demonolatry: the invocation and control of<br />demons – including, it is rumored, the Lord of all demons,<br />Satan Himself. He has also amassed one of the world's most<br />extensive libraries of ancient, rare and modern books on<br />demonology and black magick from every age and culture.<br />Below his mansion, Lord Blackstone has constructed a temple<br />in a large natural limestone cavern. A concealed tunnel leads<br />from the library of his mansion down into the temple<br />chambers. In the center of the main chamber, a natural stone<br />outcropping has been shaped into an altar, upon which idols of<br />demons are placed and offerings made to them. Around the<br />chamber, demonic visages have been sculpted into limestone<br />stalagmites and stalactites, and statues of various demons act as<br />shrines. A large pentagram has been engraved in the floor<br />around the altar. There, in the depths of the Daemonorium,<br />Lord Blackstone conducts various demonolatry experiments, in<br />which various demons are evoked, commanded and given<br />offerings in order to harness their power. It is believed that<br />Blackstone's ultimate goal is to engineer<br />Pandaemonium –<br />when demons will erupt en masse to bring about Hell on Earth.<br />THE DRAGON'S LAIR<br />LABORATORY<br />If your Dark Knight persona engages in any kind of intellectual<br />or technical pursuits, your Sanctum should be your laboratory<br />for this activity. For Bruce Wayne, this meant equipping his<br />Batcave with an advanced criminology laboratory. A<br />technologist would include whatever computers and electronics<br />he may require. A warrior might include a gun shop and a<br />firing range. A martial artist might include a dojo or a blade<br />shop. An occultist would have an occult library and ritual area.<br />An artist would have an art studio.<br />Page 36<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />SURVIVAL SHELTER<br />To be Dark Knights, we must first be survivors. This means we<br />must be able to function even (and especially) in times of<br />natural disaster, war, terrorist attack, riot, enemy action or other<br />breakdown of law and order.<br />To prepare for such events, you should make your Sanctum<br />into a fully functional survival shelter if possible. This means<br />equipping it with all the basic necessities that will allow you to<br />live there without contact with the outside world for weeks or<br />.
months at a time. Below are some suggestions for equipping<br />your Sanctum for this purpose.<br />• Backup power: Gasoline generator; solar, wind,<br />hydroelectric or other renewable energy generator.<br />Enough power to run your lights and vital<br />communications and electronics indefinitely.<br />• Food: Freeze-dried, canned and dry goods, vitamin<br />supplements. Enough to last for months or years.<br />• Water: Private well with hand pump, spring or stream,<br />rainwater collectors, large tanks, filters, water<br />purification tablets.<br />• Heat: Wood stove or fireplace with firewood or propane<br />heater and tank, enough to last the winter months.<br />• Bomb Shelter: Underground shipping container,<br />bunker or tunnel … designed to withstand even a<br />nuclear attack.<br />SECURITY<br />Your Sanctum should function as a “safe house” and “panic<br />room” – a place where you can operate securely and secretly<br />for extended periods of time, without criminals, enemy<br />operatives, solicitors or anyone else being able to threaten you.<br />Alarm system<br />Security cameras<br />Reinforced doors<br />Weapons<br />Page 37<br />The Dark Knight Persona<br />Concealed entry/exit<br />Communications<br />TEMPLE<br />The path of the Dark Knight is a spiritual one, which can serve<br />as the disciple’s religion. To keep himself focused on the<br />practices and principles of his Path, and to remind himself of<br />his membership in a larger Order, the Dark Knight should<br />include a temple or shrine in his Sanctum.<br />The Temple should contain any objects, artifacts or idols that<br />are sacred to the Dark Knight disciple or symbolic of his path.<br />For example, if the disciple has chosen a black dragon to be his<br />totem animal, he can include a black dragon statue and other<br />artifacts in his temple. He will also want to feature his personal<br />symbol prominently, on a banner, altar cloth or poster. If he has<br />acquired any items on his path that have special significance to<br />him, such as a mask, gloves, cape, cane or ring, he may wish to<br />keep them there also.<br />.
Page 38<br />THE D ARK K NIGHT'S<br />JOURNEY<br />THE NINE SUMMITS<br />The nature of our Path is the<br />Dark Knight’s Journey: an<br />adventure of self-transformation that takes the Acolyte from the<br />pits of despair and powerlessness to the summits of hope and<br />power. This is what it means to rise to the challenge of Dark<br />Knighthood.<br />The Dark Knight Path is divided into nine “Summits”, which<br />Page 39<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />are critical stages in the journey to Dark Knighthood. Each<br />Summit is associated with a specific Trial, which tests the<br />disciple’s ability to complete that stage of his path. Below we<br />describe the nine Dark Knight Summits and Trials in more<br />.
detail.<br />THE DAYTIME WORLD<br />The Dark Knight’s journey begins in the ordinary world – the<br />mundane existence that we are conditioned for as members of a<br />civilization. In this world, social conventions, roles,<br />expectations and values govern your life. You are expected to<br />go to school, get a job, get married, obey the law, buy the right<br />products, make the right friends, vote for the right candidates,<br />practice the right religion, believe the right philosophy, etc.<br />Dark Knights call this the Daytime World – the conditioned<br />world you live in if you haven’t yet had an awakening to your<br />heroic potential. The Daytime World is the “base camp” from<br />which you will ascend the Nine Summits to Dark Knighthood.<br />TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE<br />The first Summit is really the nadir of the Dark Knight<br />disciple’s life: the point when he awakens to his total<br />powerlessness in the face of evil, suffering and despair.<br />To reach this place, the Acolyte must undergo some kind of<br />dark, traumatic experience, such as the death of a loved one,<br />severe personal injury, betrayal, or mental breakdown.<br />This experience of trauma is vital, because it provides<br />the catharsis for all your future training. The rage and<br />impotence you feel at that moment will become the fuel that<br />drives you onward, through all inner and outer adversity.<br />In the Batman stories, Bruce Wayne’s Traumatic Experience<br />was seeing his parents gunned down in front of him by a<br />common criminal. The feelings of childhood powerlessness,<br />guilt at having been unable to protect them, and rage at the evil<br />that men do, would haunt him forever and drive him to become<br />something more than a man: the Batman.<br />Page 40<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />The Traumatic Experience is thus the moment when even the<br />most privileged child’s illusions of security, stability and<br />immortality are wiped away, and the terrifying reality of our<br />insecure, unstable and fleeting lives is revealed. Rather than<br />cower in fear of this dark reality, the Dark Knight disciple is<br />proactive – he goes straight into the darkness and attacks the<br />source of his suffering and fear.<br />How does one become awakened in this way? Must you be the<br />victim of a terrible crime or injury to begin the Dark Knight’s<br />journey? The answer is yes, but the trauma isn’t necessarily a<br />physical experience of death and pain. It can (and should) be<br />primarily a spiritual trauma – the “dark night of the soul” that<br />is spoken of in religious scripture.<br />....<br />Such experiences are rare, and growing rarer, in an age that<br />values comfort, safety and moderation more than powerful,<br />perilous experiences. Thus the ranks of the Dark Knights grow<br />thin, and few in this age will be qualified to join us. If you wish<br />to be among them, you must find a way to exit the society of<br />the un-heroic and the risk-averse – the Daytime World – and<br />face adventure and danger alone.<br />.
Perhaps you will need to take time off from your education, or<br />change professions, or travel, or pursue some art or invention,<br />or explore some spiritual tradition, or involve yourself in some<br />great war. The paths to Dark Awakening are infinite, and there<br />are no maps to help you find them. You simply must summon<br />the courage to leave the well-lit, well-mapped regions of<br />experience and take the plunge into the unknown territories<br />where traumatic experiences await.<br />If this advice frightens you, good! It should! If it isn’t advice<br />you’re willing to act on, then the Dark Knight Path may never<br />open for you. But if you do choose to seek the path of danger<br />and need more guidance than this, I cannot offer it; you’re on<br />your own!<br />Page 41<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />DARK AWAKENING<br />The Dark Awakening is the point when the Traumatic<br />Experience leads to a dark new understanding of the world and<br />oneself, and points to a new direction for one's life. This may<br />not happen until well after the Traumatic Experience; the<br />disciple may live in denial, able to suppress his trauma and<br />conform to Daytime Society for years, until the pressures<br />finally become to great to bear. In<br />Batman Begins , Bruce<br />Wayne didn't awaken until ...<br />EXPLORING THE OTHER SIDE<br />After the Dark Acolyte experiences his Dark Awakening, he<br />will naturally be full of rage, angst or despair – powerful<br />emotions that can destroy him, or transform him. In this stage,<br />the Acolyte may strike out in all directions, without focus or<br />discipline, raging against the demons that torment him and<br />seeking vengeance upon those who wronged him.<br />The energy unleashed in this stage is vital to the Dark Knight’s<br />path, for it will drive him to leave the Daytime World and<br />explore aspects of the world and himself that he might never<br />otherwise face. This is a time for wild experimentation,<br />adventure, conflict, many victories and defeats. This is similar<br />to the “howling at the moon” phase that many young people go<br />through on their journey to maturity. But the Dark Knight’s<br />explorations should still be focused and driven by a singleminded<br />purpose: to understand the source of his pain, to confront it, and to<br />conquer it.<br />In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne’s exploration of the other side<br />began when he confronted the crime boss of Gotham and<br />realized that he was not yet ready to challenge the crime and<br />corruption that ruled his city. The crime boss told him<br />contemptuously:<br />“You're Bruce Wayne, the prince of Gotham. You'd have<br />to go 1000 miles to meet someone who didn't know your<br />name. So don't, don't come down here with your anger,<br />trying to prove something to yourself. This is a world<br />.
The Dark Knight Mind<br />Page 42<br />you'll never understand. And you always fear what you<br />don't understand.”<br />Realizing the truth of this, Wayne chose not to go to Princeton<br />and take his place at the head of the family’s business empire<br />as expected. Instead, he boarded a ship and spent years<br />travelling the world, studying the criminal underworld and<br />living as a criminal himself. This gave him a deeper<br />understanding of the nature of crime and criminals – it was a<br />real-world education rather than the abstract, sheltered one he<br />would’ve gotten at Princeton.<br />In your own Dark Knight’s journey, you may also need to<br />spend years educating yourself in the ways of the “dark side”<br />and exploring the Nighttime World. Your goal is not to rage<br />blindly or rebel for rebellion’s sake, but to better understand<br />the source of your Traumatic Experience. Eventually, your<br />explorations will bring you to the next phase of your journey:<br />meeting a mentor.<br />MEETING A MENTOR<br />Eventually, a day will come on the Dark Knight’s journey<br />when he encounters someone who has already walked the Path<br />and mastered it. This is the Dark Mentor.<br />In Batman Begins, the Dark Mentor was Ra’s al Ghul, leader of<br />the League of Shadows. Ra’s finds Bruce Wayne in solitary<br />confinement in a grim Asian prison and grants him a key to<br />entry into the League. Finding their hidden monastery in the<br />mountains, Wayne begins training with Ra’s and his army of<br />ninjas, and his period of intense work toward Dark Knighthood<br />truly begins.<br />But this story, as entertaining as it is, is surely fiction. Where<br />does one find mentors like R’as al Ghul, or groups like the<br />League of Shadows? You are holding one answer right in your<br />hands! For this book describes one such organization, and was<br />written by one such man! The League of Dark Knights<br />described in these pages, and established by this author, is<br />designed to bring such things from the realm of myth and<br />Page 43<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />fantasy into reality. Do you think you are the first to have<br />visions of Dark Knighthood, or that all who have had them are<br />content to leave them in the realm of fantasy? No! Some of us<br />have developed the will to act – the will to make these dreams<br />a reality in this world, and to walk the path of Dark Knight on<br />this Earth!<br />So where will you find your Dark Mentor? Only you can<br />answer that, by actually pursuing the path described in these<br />pages, or by finding another path and other masters. But have<br />no doubt that our League is real – that we have real facilities,<br />real members and real training, and that our doors will open for<br />you and Mentors will appear when you are ready for them!<br />CROSSING THE THRESHOLD<br />Once the Acolyte finds his Mentor, his dedicated Dark Knight<br />.
training begins. This is the point where the disciple fully<br />commits to his path and leaves the Daytime World behind for<br />good. This commitment will involve entering into a new life, a<br />new regime, a new world, where different rules apply than in<br />the old world. Much that was learned in the Daytime World<br />will be unlearned, and much that is new will be learned. We<br />call this stage “Crossing the Threshold.”<br />In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne crossed the threshold to his<br />new life when he entered the monastery in the mountains as<br />instructed by his Mentor, Ra’s al Ghul, and began training with<br />the League of Shadows. ...<br />In our League, you may cross the threshold in many different<br />ways, depending on your Mentor.<br />TESTS AND ALLEGIANCES<br />After you’ve begun your new life, and trained for a while on<br />your new path, you will experience tests of your commitment<br />and strength.<br />Preparation<br />Page 44<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />The Ordeal<br />The Reward<br />The Road Back<br />The Resurrection<br />In the Japanese warrior tradition, after studying for a number of<br />years in a dojo, the trainee is expected to embark on a mushya<br />shugo – an extended “warrior's quest”, in which he leaves the<br />confines of the training hall and tests his skills and knowledge<br />by adventuring in the 'real world'.<br />RETURN TO THE DAYTIME WORLD<br />The final stage of the Dark Knight’s journey is the return to the<br />Daytime World as a transformed being. For Bruce Wayne, this<br />meant returning to Gotham City after years spent traveling the<br />world and training with the League of Shadows. Once back in<br />the Daytime World, the Acolyte will undergo more Trials to<br />test his ability to use his new powers and knowledge in a way<br />that is beneficial. Will the Dark Knight be too intense, too<br />superhuman, too strange, to be accepted back into the Daytime<br />World? Will he be considered some kind of freak or villain,<br />rather than a hero? …<br />BUILDING THE WILL<br />To build muscles, a weightlifter must exercise them regularly<br />and with increasing intensity. The muscles are thus broken<br />down at a cellular level, prompting the body to build them back<br />up again, stronger than before.<br />To build willpower, the same principle applies. By exercising<br />your will regularly and with escalating intensity, the will is<br />.
exhausted, and then it becomes stronger. It is therefore useful<br />to think of your will as your primary mental muscle, something<br />like the muscles of your lower body, which form the<br />Page 45<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />foundation of your mental strength. Without a super-strong<br />foundation in willpower, you will never achieve the Dark<br />Knight Mind.<br />EXERCISE: VISUALIZING WILL MASTERY<br />To manifest something in reality, you must first manifest it in<br />the mind. This is an ancient principle of all esoteric training<br />schools, and it is a core principle of Dark Knight Academy<br />training. Therefore, to develop a strong Will, you should first<br />visualize yourself having a strong Will. Here is an exercise for<br />that purpose.<br />Sit comfortably in a meditative position, whether in a chair,<br />seiza, half-lotus, or full lotus. Clasp your hands in the<br />Rakuzhin mudra (??) described previously. Take a minute to<br />relax your entire body; allow your mind to empty of thoughts,<br />and breathe deeply.<br />Now picture yourself as a person of strong, masterful Will.<br />Play out scenes in your mind of yourself taking decisive action,<br />focused intention, perseverance and success. Imagine how you<br />would look, sound, act, and feel as a master of the Will.<br />Perhaps you are an executive in a corporation, or a commander<br />on the battlefield, or a lover in the throes of passion, or a<br />mountain climber on a Himalayan peak, or a Yogi in a difficult<br />posture, or a detective tracking down a notorious criminal.<br />Whatever scenes come to mind, always be the master of<br />yourself, commander of others, and in control of the world<br />around you. Never doubt, never hesitate, never give up, never<br />give in, never falter, never fail. Feel how satisfying it is to have<br />a Will of iron; savor all the good things it brings you; revel in<br />your own power!<br />Continue this meditation for at least several minutes. As you<br />come out of it, realize that you can return to this state of Will<br />mastery at any time, using your Rakuzhin mudra as a trigger.<br />You can clasp your hands and say to yourself something like:<br />“I am a master of my Will; I am a master of the universe”, and<br />it will be so.<br />Page 46<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />EXERCISE: DAILY DISCIPLINE<br />Do things “right” for a week. Accomplish everything you are<br />supposed to do, on schedule. Don’t deviate from your daily<br />routines, job, homework, diet, exercise, etc. Keep a journal of<br />your activities, and write notes to yourself if necessary.<br />This is an important way to prove to yourself that you are<br />actually capable of controlling your life. If you find that you<br />can’t do this, reduce the time period to a few days, and keep<br />.
trying. Examine your journal to see where you are failing, and<br />redouble your efforts. There are no shortcuts here; you simply<br />must work through your tendency to slack off, get distracted,<br />and forget what you are supposed to be doing.<br />Note that the purpose of Dark Knight training is not to turn you<br />into a drone who operates according to a fixed routine. This<br />exercise is simply a test of your willpower, to see if you have<br />the ability to organize and command your life. This is critical,<br />because if you can’t command yourself, you will never be able<br />to inspire or command others!<br />EXERCISE: HABIT REPROGRAMMING<br />Evaluate your life and identify your mental and physical habits.<br />Alter or eliminate one habit for a week. For example, you<br />could stop smoking, drinking coffee or watching television,<br />masturbate with your opposite hand or eliminate dairy products<br />from your diet. It is better to make a small change than to try to<br />make a larger change and fail – you should condition yourself<br />for success, not failure. Willpower is like a muscle; the more<br />you exercise it the stronger it will become. Repeat the process<br />with another habit for another week. Record your results in<br />your Dark Knight journal.<br />Note: It is easier to replace one habit with another than to go<br />“cold turkey” and totally eliminate a bad habit – your mind<br />naturally wants to fill the “hole” left by the old habitual<br />behavior with something else. If you are having trouble<br />eliminating an unwanted habit, try replacing it with one that is<br />Page 47<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />more desirable – for example, a smoker might suck on a<br />lollipop every time he gets a craving for a cigarette.<br />EXERCISE: THE WILL TO ACT<br />“An idea that is developed and put into action is more<br />important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” –The<br />Buddha<br />The path of the Dark Knight is not merely one of thought and<br />meditation, but of action. Action is how the Dark Knight tests<br />and proves himself – by committal deeds that transform him<br />and take him further on his Dark Knight’s journey. Therefore,<br />the Dark Knight Path is designed to cultivate, above all, what<br />Ra’s al Ghul told Bruce Wayne is everything: the will to act.<br />How do you develop this will? ...<br />RITUALS OF COMMITMENT<br />One of the most powerful techniques for steeling your will to<br />accomplish any objective is to commit yourself through<br />dramatic public acts.<br />A famous example from history was the story of the<br />Conquistador Hernan Cortes, who, after his arrival in Mexico<br />in 1519, ordered his men ashore, then burned and sunk all their<br />ships. What more powerful way to steel the will of his men,<br />lost in a hostile new world, hungry for gold and glory, that the<br />only way out was conquest!<br />The result of this dramatic commitment ritual was one of the<br />.
great history-making adventures of all time. For this small,<br />beleaguered band of stranded Europeans would go on to<br />conquer an empire– the powerful Aztecs – within two years,<br />and become the vanguard for the conquest of two continents by<br />their own civilization. Such is the power of a Will that knows it<br />has nothing to lose, inspired by visions of greatness.<br />You can use commitment rituals in your own life for the same<br />purpose. For example, you might announce publicly, to other<br />Dark Knights, to family, to the world, that you are going to ...<br />Page 48<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />Don’t underestimate the power such acts can have, both<br />on your own psyche and the minds of others. Like Cortes’ shipburnings,<br />commitment rituals send a powerful message to both your conscious and unconscious mind,<br />that you have no choice but to push forward and accomplish your goal.<br />CONQUERING FEAR<br />Fear is the mind-killer. A Dark Knight must learn to make fear<br />his ally, not his enemy.<br />....<br />In Batman Begins , Bruce Wayne had an intense fear of bats<br />since he was a child. It was this fear that caused him to leave<br />the opera early the night his parents were murdered; if he had<br />not been so fearful, they might have left the opera with the<br />crowd and never faced the street criminal who murdered his<br />parents. In this way, bats became a symbol of not just his<br />greatest fear, but his traumatic experience, and the pain and<br />rage it had caused him ever since.<br />EXERCISE: CONQUERING ELEMENTAL FEARS<br />Think of something elemental that frightens you, such as an<br />animal, place, aspect of nature, or type of person, and think of a<br />way to confront it. Before facing your fear, perform a zazen<br />meditation to calm your mind. It may be helpful to recite the<br />Dark Knight Litany Against Fear:<br />“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death<br />that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear.<br />I will permit it to pass over me and through me.<br />And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.<br />Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will<br />remain.”<br />Now face your elemental fear head-on. For example, if you are<br />afraid of fire, participate in a firewalking ceremony. If you fear<br />water, take up scuba diving. If you are afraid of bats, find a<br />place where bats congregate, and meditate in their presence. If<br />Page 49<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />you are afraid of spiders, capture several large ones and keep<br />them in your home as pets for a while. If you are afraid of<br />heights, climb to the top of several buildings, trees or cliffs and<br />.
meditate there, or bungee jump off a bridge. If you fear some<br />group of people, go where they congregate and spend several<br />days in their presence. If you fear the wilderness, take several<br />long hikes into forests, deserts or mountains, until you are<br />comfortable there. If you are scared of the dead, meditate in a<br />graveyard for several nights. If a particular person intimidates<br />you, confront him or her and interact with them until you are<br />no longer intimidated.<br />In each case, try to incorporate your elemental fear into your<br />new persona – conquer your fear by “becoming” it. Bruce<br />Wayne feared bats, and chose to make them part of himself<br />through his Batman persona. In this way, he no longer feared<br />them, but was able to strike fear in the hearts of his enemies. If<br />you fear the dead, perhaps you will make skulls part of your<br />Dark Knight persona, by keeping skulls in your lair,<br />incorporating skull imagery into your costume, and making it<br />part of your name. The possibilities are endless; use your<br />imagination, flair for the dramatic and sense of humor to laugh<br />in the face of your most elemental fears!<br />Repeat this exercise for at least one more elemental fear, and<br />record your experiences in your journal.<br />EXERCISE: PHYSICAL FEAR<br />In Batman Begins, after falling down a well, Bruce Wayne’s<br />father tells him: “And why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn<br />to pick ourselves up.” ...<br />Bungee jump, skydive, cliff dive, fire-walk<br />Legitimate Fears: being alone, responsibility,<br />EXERCISE: MODELS OF COURAGE<br />One of the most effective ways to overcome any fear you may<br />have is to find someone who doesn’t share your fear, and take<br />Page 50<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />them as a role model. Observe how they think and act toward<br />the thing that frightens you, and adopt their mindset and<br />abilities. Just knowing that another person has overcome your<br />fear acts as a powerful suggestion to you that your fear is<br />beatable, and gives you the confidence you need to defeat it.<br />This is where mentoring is critical on the Dark Knight Path.<br />For this exercise, identify a powerful fear you wish to conquer.<br />Now find someone who has already conquered that fear, and<br />take them as a mentor. If you can’t find a person in real life,<br />use someone you have read about, or seen in the media. Study<br />them carefully and adopt their mentality toward your fear. You<br />may wish to imagine that their spirit is possessing you when<br />you go to face your fear. Do this repeatedly, until you become<br />conditioned to the fear, and are no longer limited by it. As you<br />do so, gradually withdraw the spirit of your mentor, until it is<br />just you, facing your fear alone, and conquering it. Now you<br />have become the master, and can act as a mentor to future<br />disciples of the Dark Knight Path.<br />NIGHTTIME WORLDS<br />.
After the Dark Knight Acolyte crosses the threshold to the<br />Nighttime World, he (or she) enters into an intensified state of<br />existence, in which his life is infused with a powerful new<br />sense of meaning, learning and challenge.<br />Where is this Nighttime World, and how do you find it? There<br />are endless possibilities, depending on your personal<br />circumstances, inclinations, and the times in which you live.<br />Below we discuss a few common examples of Nighttime<br />Worlds, and some of the exceptional individuals who entered<br />into them.<br />WAR<br />Times of war are a powerful breeding ground for Dark<br />Knights; for what world more powerfully reveals the darker<br />truths of human existence, tests our will, or requires us to face<br />Page 51<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />our fears and perform heroic acts, than war?<br />...<br />Muhammad himself spoke of the power of war to act as an<br />intensifying, transformative experience when he said:<br />"The sword is the key of heaven and hell; a drop of blood shed<br />in the cause of Allah, a night spent in arms, is of more avail<br />than two months of fasting or prayer."<br />For many Muslims, the experience of going off to fight “jihad”<br />– holy war – is an archetypal Nighttime World experience. ...<br />Even those who became villains, such as Osama bin Laden and<br />other veterans of the Afghan jihad against the Soviet Union,<br />were surely transformed by their Dark Knight’s journeys into<br />the Nighttime World.<br />As terrible as war can be, for many veterans it becomes a<br />transformative experience,<br />For Morihei Ueshiba, the great budo master and founder of<br />Aikido, the Nighttime World of war transformed him twice. In<br />1924, Ueshiba was part of an expedition to war-torn Mongolia<br />as a member of a Shinto/Buddhist religious sect. The group<br />was sponsored by the ultra-nationalist “Black Dragon Society”,<br />who sought to establish a pro-Japanese religious kingdom in<br />Mongolia. The expedition was captured by Chinese troops,<br />who executed the Mongol members of the expedition but<br />allowed the Japanese to return to their country. The following<br />year, Ueshiba had a spiritual awakening, after which his martial<br />arts skills greatly increased and he began to establish his new<br />Aikido practice.<br />Ueshiba’s second transformation came in 1942, at the height of<br />World War II. Previously associated with a “hard” approach to<br />martial arts, and adviser to many militant elites of Imperial<br />Japan, Ueshiba began to preach a more peaceful approach after<br />he had a vision of a “Great Spirit of Peace”:<br />The Way of the Warrior has been misunderstood. It is not<br />a means to kill and destroy others. Those who seek to<br />.
Page 52<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />compete and better one another are making a terrible<br />mistake. To smash, injure, or destroy is the worst thing a<br />human being can do. The real Way of a Warrior is to<br />prevent such slaughter – it is the Art of Peace, the power<br />of love. (Ueshiba, Morihei (1992).The Art of Peace.<br />Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala Publications.)<br />After the War, Ueshiba went on to establish Aikido as a<br />universal, peaceful martial art for all peoples of the world. He<br />serves as a powerful example of a Dark Knight who was<br />transformed by the darkness of his Nighttime World<br />experiences into a “peaceful warrior” rather than a “dark<br />avenger.”<br />(Contrast bin Laden’s experience)<br />Sometimes, the psychological pressures of war can be too<br />much, and they transform a Dark Knight into someone who<br />resembles a villain more than a hero. Consider, for example,<br />some of the veterans of the jihad in Afghanistan against<br />Russian occupation. While they may have started as a noble<br />effort to expel ... some of these warriors would form the<br />organization known as al Qaeda, and go on to launch terrorist<br />attacks around the world – notably the attacks of September<br />11th, 2001.<br />TRAVEL<br />Gurdjieff travelling, meeting with remarkable men<br />OUTLAW<br />In Batman Begins , Bruce Wayne spent years travelling the<br />world, living among criminals and committing crimes himself<br />in order to understand their mindset.<br />EDUCATION<br />RELIGIOUS STUDY<br />FAME AND FORTUNE<br />For some, attaining fame and/or fortune acts as a Nighttime<br />Page 53<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />World – a period of intensified living that drives them to some<br />personal crisis or confrontation with the dark side of life.<br />Perhaps they encounter extreme corruption, greed, hunger for<br />power, or personal demons such as addiction, lust and<br />arrogance, which drive them<br />OTHER POSSIBILITIES<br />Joining the circus?<br />DEVELOPING THE PERSONA<br />BECOMING A SYMBOL<br />A Dark Knight is not merely a man or woman who has<br />undergone a dark awakening, found a mentor, conquered fear<br />.
and trained to become something exceptional. He has done<br />these things so that he may become something even greater: a<br />symbol of an ideal. ...<br />In this stage of the Dark Knight’s development, you must reach<br />deep into your unconscious mind – into your fears, hopes and<br />dreams – to find something that speaks to your essence. You<br />must find a symbol that expresses your unique path and<br />destiny.<br />How can you do this? ...<br />What symbol speaks to you? Perhaps it’s an animal, a plant, or<br />a mineral. Maybe it’s a celestial object, god or demigod.<br />Perhaps it’s a man-made artifact such as a weapon or a mask.<br />Only you can decide what totem shall represent your unique<br />Dark Knight path and persona.<br />In choosing your totem, pay special attention to synchronicities<br />– coincidences that are full of meaning for you. They may be<br />pointing you toward your new identity and destiny.<br />In the Batman legend, Bruce Wayne chose the bat as his<br />symbol, because it was a creature of the night that could strike<br />fear in criminals, but also because he took the appearance of a<br />Page 54<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />bat at ... as an omen of his destiny. “I shall become a bat!”<br />Bruce Wayne vowed, upon seeing a bat fly ... And so he did,<br />and soon passed into the realm of legend.<br />“People need dramatic examples to shake them out of<br />apathy and I can't do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I'm<br />flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed; but<br />as a symbol... as a symbol I can be incorruptible, I can be<br />everlasting.”<br />YOUR REAL FACE<br />There is an interesting scene in Batman Begins where Rachel<br />Dawes tells Bruce Wayne that she found out about his “mask”<br />(i.e. his Batman identity), and Bruce Wayne responds:<br />“Batman's just a symbol, Rachel.” Rachel replies: “No. This is<br />your mask (touching Bruce' face). Your real face is the one that<br />criminals now fear.” Rachel understands that “Bruce Wayne”<br />has effectively become the mask, and “Batman” has become<br />the real self.<br />This represents an advanced stage of the Dark Knight’s<br />journey, when your Dark Knight persona has taken on a life of<br />its own, and become more compelling, more real and more<br />powerful that your Daytime self. The Daytime self is little<br />more than a cover for your more important life as a Dark<br />Knight. At this point, the construction of your persona and your<br />transformation into a super-heroic being is essentially<br />complete. Your task now is to live out your destiny as a Dark<br />Knight, and live the limitations of your Daytime self far<br />behind.<br />Some of you may find it strange, impractical or dishonorable to<br />create a split personality and live a double life in this way. ...<br />If maintaining two identities is problematic for you, you may<br />eventually choose to merge your Daytime and Nighttime selves<br />.
– to “come out of the closet” and reveal your Dark Knight<br />persona to the world. Trust your deepest instincts on this<br />matter, and follow the path that fits your circumstances. If your<br />Dark Knight persona is engaged in highly dangerous work,<br />Page 55<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />such as counter-terrorism, espionage, whistle-blowing or<br />undercover crime-fighting, then it will be necessary to maintain<br />your secret identity for your own safety and the safety of your<br />loved ones. But if your persona is involved in activities of a<br />more open nature, it may be appropriate (and more effective) to<br />reveal yourself. If so, you may wish to remember Maxim 7,<br />and use theatricality to your advantage. After building up a<br />mystique as a secret Dark Knight, revealing yourself in a<br />dramatic fashion may have more impact ...<br />Page 56<br />THE N INE T RAINING<br />.
HALLS<br />The Dark Knight's training regimen is divided into nine<br />“Halls”, or areas of skill and mastery. The Nine Halls are based<br />on the Nine Maxims of the Dark Knight, with each Hall<br />designed to develop the disciplines necessary to master the<br />corresponding Maxim.<br />All nine Halls will be attended throughout your Dark Knight<br />training, just as you would attend different halls of a university<br />throughout your education. The Master might take the<br />Apprentice to the Hall of the Body one week, the Hall of the<br />Will the next, the Halls of Stealth and Mindfulness the next, or<br />any other combination he deems appropriate. Each Hall will<br />have trials associated with them, culminating in final Trials that<br />signify that the Apprentice has learned the basic disciplines of<br />that Hall.<br />HALL OF THE BODY<br />The Apprentice achieves Dark Knight standards of physical<br />fitness, strength, agility and general health. Rigorous physical<br />exercises, difficult climbs The Apprentice who completes this<br />Hall becomes a “Master of Fitness”.<br />HALL OF THE WILL<br />The Apprentice who completes this Hall becomes a “Master of<br />Page 57<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Will”.<br />HALL OF MINDFULNESS<br />The Apprentice learns methods of meditation, intuition and<br />observation to make himself more aware of his surroundings.<br />He will become “telepathic” in his dealings with other people<br />and “mystical” in his awareness of his environment. He will<br />develop a mindset of adaptability and “flow” with his<br />surroundings, such that nothing can daunt or defeat him. The<br />Apprentice who completes this Hall becomes a “Mystic<br />Master”.<br />HALL OF STEALTH<br />The Apprentice will learn to move quietly, invisibly, leaving no<br />trace. This means both physical stealth, such as the ability to<br />sneak up on a target and strike them with a staff without being<br />seen, and operational stealth, such as being able to travel, make<br />purchases, use phones, computers and identities without<br />leaving a “paper trail”. The Apprentice who completes this Hall<br />becomes a “Master of Shadows”.<br />HALL OF FEAR<br />The Master will put the Apprentice through a series of trials<br />that force him to confront his fears. For example, the<br />Apprentice might be made to walk on hot coals, climb to a<br />great height, confront an … The Master will determine the<br />Apprentice's dominant fear – the one overriding fear that most<br />.
effects his life – and will be brought face-to-face with it until it<br />is conquered. … The Apprentice who completes this Hall<br />becomes a “Fear Master”.<br />HALL OF IDEOLOGY<br />The Master will probe the ideas, ideals and philosophical<br />orientation of the Apprentice. The Apprentice will hone in on a<br />single animating ideal, and begin to re-design his personality<br />and life around it. … The Apprentice who completes this Hall<br />becomes a “Master of Ideals”.<br />Page 58<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />HALL OF PASSION<br />The Apprentice learns to identify and harness his passions in<br />the pursuit of his Ideal. He does not deny his passions because<br />he understands that they are his greatest source of power. He<br />learns to cultivate his passions skillfully as an herbalist<br />cultivates plants so that they act as empowering medicine for<br />his life instead of poison. The Apprentice who completes this<br />Hall becomes a “Master of Passion”.<br />HALL OF DRAMA<br />The Apprentice will learn techniques of theatricality, deception,<br />persuasion and psychodrama. This will include developing his<br />manner of speaking, his dress, his personal symbols, his<br />hypnotic presence, his dramatic acts, his “brand” and his public<br />image to best serve his Dark Knight ideal. The Apprentice who<br />completes this Hall becomes a “Master Magician”.<br />HALL OF COMBAT<br />The Apprentice develops his warrior mind and body to a keen<br />edge. This means learning one or more martial arts to an<br />advanced level, focusing on not mastering not just the physical<br />forms, but the warrior spirit that commands them. This Hall<br />will balance physical training with the study of great martial<br />thinkers such as Sun Tzu and Musashi Miyamoto.<br />Page 59<br />.
DARK K<br />NIGHT<br />TRAINING<br />This chapter describes the core of the Dark Knight Path, which<br />is training to become something greater and more powerful<br />than you are now. ...<br />Each area of training discussed below could be the subject of<br />many books, so this will necessarily be an overview. Think of<br />this as “Dark Knight life coaching”: a general outline of how<br />the Dark Knight disciple may go about his training. The details<br />of your program will vary depending on your individual<br />circumstances, path, and master, but these are guidelines that<br />all Dark Knights associated with our Academy are expected to<br />follow.<br />DARK KNIGHT’S JOURNAL<br />We strongly recommend that all Dark Knights-in-training keep<br />some kind of journal of their activities on the Dark Knight<br />path. Your journal serves as a vital record of ...<br />In creating your journal, use whatever format appeals to you<br />and fits with your intended persona. If you are technologically<br />oriented, use a cell phone, tablet or desktop app such as .... (and<br />make sure that you secure them and back them up!) If you<br />prefer an old school approach to your training, use a simple<br />paper journal, or even scrolls. Customize your journal with<br />Page 60<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />your own symbols, using software, paint or ink as appropriate.<br />You may wish to build a custom case for your journal and put it<br />in a special place in your Sanctum. Whatever gets you into the<br />frame of mind of your Dark Knight persona …<br />PHYSICAL TRAINING<br />PHYSICAL FITNESS<br />A strong body is the foundation of all personal power.<br />Experience proves that a fit body enhances intelligence,<br />vitality, confidence, perception, endurance and many other<br />aspects of one’s being. We therefore begin our training by<br />focusing on developing a hard, agile, powerful body.<br />The exercises in this section are designed for the active Dark<br />Knight of the world, who on any given day may find himself<br />anywhere on the planet, from a remote mountain temple to a<br />luxury hotel room in the heart of the urban jungle. These<br />exercises can be done anywhere, anytime; they require no<br />special equipment or facilities. All that is needed is a sound<br />.
body and a Dark Knight’s will to physical power.<br />BATMAN WORKOUT<br />Squats<br />Push-ups<br />Mountain climbers<br />Tricep dips<br />Cross-punch sit-upsJumping<br />lunges<br />Side<br />plank<br />crunches<br />Leg<br />raises<br />Bicycle<br />crunches<br />Page 61<br />Dark Knight Training<br />… curls<br />Lower Body Workout – see Fitness Shinobi<br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX85ekdRzts<br />BAT-HANG EXERCISES<br />The bat-hang allows the Batman or -woman to identify more<br />closely with their ... animal, the bat, who are known for their<br />peculiar habit of resting in an upside down hanging position.<br />The pose also improves body core and hamstring strength,<br />blood circulation, spinal alignment, alertness, balance, and<br />accustoms the disciple to operating upside-down.<br />To perform the bat-hang exercises, you’ll need a sturdy<br />horizontal bar, which you can set-up in your sanctum. A good<br />choice is an inversion bar and gravity boots system, which<br />allows you to hang comfortably for long periods from any<br />standard doorframe. You can also perform bat-hangs outdoors<br />on a gate, playground equipment, or sturdy branch. You’ll want<br />a bar that is about shoulder height, which you can mount<br />http://www.livestrong.com/article/391106-hanging-upsidedown-exercises/<br />Inverted Sit-ups<br />Inverted Squats<br />MARTIAL ARTS<br />Dark Knights are warriors; we believe the body is a weapon<br />that should be optimized to conquer fear. If you fear for your<br />physical safety at the hands of other men, you will never<br />become our kind of hero. Therefore, Dark Knights are expected<br />to make mastery of martial arts a top priority.<br />To begin, if you aren’t already enrolled in a martial arts<br />program, you should do so immediately. Sign up for unlimited<br />training at a local martial arts center, or personal instruction<br />from a master if you are more advanced and can afford it.<br />Depending on where you live, there may be many programs<br />.
Page 62<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />available, such as karate, mixed martial arts, ninjutsu, tae kwan<br />do, kung fu, krav maga, judo, aikido, systema, etc. Which<br />martial art you choose isn’t critical, as long as you begin to<br />make it a regular part of your life, and choose one that will give<br />you real fighting skills and spirit. As our first Maxim states, the<br />body is your weapon, which should be optimized. Whatever<br />battles you may fight on your Dark Knight’s journey, there is<br />no substitute for having the physical ability and confidence to<br />defend yourself. Martial arts training will help you –<br />physically, mentally and spiritually – to overcome any<br />adversity you will face on your path.<br />Choose the martial arts that you are most drawn to, and which<br />fits best with your developing persona. There is nothing wrong<br />with “softer” or less “practical” martial arts, if you are attracted<br />to them. For example, a Dark Knight named “Shadow Blade”<br />might choose to train in kendo, iaido and tameshigiri because<br />he has made the Japanese sword arts central to his persona. A<br />Dark Knight named “Taiji-2” with a Taoist persona might study<br />taichi and chigung along with kung-fu to deepen his training in<br />the Taoist mind-body arts. Just be sure to train in at least one<br />martial art that teaches real self-defense and combat skills –<br />Dark Knights may wear costumes and have colorful names, but<br />we’re much more than cosplayers. We can fight!<br />STEALTH/ASSASSIN TRAINING<br />SPECIAL SKILLS TRAINING<br />In addition to martial arts mastery, the Dark Knight disciple<br />should develop one or more special skills that help define your<br />persona. Use any advanced skills you already have, and<br />dedicate yourself to acquiring new ones. Choose skills that will<br />be useful in both your “day job” profession and in your<br />nightime activities as a Dark Knight.<br />Here are some examples of special skills that would be useful<br />for a Dark Knight:<br />Page 63<br />Dark Knight Training<br />Criminology & Forensics<br />Security<br />Hypnosis and Interrogation<br />Firearms<br />Technology & Invention<br />Driving<br />Piloting<br />Boating and ... (name for marine skills)<br />Espionage<br />Stealth and Deception<br />Acting and Disguise<br />Business and Finance<br />Stage Magic<br />.
CRIMINOLOGY & FORENSICS<br />TECHNOLOGY<br />DRIVING<br />SPIRITUAL TRAINING<br />SHADOW WORK<br />confronting fear, dark side of mind<br />The Dark Knight’s training is all about learning to operate in<br />the shadows, in both the physical and psychological sense.<br />Shadow work is the process of ... the unconscious, dark parts of<br />your minds, and integrating them into your conscious self.<br />MEDITATION<br />Meditation should be part of every Dark Knight disciple’s daily<br />routine<br />DARK ZEN<br />DARKNESS MEDITATION<br />Page 64<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />DIAMOND BODY MEDITATION<br />The teachings of the Dark Knights demand that an acolyte<br />develops a powerful mind and will, which can in turn only be<br />housed inside a powerful body. To neglect the body is<br />dangerous, for the acolyte who does so learns that the Will<br />burns inside as a flame, and consumes the flesh if the body is<br />not properly trained. The dark side especially is dangerous, as<br />it opens the acolyte to contact with powerful and volatile<br />energies and elementals, and so the flesh must be hardened like<br />steel in order to properly harness them. The Dark Knight<br />practice of Diamond Body meditation allows the Dark Knight<br />to use the Will to harden the body, protecting themselves from<br />internal energies and also from external threats. NB. Believe<br />that this is not merely a visualization, but a willed evolution on<br />the physical level.<br />PRACTICE:<br />Begin the meditation in your Sanctum. Assume a seated<br />position, cross legged on the ground. Maintain a relaxed,<br />upright position. Slow your breathing, so that you feel a sense<br />of calm detachment.<br />Visualize yourself in detail, as you are currently, from your<br />head to your feet. Become aware of your strengths and<br />weaknesses on a physical level.<br />Now visualize an evolved Dark Knight version of yourself.<br />This form has no weaknesses. It is hard and strong, like a<br />black diamond. It regenerates from harm quickly, and does not<br />easily age or become tired or sick.<br />Focus on becoming this new being. See your body changing,<br />shifting into an idealized, supernatural version of yourself. You<br />.
are still you – human – but now harder and sharper, like a black<br />diamond. The Force flows freely through your veins now,<br />changing you, making you stronger and stronger with each<br />moment.<br />Maintain this core meditation for at least 30 minutes. Repeat<br />Page 65<br />Dark Knight Training<br />during the day when you feel tired or weak.<br />POST-PRACTICE:<br />As you embrace this practice, the Tao will direct you to<br />various opportunities to create the new body. You may<br />feel the urge to begin a particular sport or exercise<br />regime.<br />Your appetites and eating habits may change drastically,<br />as the new body begins to impose itself on you.<br />Embrace those opportunities and urges.<br />Maintain a daily written record of your experiences. At<br />the end of the month, write an evaluation of the change<br />in yourself and in your behavior. Be critical and direct.<br />After one month, submit the evaluation to<br />darkknightacademy@gmail.com.<br />DARK KNIGHT YOGA<br />Dark Knight yoga is a recommended part of every Dark<br />Knight’s spiritual training. … DK yoga consists of various<br />physical poses (called asanas), breathing exercises and mental<br />disciplines.<br />Dark Knight asanas tend to be more strenuous and athletic than<br />common yoga asanas, emphasizing flexibility, strength and<br />willpower. Below are some of the asanas we recommend for<br />Dark Knight training. As always, your training should be<br />customized to fit your individual persona.<br />MUDRAS<br />WILLPOWER:<br />hands clasped tightly together, both middle fingers extended<br />straight up. ... “The will is everything” is one of the maxims<br />every Dark Knight lives by, and should be reinforced by<br />meditating upon this mudra regularly.<br />SYMBOL:<br />Page 66<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Create your own custom mudra to reflect your personal<br />symbolism and identity. Associate the mudra with whatever<br />state of mind or ability you identify with most strongly, and use<br />it as a psychological “anchor” you can call upon when you<br />need that ability.<br />For example, a Dark Knight named “Night Owl” who takes the<br />owl as his symbol might use an “owl mudra,” where he clasps<br />.
his hands together, with only forefingers and little fingers<br />extended, to represent the ears of an owl. Night Owl might use<br />this mudra in his mindfulness or extended awareness<br />meditations, to associate it with his trademark ability: calm<br />watchfulness and perception. By doing this exercise regularly,<br />Night Owl can go into a deep state of perception simply by<br />placing his hands in the owl mudra position – the mudra<br />provides a “psychic superpower” he can call upon at will.<br />BATZEN<br />“SUPERPOWERS” TRAINING<br />The Dark Knight is encouraged to develop exceptional skills<br />and abilities that may seem like magic or superpowers to the<br />uninitiated. For the goal of our path is the awakening of<br />abilities which lay dormant within each of us, and which only<br />require the right external conditions and self-discipline to bring<br />forth. There is an ancient literature of such abilities,<br />particularly in the East, but increasingly in the West as well,<br />about the seemingly superhuman powers which masters of<br />various inner disciplines may develop. Here are some such<br />powers to consider and research further, if you feel so inspired.<br />Tummo: Tummo (“inner fire”) yoga is a technique of<br />breathing and visualization that has been scientifically shown<br />to generate tremendous core body heat. Tummo was developed<br />by … and described in a famous work called “...”. Tibetan<br />monks use Tummo to survive nights in freezing cold in the<br />Himalayas, evaporating the water from wet robes, as part of<br />their training. Clearly this discipline could be quite useful to<br />Page 67<br />Dark Knight Training<br />any Dark Knight!<br />Kuji-Kiri: Kuji-Kiri (“The Nine Cuts”) is the mystical system<br />of mudras (hand yogas) used by the ninja to trigger nine<br />heightened states of mind for use in different situations.

KujiKiri originated with the yogis of India thousands of years ago, and was transmitted to China<br />and Japan by Taoist and Buddhist monks.<br />It is part of the esoteric Buddhist practice of the yamabushi and shugenjas<br />–
the mountain hermits and fighting monks of feudal Japan, some of whom became the legendary ninja.<br />In its fullest aspect, Kuji-Kiri is a system of esoteric magic that is said to allow the practitioner to read minds,<br />control weather, tap into superhuman strength and more.<br />Hypnosis:<br />Hypnosis<br />is a proven science that taps into powers of the mind that may seem psychic or magical.<br />To be able to probe someone's mind and extract repressed memories, or use the power of suggestion<br />to influence their behavior, or “cloud men's minds” like the fictional Shadow and pass by unnoticed, or cure<br />a destructive habit, or give someone the ability to undergo surgery without anesthesia<br />–
all of these powers and more are possible for the master hypnotist.<br />The Polish “psychic” Wolf Messing was able to get bank tellers to hand over money and even talk his way<br />past guards to get into the presence of Josef Stalin, the most well-guarded man<br />in the world, using his hypnosis skills.<br />Hypnotists can put crowds or even entire countries under their spell.<br />The uses of hypnosis for a Dark Knight should be obvious, and of great interest!<br />Fire-Walking:<br />Siddhis: ...<br />MASTER-APPRENTICE TRAINING<br />Dark Knights may take apprentice Batmen (aka “sidekicks”)<br />for advanced one-on-one training. Such apprenticeship is<br />required for a Batman to become a Dark Knight.<br />Program in book is “life coaching” – meta-training, not<br />Page 68<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />detailed training.<br />TRAINING OUTLINE:<br />Physical Fitness:<br />http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/08/23/batmanbodyweight-workout/<br />9 part Batman workout image<br />Martial Arts: enroll in martial arts program – ninjutsu, karate,<br />mma, tae kwan do, kung fu, judo, etc.<br />Stealth & Assassin Skills: military special forces, apprentice to<br />a Dark Knight<br />Criminology & Forensics: get degree in criminology and/or<br />forensics, work as policeman, detective, private investigator<br />Driving: go to driving school, get personal training<br />Technology: technical school, self-taught, train under Dark<br />Knight tech expert.<br />Page 69<br />.
BASIC S<br />KILLS<br />TRAINING<br />The Dark Knight's basic skill set should combines the<br />capabilities of a Special Forces soldier, spy, detective, martial<br />artist, psychologist, actor, stage magician and entrepreneur.<br />These skills include the following:<br />Unarmed combat<br />Armed combat (blades, firearms, blunt weapons, etc.)<br />Climbing<br />Driving<br />Stealth<br />Wilderness survival<br />Breaking & Entering<br />Intelligence Gathering<br />Disguise<br />Illusion<br />Information technology<br />Page 70<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Drama<br />Branding and Marketing<br />Forensics<br />Human psychology<br />Linguisitics and speech<br />This is a lot to learn...<br />The following is an outline of the trials that the League of Dark<br />Knights may use to test your abilities in the basic skills of the<br />Dark Knight. The precise nature of your trials will not be<br />revealed until you are ready for them.<br />Unarmed Combat: Develop some proficiency in some form<br />of unarmed combat. This could mean enrolling in a local<br />martial arts program, such as mixed martial arts, tae kwan do,<br />karate, kung fu, krav maga, judo, ninjutsu, systema, etc., and<br />reaching the … (belt) level. Or you could complete a self-<br />.
defense course such as those offered by … police departments<br />… Even better, train privately with an expert in some combat<br />system, learning at your own pace and receiving instruction<br />that is personalized to your strengths.<br />Choose the combat system that you are most drawn to, and<br />which best fits your developing persona. Be sure the system<br />teaches real fighting skills, and isn't a softer martial art such as<br />tai chi. On your Dark Knight’s journey, there is no substitute<br />for having the physical ability, mental strength and selfconfidence<br />to<br />defend<br />yourself.<br />Test: Demonstrate your proficiency in the combat style of your<br />choice against a DKA Master.<br />Climbing: Every Dark Knight must develop the ability to<br />climb over any type of physical obstacle. They will need to<br />demonstrate basic proficiency in each of the following skills:<br />scaling walls, rappelling, climbing trees, rock-climbing,<br />mountaineering.<br />Page 71<br />Basic Skills Training<br />If you are training with a Master, … If you are self-training,<br />Some of these skills can be acquired from … courses in rockclimbing<br />or<br />mountaineering<br />clubs<br />outward bound, military, SWAT, boy scouts,<br />Test: Complete three climbing tasks (tree, cliff, building) at a<br />DKA training site.<br />Driving: ddd<br />Test: Drive through an obstacle course within a designated time<br />without hitting any obstacles.<br />Stealth: The Dark Knight seeks the darkness and stays silent.<br />Tests: Sneak through a guarded facility without being spotted.<br />Find an urban hide and observe a target without being spotted.<br />Travel across country without being spotted.<br />Breaking and Entering:<br />Test: Break into a facility and obtain an item of interest.<br />Disguise:<br />Test: Don a disguise and successfully pass yourself off as<br />someone else. Take advantage of your disguise to gain<br />information and/or access to a restricted area.<br />Illusion: Successfully fool a group of people by creating an<br />illusion. This could be a sleight of hand trick, an audiovisual<br />illusion using video cameras, a staged operation such as a<br />distraction or false flag event, etc.<br />Wilderness Survival:<br />Test: go into a wilderness area with only a knife and survive for<br />a week or more.<br />Branding:<br />.
Page 72<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Test: Create a Dark Knight “brand” – your name, symbol,<br />public image, etc. Do something to establish your brand in the<br />minds of others, such as leaving calling cards, staging a<br />publicity stunt or making an example of someone to<br />demonstrate the power of your Dark Knight persona.<br />Forensics: Analyze a crime scene and find important clues to<br />the identity of the perpetrator.<br />Urban Exploration: Explore sewer tunnels, storm drains,<br />rooftops, basements, elevator shafts, abandoned buildings,<br />water towers, … This will develop many important Dark<br />Knight skills, including stealth, agility, breaking & entering,<br />fearlessness, navigation, operating in darkness, escape and<br />evasion.<br />Page 73<br />DARK KNIGHT TRIALS<br />CROSSING THE THRESHOLD<br />The disciple is given a trial to reach the place of his new life or<br />place of training. For example, he might have to walk a long<br />.
distance, travel to a remote land, climb a mountain, find a<br />secret place, solve a puzzle or overcome some obstacle.<br />The Crossing is a first test of the disciple’s commitment,<br />strength and will. It weeds out the weak and the non-serious,<br />while keeping the place of training secure from the uninitiated.<br />It also serves to reinforce in the disciple’s mind that he is<br />entering a new world, and leaving his old life with its old rules<br />behind.<br />In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne had to find a rare flower and<br />make a grueling hike up a mountain to find the monastery of<br />the League of Shadows. Obviously, the more difficult the<br />Crossing, the more powerful the effects are likely to be. ...<br />PURGING FEAR<br />“You've traveled the world to understand the criminal<br />mind and conquer your fears. But a criminal is not<br />complicated. And what you really fear is inside yourself.<br />You fear your own power. You fear your anger, the drive<br />to do great or terrible things. Now you must journey<br />inwards. You are ready. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe in your<br />fears. Face them. To conquer fear, you must become fear.<br />You must bask in the fear of other men. And men fear most<br />Page 74<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />what they cannot see. You have to become a terrible<br />thought. A wraith. You have to become an idea! Feel your<br />terror cloud your senses. Feel its power to distort. To<br />control. And know that this power can be yours. Embrace<br />your worst fear. Become one with the darkness. Focus.<br />Concentrate. Master your senses. You cannot leave any<br />sign.”<br />What is your greatest fear, or the one that defines your path?<br />This trial tests that fear, forcing you to embrace it, and conquer<br />it.<br />...<br />The Fear Purging trial will be different for each disciple,<br />depending on their fear. The Master should create a<br />We can’t describe it in detail, but ...<br />This trial should be shamanic – it should alter the<br />disciple’s consciousness and be traumatic enough to force a<br />change in his perceptions.<br />In Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne inhaled the fumes of a<br />psychoactive flower, then was forced to ... ninjas ... His final<br />test was to open a box, unleashing a swarm of bats around him.<br />Wayne faced the bat swarm, allowing them to engulf him. In<br />his altered state, this created a new perception that bats weren’t<br />enemies to be feared, but allies to be befriended. His master,<br />Ducard, announced “you have purged your fear,” planting a<br />powerful suggestion in Bruce’s mind to reinforce his new<br />perception.<br />The trial had its intended effect, because from then on,<br />.
Bruce Wayne was comfortable with bats; he allowed them to<br />swarm around him in his batcave and out in Gotham City,<br />striking fear in the hearts of criminals.<br />Examples of fear trials:<br />Page 75<br />Dark Knight Trials<br />Spending a night in a cave or chamber full of bats, rats,<br />snakes, spiders, etc.

Walking on hot coals.<br />Spending time in a war zone.<br />Spending time around dead bodies in a morgue,<br />graveyard, charnel ground or catacombs.

Being “buried alive” in a grave or sealed tomb.<br />Diving off a cliff.

Bungee jumping<br />Sky-diving<br />COMMITMENT<br />“We have purged your fear. You are ready to lead these<br />men. You are ready to become a member of the League of<br />Shadows. But first, you must demonstrate your<br />commitment to justice.” –Henri Ducard to Bruce Wayne<br />After his Fear Purging, Bruce Wayne’s next trial was to<br />demonstrate his commitment to the ideals of the League of<br />Shadows – to “justice” and “defeating evil.” This required him<br />to execute a criminal by his own hand. Wayne considered this<br />unjust, and instead of executing the criminal, he attacked his<br />Master, burned down the League’s temple and fled. On one<br />level, Wayne failed his trial, but on another level he passed a<br />greater trial: his willingness to defy unjust orders and take<br />heroic action.<br />Your Commitment Trial will depend on your Master and ...<br />This Trial will demonstrate to other members of the League of<br />Dark Knights that you are truly committed to our ideals. You<br />will take an action from which there is no going back, and<br />prove not only to us, but to yourself, that you belong among us.<br />ASPIRANT INTERVIEW<br />Once the Dark Knight Aspirant crosses the threshold to his<br />Monastery, he should be interrogated immediately by his<br />Mentor. The Mentor should ask the Aspirant what he is seeking<br />at the Monastery. After receiving an answer, the Mentor should<br />Page 76<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />make a statement of what will be required of the Aspirant to<br />fulfill his quest. The Mentor should ask the Aspirant if he is<br />ready to begin. If the Aspirant says “no”, he is sent away from<br />the Monastery. If he says “yes” or is uncertain, he should be<br />immediately probed and challenged in a way that relates to his<br />quest. For example, if the Aspirant says he is seeking more<br />.
power, he might be asked “what is power?” and “what will you<br />do with power?” He might then be told “you want to see<br />power?”, followed by a demonstration of power by the Mentor<br />that in some way awes and/or humiliates the Aspirant. This<br />challenge should be another test of the Aspirant’s will, and his<br />fear, ideally when the Aspirant is still exhausted from the<br />Threshold Crossing trial.<br />Our model for the Aspirant Interview comes from the scene in<br />Batman Begins where Henri Ducard interviews Bruce Wayne,<br />who has just completed his Threshold Crossing trial and is<br />exhausted from his hike up the mountain to the League of<br />Shadows’ monastery:<br />Ducard: What are you seeking?<br />Wayne: I seek the means to fight injustice. To turn fear against<br />those who prey on the fearful.<br />Ducard: To manipulate the fears in others you must first<br />master your own. Are you ready to begin?<br />Wayne: I can ... I can barely stand.<br />Ducard: Death does not wait for you to be ready! Death is not<br />considerate or fair! And make no mistake, here you face death.<br />Tiger. Jujitsu. Panther. You're skilled. But this is not a dance.<br />And you are afraid. But not of me. Tell us, Mr. Wayne, what do<br />you fear?<br />DARKNESS TRIALS<br />Wearing your Acolyte uniform, make a night excursion to a<br />wilderness area as far from civilization as you can get. You<br />should do this exercise on a moonless night far from city lights.<br />Bring only the bare minimum of equipment with you, such as a<br />Page 77<br />Dark Knight Trials<br />knife, firestarter and water. This trial is intended to test your<br />wits, survival instincts, and night awareness, not your ability to<br />purchase hiking gear. Perform the exercises below …<br />NIGHT STALKING:<br />In your black uniform, without light, move stealthily through<br />the wilderness for several hours. Use your night vision and try<br />to move instinctively through the darkness. Pause periodically<br />and perform zazen, nature meditation (see below) or other Dark<br />Knight exercises that you have learned. … Darkness is a Dark<br />Knight’s natural habitat, so you must become as comfortable in<br />it as others are in daylight.<br />As you move through the wilderness, try to sense any predators<br />or other animals in your midst. If you detect any intelligent<br />animals, hide from them and see if you can stalk them. Observe<br />the animals closely and see what you can learn from them<br />about survival in a predatory world. If you are skilled enough,<br />you may get an opportunity to kill an animal yourself. If so,<br />you should prepare and eat the animal where it falls or pack it<br />out to be consumed later. When you consume the animal’s<br />flesh, give some thought for its part in the eternal struggles of<br />life. All wild animals are naturally in harmony with the Dark<br />Tao, and deserve a Dark Knight disciple’s highest respect!<br />NATURE MEDITATION:<br />.
Sit comfortably in a meditative position and open your senses<br />to the raw nature that surrounds you. Listen for the sounds of<br />nocturnal animals, smell the scents of earth, flora and fauna,<br />look for the signs of life’s eternal struggles in the shadows, feel<br />the planet’s surface beneath you as it spins through the cosmos.<br />Do this meditation for at least a half an hour; the longer you sit<br />quietly, the more nature will reveal to you.<br />URBAN SENTRY DUTY:<br />Most Dark Knights operate in urban areas much more than in<br />wilderness areas, and will want to become even more adept in<br />the urban jungles than the rural ones. One of the best ways to<br />Page 78<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />familiarize yourself with the true nature of the urban jungle is<br />to simply observe it in the darkness.<br />Find a concealed location high above the city, such as a<br />rooftop, wall, pole or balcony. You should choose a location<br />where there is significant activity in the streets below –<br />particularly criminal activity. Binoculars or a telescope are<br />recommended to help you zoom in on locations of interest.<br />Make sure you have at least one escape route from your post if<br />you have to make a hasty retreat.<br />In this spot, simply observe what goes on in the urban jungle<br />below. Don’t make any noises or movements that will reveal<br />your presence. Don’t eat, take a bathroom break, use a mobile<br />phone or do anything else to distract you from your<br />observation. Stay in this spot for at least four hours during<br />darkness, and note everything that you see.<br />Repeat this exercise for at least three nights, and note any<br />patterns in the activity. Also try at least two other locations for<br />three nights each, and note any differences in activity that you<br />observe. ...<br />OUTDOOR TRIALS<br />The Dark Acolyte must develop a mindset that all things are<br />possible. He must see the world as a test of his will and a set of<br />obstacles to be overcome on the path to Dark Knighthood. An<br />excellent way to develop this mindset and develop new skills is<br />by giving yourself challenging outdoor trials.<br />OUTDOOR TRIALS EXERCISE:<br />Set yourself at least two challenging outdoor trials for the next<br />month, which will test your physical strength, endurance,<br />willpower and agility. The possibilities are endless, and will<br />depend on your environment and resources. Here are some<br />possibilities:<br />Climb a tall tree<br />Climb a cliff, rock formation or steep slope<br />Page 79<br />Dark Knight Trials<br />.
Scale a building<br />Bungee jump off a bridge<br />Canoe or kayak down a river, across a lake or ocean<br />Climb up a mountain<br />Hang from a cliff, bridge or building<br />Meditate under a freezing waterfall<br />It is essential that these tasks contain a strong element of<br />danger, such that you may experience injury or even death if<br />you are weak or incompetent. Shame your Daytime Self with<br />your feats of derring-do! What are you waiting for? Why not<br />start right now?!<br />WATERFALL MEDITATION<br />This Challenge tests your ability to will your body to go<br />outside its comfort zone, face nature and overcome shock. It is<br />based on an ancient practice, used by the Yamabushi fighting<br />monks and hermits of Japan for centuries, known asTakigyo.<br />To perform this challenge, you will need to locate a cold<br />waterfall which you can stand or sit under. If this is not<br />possible for you, you will need to simulate the experience<br />using ice-water buckets, an ice-cold shower, or some other<br />method. You will also need a Clan brother to assist you.<br />With your League brother, go to the site of the waterfall. Strip<br />down to a black loincloth or shorts, and perform some<br />preliminary exercises, such as the Willpower Mudra and FetterCutting<br />Code, to focus your mind.<br />The League brother should be standing by with a dry blanket and should<br />allow you at least a few minutes of mental preparation.<br />On the League brother’s command, slowly walk under the<br />waterfall, immersing your arms and legs first, then your<br />shoulders and neck, and finally your head. While standing<br />under the water, put your hands in the Willpower Mudra and<br />chant the Fetter-Cutting Code for as long as you can. When<br />you feel your body being overcome by shock and on the verge<br />of collapse, walk away from the waterfall. The League brother<br />should wrap you in the blanket and congratulate you on your<br />Page 80<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />triumph of will. You are one step closer to Dark Knighthood!<br />.
Page 81<br />THE LEAGUE OF DARK<br />KNIGHTS<br />ABOUT US<br />The League of Dark Knights (LDK) is a community of<br />individuals who are walking the Dark Knight Path described in<br />this book, and guiding others on the Dark Knight’s journey.<br />The League is motivated by a conviction that the world today<br />needs true heroes more than ever – people dedicated to the<br />pursuit of ideals that bring both self-realization and benefits to<br />others. They believe the Dark Knight Path offers a unique,<br />practical path of inspiration that is well-adapted to the modern<br />world yet timeless in nature.<br />... The LDK is a decentralized organization, open to anyone<br />who lives according to the ideals laid down in this book. The<br />League has a three-level hierarchy: Dark Acolytes, Dark<br />Apprentices and Dark Knights.<br />NOTES:<br />LDK is a “life coaching” organization; we guide the Acolyte on<br />his journey to Dark Knighthood in a manner appropriate to his<br />life circumstances.<br />WHAT WE OFFER:<br />.
Page 82<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Personal Evaluation – an evaluation of your life<br />experiences, aptitudes, passions and resources, your<br />current stage on the Dark Knight’s journey, and advice<br />on how to proceed.<br />Mentors – life coaches and masters on your Dark<br />Knight’s journey.<br />Places of training and suggestions for places to train.<br />Dark Knight Trials or suggestions for places to undergo<br />them.<br />Initiations –<br />Access to Dark Knight gatherings<br />Access to resources shared by Dark Knights<br />THE DARK APPRENTICE<br />Individuals who become fully realized Dark Knights may<br />choose to take ...<br />MATCHING ACOLYTES AND KNIGHTS<br />“When the pupil is ready, the master will appear.” —Buddhist<br />Proverb<br />The League of Dark Knights maintains a database of profiles of<br />our members: all Acolytes, Apprentices and Dark Knights who<br />have chosen to participate in our organization. These profiles<br />contain detailed information about the members’ life histories,<br />skills, psychological profiles, philosophical and spiritual<br />inclinations, contact information and current stage of their<br />Dark Knight’s journey. Contact information can be as discreet<br />as desired, and may be as little as an anonymous email address.<br />One of the main functions of this database is to allow the<br />League to match up Acolytes who are deemed ready with Dark<br />Knights who are seeking Apprentices. Eligible Dark Knights<br />are allowed to browse the Acolyte profiles and choose an<br />Acolyte who is the best fit for them, in terms of personal<br />history, inclinations, skills and goals.<br />Once the Acolyte is selected by the Dark Knight, the Knight<br />will plan his first meeting with the Acolyte – the critical<br />Page 83<br />The League of Dark Knights<br />“Meeting With a Mentor” stage of the Dark Knight’s journey.<br />This meeting should be designed for maximum psychological<br />impact, using surprise, disguise or an exotic location. For<br />example, the Dark Knight may ...<br />A good example of a powerful Meeting With a Mentor was the<br />scene in Batman Begins where Henri Ducard first met with<br />Bruce Wayne. Ducard appeared by surprise, in the depths of an<br />Asian prison cell, at a moment when Wayne was<br />psychologically most vulnerable, having just been put in<br />solitary confinement. Ducard himself is a kind of disguise,<br />being in reality Ra’s al Ghul, the sinister Dark Knight and<br />.
leader of the League of Shadows.<br />HIERARCHY<br />DARK ACOLYTES<br />Dark Acolytes are the lowest ranking members of the LDK,<br />who have not yet been taken under the wing of a Dark Knight<br />and become a Dark Squire. They are expected to train<br />religiously, to study the methods and personas of the Dark<br />Knights, and to act as assistants to Dark Squires when<br />needed. ...<br />Dark Acolytes dress in a uniform style, similar to the classic<br />“ninja”: with black gi, balaclava, gloves and boots.<br />DARK SQUIRES<br />Dark Squires, also known as Dark Apprentices or sidekicks, are<br />Dark Acolytes who have been taken under the wing of an<br />active Dark Knight for intensive personal collaboration and<br />training. This Dark Squire The Dark Squire is ... to replace<br />Dark Knights and continue the League’s lineage into the future.<br />Dark Squires are expected to the assist their masters in their<br />Dark Knight work in whatever capacity is appropriate. For<br />example, if the Dark Knight is a private investigator, the Dark<br />Squire might help him tail or track a person of interest; if the<br />Page 84<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Dark Knight is a Special Forces warrior, the Dark Squire might<br />be ...; if the Dark Knight is an inventor, the Dark Squire might<br />assist him with product research and testing. Obviously, the<br />Dark Squire should ...<br />DARK KNIGHTS<br />Dark Knights are the ...<br />OATHS AND INITIATIONS<br />ACOLYTE INITIATION<br />(Example for young addict from broken family named Aaron<br />Black)<br />Aaron Black:<br />You have had your childhood problems and your fun and and<br />games. Now you must journey inwards, to what you really fear.<br />It’s inside you, and once you face it there is no turning back.<br />Your family’s problems were not your fault. Your<br />recovery programs are nothing. The will is everything. If you<br />make yourself more than an addict, more than a man – if you<br />devote yourself to an ideal, you can become something else<br />entirely: a Legend. Are you ready to begin?<br />VOW TO AN IDEAL<br />Early in your Dark Knight’s journey, after your Traumatic<br />Experience and the discovery of your life’s purpose, you<br />should say a vow that commits you to that purpose. When<br />saying the vow, incorporate items that have a powerful<br />.
meaning to you, such as pictures, artifacts, books or other<br />people. Keep one of these items near you at all times to serve<br />as token of your vow – perhaps a ring on your finger or a<br />picture on your desk. This vow ritual will reinforce in your<br />subconscious mind the main purpose of your life, and prevent<br />you from forgetting it. It is another “ritual of commitment” that<br />will strengthen your will to act.<br />Page 85<br />The League of Dark Knights<br />In the Batman comics, a young Bruce Wayne made this vow<br />before a portrait of his parents: “I vow that I’ll dedicate my life<br />to bring your killer to justice... and to fight all crime!”<br />(Detective Comics #235) Keep your vow simple and private<br />like this, and let its power guide you on your journey to Dark<br />Knighthood.<br />ACOLYTE OATH<br />Emerson Hood, say the Acolyte Oath below and take the<br />actions described:<br />I, Emerson Hood, pledge my undying loyalty to my master,<br />Mister Blackstone<br />And to the League of Dark Knights to which we belong.<br />I vow to struggle in the way of the Knights,<br />To seek the knowledge and power of the Dark Path,<br />To defend my master and the League to the death,<br />To the best of my abilities, without fear or weakness or<br />surrender.<br />I stand before you and say the Dark Knight Code:<br />To conquer fear I will become fear.<br />My passion is my power<br />I pledge myself to an ideal<br />And let my will have the hour<br />I kneel before you and take the Dark Knight Pledge:<br />I pledge allegiance to the code<br />Of the League of Dark Knights of all nations<br />And to the ideals for which they fight,<br />One Order, under wills indomitable,<br />With victory and justice forever.<br />Page 86<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Master:<br />Rise, Acolyte Emerson Hood.<br />You are now an Initiate of the League of Dark Knights.<br />.
May you seize the night and win the day.<br />APPRENTICE OATH<br />Black Hood, say the Apprentice Oath below and take the<br />actions described:<br />I, Black Hood, pledge my undying loyalty to my master, Mister<br />Blackstone<br />And to the League of Dark Knights to which he belongs.<br />I vow to struggle in the way of the Knights,<br />To seek the knowledge and power of the Dark Path,<br />To defend my master and the League to the death,<br />To the best of my abilities, without fear or weakness or<br />surrender.<br />I stand before you and say the Dark Knight Code:<br />To conquer fear I will become fear.<br />My passion is my power<br />I pledge myself to an ideal<br />And let my will have the hour<br />I kneel before you and take the Dark Knight Pledge:<br />I pledge allegiance to the code<br />Of the League of Dark Knights of all nations<br />And to the ideals for which they fight,<br />One Order, under wills indomitable,<br />Page 87<br />The League of Dark Knights<br />With victory and justice forever.<br />Master:<br />Rise, apprentice Black Hood.<br />You are now the Black Hood, Apprentice of Mister Blackstone<br />of the League of Dark Knights.<br />May you seize the night and win the day.<br />DARK KNIGHT CLANS<br />Dark Knights may choose to form into groups called<br />Clans.<br />Clans will meet to train, share resources, conduct operations,<br />initiate new members and pursue whatever particular passions<br />unite its members. A Clan may form in a particular region, or it<br />may form around a shared interest of its members. For<br />example, the “... Clan” might include Dark Knights from the<br />American Southwest, from Southern California to New<br />Mexico. The “Killmaster Clan” might be composed of Dark<br />Knights who have a shared interest in assassination techniques.<br />CLAN SANCTUMS<br />A Clan will normally have one or more Sanctums where they<br />.
meet to conduct Clan business. Clan Sanctums are just like<br />individual Dark Knight Sanctums, except that they will be<br />known to the entire Clan and must allow all members access.<br />Security will therefore be more complex; in addition to giving<br />all authorized Clan members keys (for an indoor Sanctum), you<br />may want to set up a video monitoring system, sentries, guard<br />dogs and a system of passwords or “secret handshakes” to<br />screen out Clan members from interlopers.<br />...<br />For an outdoor Sanctum, a secluded, secret location is the most<br />important consideration, on property that is either owned by the<br />Clan or is not under any immediate jurisdiction. This could be<br />something as simple as a grove in the woods, a tree house or a<br />Page 88<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />cabin, to something as elaborate as a private estate or an<br />underground cave complex.<br />Page 89<br />.
TALES OF THE D ARK<br />KNIGHTS<br />The following stories illustrate the range of possibilities offered<br />by the Dark Knight Path. ...<br />Put below somewhere else??<br />Ours is a very general Path, which can be applied by people of<br />every political, cultural, personal and spiritual orientation. You<br />may be “right wing” or “left wing”, “liberal” or “conservative”,<br />atheist or devout, “spiritual, but not religious”, “progressive” or<br />“traditional”, “high-tech” or “low-tech”, urban or rural,<br />“outdoorsy” or “indoorsy”, intellectual or instinctual, romantic<br />or rational, etc. – all of these types can find a unique Path to<br />Dark Knighthood that speaks to their inner nature.<br />Nor are we suggesting that the Dark Knight Path will produce<br />people with a common outlook, uniform opinions, or unity of<br />purpose. As the stories below illustrate, Dark Knights may<br />come to very different conclusions about their role in the<br />world, and may even find themselves on opposite sides of<br />many conflicts. We are not preaching peace at all costs or<br />trying to create a cult of cookie-cutter soldiers; we are<br />interested in helping people awaken to their true nature, and<br />find their higher purpose, even if it means conflict with others<br />who have come to different conclusions. Our emphasis is on<br />the authenticity of your path, not on its conformity to social<br />Page 90<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />rules or inability to offend.<br />REAL LIFE DARK KNIGHTS<br />...<br />The reality of this world is that times of strife and suffering<br />produce more great heroism than times of peace and<br />complacency. Therefore we find many examples of Dark<br />Knights from the annals of war.<br />…
TOSHITSUGU TAKAMATSU<br />(see “The Complete Ninja Collection”, pp. 488-495)<br />THE ROUGH RIDER RISES<br />.
http://www.american-presidents.org/2008/07/did-teddyroosevelt-help-to-inspire.html<br />http://www.nps.gov/thro/learn/historyculture/theodoreroosevelt-the-rancher.htm<br />Theodore Roosevelt is a man who made the Dark Knight’s<br />journey from the depths of despair to the summit of world<br />power. His life story reads in many ways like a real world<br />Bruce Wayne; Christopher Nolan, director of the Dark Knight<br />film trilogy, reportedly said “Bruce Wayne is Teddy<br />Roosevelt.”<br />Teddy Roosevelt was born into a life of affluence in New York<br />City, son of a wealthy philanthropist who was admired by the<br />people of his city, and a hero to his son. TR was a frail child,<br />but developed a determination to become physically<br />indomitable. He took up competitive boxing as a teen ager, and<br />maintained a passion for martial arts throughout his life – he<br />trained with champion wrestlers, Japanese judo masters and<br />sparred regularly even while living in the White House.<br />Roosevelt’s Traumatic Experience came on February 14<br />th,<br />Page 91<br />Tales of the Dark Knights<br />1884, when his wife died two days after giving birth to a<br />daughter, and just hours after his mother had died of fever in<br />the same house. Roosevelt wrote a large “X” in his diary that<br />day, and a single sentence: “The light has gone out of my life.”<br />A few days later he wrote: “For joy or for sorrow my life has<br />now been lived out.” Devastated, Roosevelt sold his house, left<br />his daughter with his sister, and moved to the Badlands of<br />North Dakota, perhaps to die.<br />But the light did not go out of Teddy Roosevelt’s life on that<br />fateful Valentine’s Day. Instead, the young man, who had<br />grown up in urbane Manhattan, found a new passion for life<br />among the rugged cowboys of the Western frontier. Roosevelt<br />learned new skills, a new way of life, and the value of selfreliance,<br />law enforcement, nature conservation and what he called “the strenuous life.”<br />The scrawny New Yorker was transformed into a burly rancher, big game hunter, cowboy and lawman.<br />During those several years in the Badlands, the great man who would later be called “the Rough Rider” was born.<br />As TR put it, “it was there that the romance of my life began.“<br />In true Dark Knight fashion, Roosevelt returned from the<br />Western frontier to New York City with a renewed sense of<br />strength, willpower and purpose. He rose quickly, becoming<br />police commissioner and then governor. Roosevelt fought the<br />rampant corruption in the city, fought for the rights of<br />immigrants, ...<br />LAWRENCE OF ARABIA<br />THE AVENGING LAMA<br />In his classic book<br />Beasts, Men and Gods<br />, Ferdinand<br />Ossendowski recounts his incredible adventures in the brutal<br />Nighttime World of Russia and Mongolia in the 1920s during<br />the Russian Civil War. Particularly interesting was his account<br />of Tushegoun, the “avenging lama” – a Dark Knight-like<br />fighting monk and sorcerer who struck terror in the hearts of<br />.
his enemies. Tushegoun was from the Kalmyk republic of<br />southwest Russia, the only European region with a majority<br />Page 92<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Buddhist population. He was a Buddhist lama, a doctor and a<br />close friend of the 13 th Dalai Lama. But his experiences in the<br />prisons of the Czars and the Bolsheviks had turned him into a<br />fiercer type of Buddhist – the personification of Vajrapāni, the<br />fearful, wrathful guardian of the Buddha's wisdom.<br />Tushegoun travelled to Mongolia to escape persecution,<br />where he soon developed a great following and a fearsome<br />reputation – reputedly due to his irresistible mystical powers:<br />His influence was irresistible, based as it was on his great<br />control of mysterious science...its foundation largely in the<br />panicky fear which he could produce in the Mongols. Everyone<br />who disobeyed his orders perished. Such an one never knew<br />the day or the hour when, in his yurt or beside his galloping<br />horse on the plains, the strange and powerful friend of the<br />Dalai Lama would appear. The stroke of a knife, a bullet or<br />strong fingers strangling the neck like a vise accomplished the<br />justice of the plans of this miracle worker. (Beasts, Men and<br />Gods, p. 116)<br />In true Dark Knight fashion, Tushegoun used dramatic gestures<br />to terrorize the persecutors of the Mongols, such as galloping<br />out of he darkness and swooping down on a Chinese rabblerouser,<br />kidnapping him and riding off, to return only his head later in thenight.<br />The Avenging Lama is an example of the dark knights  created by dark times<br />–
and few times were ever darker than Mongolia in the 1920s.<br />THE FALCON TAKES FLIGHT<br />Christopher Boyce grew up in an affluent Southern California<br />neighborhood, a conservative Catholic altar-boy liked by all.<br />Highly intelligent, curious and idealistic, … Boyce's great<br />passion was falconry; he spent many days in the wilderness<br />with his childhood friend Daulton Lee, stalking and trapping<br />the birds, training them and using them to hunt. This hobby<br />gave Boyce strong wilderness survival skills and a deep<br />appreciation for the timeless freedom of …<br />“Black Vault”<br />Page 93<br />Tales of the Dark Knights<br />The Falcon escaped from Lompoc prison in 1980 by … Fleeing<br />into the surrounding wilderness and evading an intensive<br />search, Boyce survived on berries and insects until he was able<br />to take refuge with a friend. Eventually Boyce made his way to<br />the Northwest, where he hid out with an outlaw … in Idaho<br />and … went on a bank robbery spree to support himself on the<br />lam. Finally he made his way to the Olympic Peninsula, where<br />he purchased a boat with the intention of sailing to Alaska,<br />across the Bering Strait and defecting to Russia. Changing his<br />plans, Boyce began taking flying lessons, intending to fly out<br />.
of the country to safety (Boyce later revealed in his<br />autobiography that he actually intended to fly back to Lompoc<br />and break his accomplish Daulton Lee out of prison). Boyce<br />was two weeks away from obtaining his pilot's license when<br />U.S. marshals apprehended him at a burger drive-in in Port<br />Angeles, Washington.<br />A SEEKER OF MIRACLES<br />George Gurdjieff was a legendary mystic who travelled the<br />world in the early 20 th century in search of esoteric knowledge<br />and meetings with remarkable men. Gurdjieff's journey began<br />when he witnessed seemingly miraculous events as a child<br />which no one in his village could explain. These traumatic<br />experiences, which shattered the Daytime World of his<br />upbringing, compelled him to set out on a lifelong quest to<br />understand them.<br />Gurdjieff's quest would take him to<br />sacred sites in Egypt, monasteries of Tibet, ruins in the Gobi<br />desert, Sufi Orders in the Levant, and to a legendary secret<br />community in the remote mountains of Afghanistan called the<br />Sarmoung Brotherhood. Along the way, Gurdjieff fought native<br />tribesmen, eluded hostile soldiers, He also developed immense<br />esoteric knowledge, the ability to speak dozens of languages,<br />indomitable willpower, tremendous vitality and irresistible<br />personal magnetism.<br />After years of such travels and learning, Gurdjieff<br />returned to the centers of civilization, setting up communities<br />in Paris and New York. There, he taught the comfortable<br />Page 94<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />children of elite society to perform amazing acts of gymnastics<br />and self-discipline, while sharing some of his esoteric<br />knowledge in his sly and seductive manner. Thus Gurdjieff<br />became one of the first Western gurus who returned from the<br />East with mystical knowledge to share, and in the process<br />became a living legend. He is undoubtedly one of the realworld<br />inspirations for the many fictional Dark Knights who been transformed in the East and<br />returned to theWest to share the fruits of their experiences.<br />THE WRATH OF GOD<br />A recent real-world example of Dark Knights were the Mossad<br />kill teams who hunted down the Black September terrorists<br />responsible for the Munich Olympics massacre in the 1970s<br />and 80s. Their path began in the summer of 1972, when eight<br />Black September operatives killed 11 Israeli athletes at the<br />Olympic Games in Munich. Burning with a desire for revenge,<br />Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir gave the green light to<br />“Operation Wrath of God” – a covert operation to hunt down<br />and kill those responsible for the so-called Munich Massacre.<br />Frustrated by the failure of European countries to bring the<br />killers to justice, Operation Wrath of God would continue for ...<br />years, until ... Like Batman’s exploits, this dramatic operation<br />sent a message to Israel’s enemies and contributed to the myth<br />of the Mossad’s invincibility which is probably worth more to<br />them than any weapon.<br />THE WAR ON TERROR<br />Undoubtedly the traumatic events of September 11<br />th, 2001,<br />.
created many new Dark Knights – men and women who were<br />shocked out of their complacent Daytime World existence and<br />driven by their rage to seek vengeance against the<br />perpetrators. ....<br />Page 95<br />Tales of the Dark Knights<br />FICTIONAL DARK KNIGHTS<br />The following are stories of individuals who followed the Dark<br />Knight path and became something more than men. They<br />illustrate the key trials, pitfalls and potential of our path;<br />perhaps they will inspire you on your own Dark Knight’s<br />journey.<br />THE BLACK DRAGON AWAKENS<br />Aaron Black was a man who seemed well on his way to<br />attaining the best things in life – wealth, status, respectability,<br />relationships and a creative career. He was highly intelligent,<br />in his third year at an elite West Coast university, getting good<br />grades and making friends with some of the best and brightest<br />people. He had a career in the Valley as a tech entrepreneur and<br />venture capitalist all lined up for himself after graduation. He<br />was something of a technological wizard, with a mind for new<br />innovations that, with luck, could make him quite rich. And<br />just to complete the picture of the 21st century man of privilege,<br />he was handsome, athletic, and popular with the ladies. Truly,<br />Mr. Black had been blessed with an abundance of riches in his<br />life, and from the outside seemed to want for nothing.<br />But inside, it was a different story. Inside, Mr. Black’s mind<br />was racked with strange feelings he couldn’t understand or<br />come to grips with. He sensed that there was something vital<br />missing from his life, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it<br />was. So he began reading a few books of philosophy,<br />psychology and spirituality – subjects he had avoided in his<br />education until now – to try to understand what was bothering<br />him. He also spent many late hours watching online talks by<br />various spiritual teachers and philosophers.<br />Aaron found most Western philosophy and psychology<br />teachings rather dry and unenlightening. But in the great<br />Eastern spiritual traditions he found a few clues. Buddhists<br />spoke of dukkha – the sense of the unsatisfactoriness of life, no<br />matter what one achieved or possessed. They believed this to<br />Page 96<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />be an inherent part of the life, which could only be overcome<br />by ending one’s attachments to illusory and impermanent<br />things. Aaron discovered that Muslims had a similar belief: that<br />attachment to dunya – the transient things of this world – was<br />.
an evil to be avoided. Hindus and Taoists also taught that the<br />world was without form, immaterial, and all attempts to control<br />or mold it were doomed to fail. Was Aaron's perfect<br />materialistic world a giant lie?<br />Then one sunny spring day, Aaron Black’s abstract sense of<br />dissatisfaction with his near-perfect life was shattered by an<br />overwhelmingly real crisis. For that was the day he watched ...<br />What was Aaron supposed do, confronted by this unforeseeable<br />act of evil? What in his life of had prepared him for such a<br />moment of irrationality, chaos and darkness?<br />Nothing. He<br />realized right then how ignorant and deprived he truly was. He<br />felt in his bones the nakedness of his existence; the disarmed<br />and impotent nature of the man who sleepwalks toward success<br />without spiritual struggle. He had been living a lie – a dream<br />that had suddenly turned into a nightmare.<br />Five days later, after attending the funeral of his brother and<br />spending three days with his ..., Aaron Black boarded a plane<br />headed for ... without bothering to notify anyone at his school<br />that he wouldn’t be completing his courses that semester, or<br />telling family or friends where he was going. He simply<br />disappeared.<br />In fact, Aaron had gone to ...<br />…
(Enrolls in strict Zen monastery in British Columbia)<br />Aaron’s Threshold Crossing came on the cloudy winter’s day<br />… The previous day, he taken a ferry across the Strait of Juan<br />de Fuca from Port Angeles, a rather run-down port town in the<br />far northwestern corner of the United States, to Victoria, a<br />much more pleasant city on the southwestern tip of Canada.<br />The customs agents had given him a bit of a grilling, but he<br />Page 97<br />Tales of the Dark Knights<br />answered their questions … From the Victoria …,<br />Early the next morning, Aaron boarded the first city bus to a<br />park on the outskirts of town, where he had been instructed to<br />meet his contact from the monastery at 7 am. He brought only<br />a small rucksack with water, snacks and minimal clothing.<br />wore khaki pants, walking shoes and a light jacket … Arriving<br />a few minutes early to the empty park, he found a man waiting<br />for him … The man was dressed in a dark track suit, with a<br />shaven head and healthy physique that made it difficult to<br />determine his age. As he got closer and exchanged greetings,<br />Aaron could see from the fine lines around his eyes that the<br />man was surely at least forty, and possibly much older.<br />The man introduced himself as only “John”, which was the<br />name of the contact he had been told to expect. After a bit of<br />discussion about his trip and his provisions, John asked: “So,<br />are you ready to begin?”<br />When Aaron replied that he was, John nodded, motioned for<br />him to follow him, and said “This way please.” …<br />Here is the trail. It is about 30 kilometers to the monastery.<br />A MEETING OF THE NIGHT EAGLE CLAN<br />.
The Night Eagle Clan gathered at their usual meeting place,<br />which they called the Eyrie – a craggy mesa outside of Tucson<br />that was said to have once been a lookout spot for Apache<br />scouts. The Night Eagles never doubted this legend, and the<br />flint arrowheads they had found at the site only confirmed it.<br />The Eyrie suited the Clan not only because it afforded them<br />panoramic views of the surrounding desert, but because getting<br />there required enough climbing skill that they rarely had to<br />worry about company. This was certainly not a concern for<br />them at this hour – nearing midnight. {location e.g. Battleship<br />Mountain, AZ}<br />The Clan members sat cross-legged on the rim of the mesa,<br />gazing intently down the sheer slopes beneath them and out<br />into the night. The moon hung like an immense planet in the<br />Page 98<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />black Sonoran sky; the desert below was an alien landscape,<br />pocked by craters, pierced by crags and carpeted in a profusion<br />of cacti of every shape, size and color. A vulture circled in the<br />moonlight overhead, perhaps drawn to this strange nocturnal<br />gathering.<br />Each Night Eagle was dressed in the uniform of their Clan: gi<br />jacket, baggy hakama pants bound tight around the shins, face<br />wrap, leather sash around the waist, fingerless gloves, and a<br />tanto dagger strapped across the back – everything black in<br />color. They each wore a headband with the Clan symbol<br />embroidered in the center: a , wings outspread, against a round<br />white moon.<br />On this night, the Night Eagles were living up to their<br />namesake: watching from their high perch, waiting for their<br />prey to appear. They awaited the arrival of an Aspirant to their<br />Clan, who chosen name was Nightclaw. Tonight was to be<br />Nightclaw's final trial of initiation; if he passed, he would be<br />admitted as a full member of the Clan, with the rank of<br />Acolyte.<br />They had not seen any vehicle parked at the base of the mesa,<br />nor any approach since they started their ascent. If Nightclaw<br />was nearby, he had done well to conceal his arrival.<br />The Clan Master, whose name was Talon, …<br />“You have done well, Aspirant Nightclaw.<br />Talon<br />Darkwing<br />Nightclaw<br />Blackhawk<br />Moonshadow<br />Deadeye<br />Swoop<br />.
Tales of the Dark Knights<br />Page 99<br />As was their custom at such conclaves, the Clan members<br />brought several sliced and boiled several<br />The Shugendō temple where Tony Rossi trained for five years<br />THE SHUGENJA<br />After a devastating …, Tony Rossi travelled the world,<br />eventually finding himself in the mountains of Japan. There, he<br />took part in a … mountain trek … On this trek, Rossi made<br />contact with an ancient sect of Shugenja – mystic mountain<br />ascetics who practice Shugendō – the way of training and<br />testing. Rossi would stay and train with the Shugenja for 5<br />years, developing great spiritual strength and physical<br />endurance through trials such as mountain marathons, icy<br />waterfall meditations, walking on hot coals and cliff climbing.<br />He advanced to one of the highest ranks a non-Japanese ever<br />had within the sect, mastering many of its esoteric disciplines<br />and secrets.<br />After five years, Rossi left Japan with the encouragement of<br />the order to assist in establishing a Shugendō temple in<br />Washington state, USA.<br />Page 100<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />THE COBRA UNCOILS<br />Benjamin Green …<br />Spends two years learning “Naga Yoga” at the Cobra Temple in<br />the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India.<br />Trauma: death of his brother<br />Fear of death, snakes<br />Arriving in Goa, Green quickly grew dissatisfied with the<br />commercialized, “tourist trap”<br />For more than a year, Green wandered around India, visiting<br />temples and ashrams, participating in rituals and yoga with<br />other pilgrims, taking in the sights and sounds of a different<br />world, without much sense of purpose or discipline. Still<br />feeling lost, and no closer to finding ..., he ... It was there that<br />.
Green met a striking ..., who told him about a place called “”<br />(“Cobra Temple”), located in the Himalayan foothills, which<br />could offer him a path to a “new self.” The man’s inner power<br />and calm made a dramatic impression on Benjamin, and he<br />decided right then and there that he would visit this Cobra<br />Temple and learn more about their path.<br />...<br />At the Cobra Temple, his guru, ..., emphasized the four pillars<br />of the Naga Yoga practice: developing flexibility, calmness,<br />“venom,” and the ability to “shed one’s skin.” Flexibility meant<br />both the suppleness of body required for the advanced yoga<br />postures, and the suppleness of mind needed for whatever<br />surprises life throws at you. Calmness meant the relaxation,<br />awareness and control developed by regular “cobra<br />meditation”. “Venom” referred to inner power and lethal<br />effectiveness the Naga Templars sought to cultivate in<br />everything they did.<br />Green learned that the Nagas were founded by a<br />Learned Kalaripayattu and marmakkala, the ancient yogic<br />Page 101<br />Tales of the Dark Knights<br />martial arts of southern India. Kalaripayattu gave him skill with<br />bladed weapons, sticks, hand and foot fighting, climbing,<br />jumping and flexibility. Marmakkala taught him how to use the<br />body’s vital points to wound or immobilize opponents.<br />THE (SYMBOLIC GREEN ANIMAL)<br />Sharon O’Neil was an ecology graduate student from the<br />University of California ... While doing field research for her<br />doctoral dissertation, on “... (rainforest)”, she ... has a “Gaian<br />awakening” after spending time in the Amazon rainforest with<br />shamans and native peoples. The sight of tropical rainforests –<br />the very “lungs” of the planet – being clear-cut by<br />multinational agricultural corporations to make room for crops<br />to feed people and livestock in distant cities awakened her to<br />the horrors of modern industrial civilization.<br />Her traumatic experience came the day she saw a native<br />activist get shot dead by security guards of the ... (agricultural<br />corporation).<br />Her transformation to a Dark Knight began with a ceremonial<br />vow, taken under a full moon at the memorial near the ... where<br />... had been murdered.<br />“I vow to avenge the death of ..., and to fight all those<br />who cut down the forests, drive out the animals, pollute<br />the air, foul the seas, rape the earth, and exploit the<br />indigenous peoples of the world.”<br />THE NIGHT EAGLE TAKES WING<br />NOTES:<br />Character is part Native American. Incorporates traditional<br />beliefs about “night eagles” (owls) into his Dark Knight<br />persona.<br />Associated with death, wisdom, intuition, watchfulness,<br />.
spiritual guidance, personal change.<br />Traumatic experience:<br />Page 102<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Primary passion:<br />Symbol: owl<br />THE SKULL-FACE GRINS<br />Fear: death<br />Trauma: death of fellow soldiers in Iraq/Afghan<br />Training: U.S. special forces<br />Mentor: Zack “Skull-Face” Haynes. Showed him how to face<br />and conquer his fear of death.<br />Profession: soldier<br />Symbol: white skull on black circle<br />The rank-and-file soldiers were quite sick of the whole war by<br />now, disillusioned about its purpose, and demoralized to realize<br />that the people of Iraq weren't welcoming them as liberators<br />with flowers and hugs, but as occupiers with improvised<br />explosive devices and hostile glares.<br />...<br />At that point, something in Marcus snapped. He simply no<br />longer cared about the rules and regulations created by<br />bureaucrats in suits sitting in safe, comfortable offices<br />thousands of miles away, who had never looked death in the<br />face or lived as a warrior like he had. He realized that such<br />people had not earned their authority; that it was an empty,<br />meaningless kind of power they wielded; that real power and<br />authority belonged with the warriors who faced the life and<br />death consequences of their decisions every day on the ground.<br />Not that Marcus could have articulated his feelings so clearly at<br />that moment. For him it was an instinctual realization, which<br />instantly freed him from an invalid chain of command and<br />compelled him to act; compelled him to be a hero – at least in<br />his own mind.<br />Marcus took the sheet from his bunk and laid it out on the<br />Page 103<br />Tales of the Dark Knights<br />floor. With a black sharpie, he drew a cartoonish black skull<br />across the sheet. He gave it a rather disturbing, leering grin,<br />then drew a thick circle around it. Admiring his handiwork<br />with a grim smile, Marcus muttered: “the Skull-Face grins.”<br />THE NIGHT OWL FLIES<br />John Zane had always been a bit of an oddball. He never liked<br />the company of other people much. Even as a child, he<br />preferred to spend his time alone in the woods, drawing or in<br />.
quiet thought rather than out playing with friends. He always<br />seemed to have trouble waking up for school; his parents often<br />found him awake late into the night, drawing, reading or just<br />thinking. They sometimes scolded him and tried to change his<br />habits, but because he was also a child prodigy they mostly<br />indulged him. It was all part of being a genius, they figured.<br />Zane was a young man of many talents, but what he really<br />excelled at was ...<br />Zane’s Dark Awakening came on September 11 th, 2001, when<br />his older brother was killed in his office on the 86 th floor of the<br />second World Trade Center building. His brother Marcus had<br />been his hero as a child – the sort of well-adjusted, successful<br />and popular person he often fantasized about being. When<br />Marcus was burned alive in the blazing jet fuel on the terrible<br />September morning, something inside Zane snapped, and what<br />had been the eccentricities of a genius took a turn toward<br />something much darker. ...<br />There are a few who might accuse the Night Owl of being a<br />creepy character – a vigilante, a role-player, a peeping tom, a<br />fascist – but that wouldn’t bother him. As long as his enemies<br />feared him, he was content.<br />Skills: hypnosis, hunting, night vision, art, occult and religious<br />knowledge<br />Ideal: fighting terrorism, war and violent crime against the<br />innocent.<br />Sanctum: The Owl’s Nest. Located in a hidden alcove, high on<br />Page 104<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />a cliff overlooking bay and city.<br />Symbolism: Zane adopted the owl as a symbol, for its calm<br />watchfulness, its wisdom, and its ferocity toward the “rats”<br />who bring disease and disorder into his world.<br />THE CREEPER CREEPS OUT<br />“Hacker”<br />TAO-CAT<br />The man who calls himself “Tao-Cat” is a cat burglar with<br />impressive skills an intriguing personal philosophy. He …<br />Steals jewelry from the wealthy. Believes this is legitimate to<br />restore balance of the Tao. He justifies his thievery to himself<br />by recalling the words of Taoist sages such as Lao-Tzu, author<br />of the Tao Te Ching. These sages warned repeatedly against the<br />accumulation of wealth, preaching that theft is a result of<br />valuing treasure, and ostentatious displays of wealth brings<br />about one's downfall. In Tao-Cat's mind, those who flaunt their<br />obscene wealth on their bodies in the form of jewelry were<br />violating the Tao, and by robbing them, he was restoring<br />balance to the Tao and acting as an agent of the Tao itself.<br />Tao-Cat's Sanctum is his garage, where he constructs tools of<br />his trade, including grappling hooks made by welding together<br />three large fishhooks. He also keeps photographs, maps,<br />blueprints, newspaper articles and other material useful for<br />planning his operations there. His secondary Sanctum is a<br />rented storage space where he stashes jewels and cash.<br />.
The poster shown below is tacked on the back wall of the<br />Sanctum. It lists several quotes from the Tao Te Ching which<br />pertain to the Cat's chosen profession:<br />Page 105<br />Tales of the Dark Knights<br />There is no greater crime than desire.<br />Not valuing wealth prevents theft.<br />Keeping plenty of gold and jade in the palace makes no<br />one able to defend it.<br />Displaying riches and titles with pride brings about<br />one’s downfall.<br />Abandon cleverness, discard profit, and thieves and<br />robbers will disappear.<br />Greed is costly. Assembled fortunes are lost.<br />Who has excess and supplies the world? Only the one<br />who follows the Way.<br />THE RISE OF RATMAN<br />Despised, homeless, penniless, … could've laid down and died<br />or become another broken, institutionalized ward of the state.<br />But he had too much pride for that.<br />His Sanctum is located in an abandoned sewer tunnel below the<br />city. Ratman makes contact with the underground community<br />that dwells there, enlisting them as his informants and<br />operatives.<br />NOMAD-1<br />A fugitive from the daytime society that wronged him, he<br />Page 106<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />becomes a perpetual traveller on the fringes of society.<br />“Never again will I settle down and allow myself to<br />.
become a target of governments, gangsters or<br />corporations. I will wander the Earth a free man,<br />without a fixed address, a permanent identity or a<br />long-term occupation. I may be poor in society's eyes,<br />nothing but a hobo, but I have the most precious<br />thing, which is the birthright of all mankind: the<br />freedom to wander into the next valley, without<br />attachments to the settled life, the prisons and gilded<br />cages called civilization. Thus, I consider myself<br />the richest man in the world.”<br />Rides rails, stows away on ships, hitches rides,<br />Page 107<br />EPILOGUE<br />.
Page 108<br />APPENDIX A:<br />RECOMMENDED<br />READING<br />COMIC BOOKS<br />Batman #431: Batman journeys to the East, trains with Master<br />Kirigi.<br />“The Man Who Falls”:<br />V for Vendetta, Alan Moore.<br />The character “V” in Alan Moore’s famous graphic novel is an<br />example of a more radical type of Dark Knight. Unlike<br />Batman, who is an ally of the authorities and a promoter of<br />law-and-order, V works against the existing order of society<br />and is basically an anarchist and a terrorist. Yet V is surely a<br />Dark Knight, who wears a mask and becomes a powerful<br />symbol of resistance to an oppressive political system. V’s<br />traumatic experience was being subjected to medical<br />experiments as a prisoner that killed everyone but himself,<br />.
Page 109<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />whom they gave super-powers. He becomes a master of many<br />physical and mental skills, devotes himself to the ideal of<br />overthrowing the government, uses darker, violent methods,<br />builds a Sanctum called “The Shadow Gallery”, and keeps his<br />identity secret. For aspiring Dark Knights who find themselves<br />in oppressive circumstances, V offers a very different role<br />model from the likes of Batman that may be more appropriate.<br />Other comic book characters who fit the Dark Knight<br />archetype include Moon Knight, ... The Shroud.<br />THRILLER FICTION<br />ERIC VAN LUSTBADER<br />The Ninja<br />Shan<br />Shibumi, Trevanian.<br />A brilliant novel about the making of Nicholaï Hel, a master<br />assassin raised in Japan who becomes the world’s most feared<br />professional killer. In many ways, this is a Batman myth for<br />adults; Hel is no generic Bruce Wayne hero, but an eccentric<br />aristocrat, lover, artist, spelunker and Samurai with a strong<br />sense of honor. Shibumi is one of those rare books, and Hel<br />one of those rare characters, who can truly change your outlook<br />and inspire you to pursue a more heroic, authentic path of life:<br />the Dark Knight’s path!<br />Death of a Citizen, Donald Hamilton.<br />In this novel, “counter-assassin” Matt Helm is a retired Dark<br />Knight, with memories of his heroic exploits as an assassin in<br />the Nighttime World of World War II. Now back in the<br />Daytime World of middle class American life, he is pulled back<br />into the Nighttime World of Cold War international intrigue<br />and assassins. Matt Helm thus becomes a “born again” Dark<br />Page 110<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />Knight; he undergoes a second “death” as an ordinary citizen<br />and returns to the heroic and dangerous path of the Dark<br />Knight. The first in a series of 27 excellent novels about the<br />gritty exploits of super-agent Matt Helm.<br />THE SHADOW<br />JASON BOURNE<br />The Bourne Identity (and sequels), Robert Ludlum<br />The Bourne Legacy (and sequels), Eric Van Lustbader<br />Jason Bourne is a classic Dark Knight, with a tortured past, a<br />.
mission of justice, incredible willpower and almost<br />superhuman skills. Bourne’s first Traumatic Experience came<br />during the Vietnam War, when his wife and children were<br />killed by an unidentified fighter jet. Filled with rage at this<br />injustice and seeking revenge, his Threshold Crossing came<br />when he met a mentor name “Delta”, joined the secret<br />mercenary organization Medusa, and was trained as an<br />assassin. Like the League of Shadows in<br />Batman Begins ,<br />Medusa turned out to be a criminal organization, which became<br />Bourne’s nemesis after his second Traumatic Experience: the<br />killing of his brother by Medusa assassins. Bourne would<br />undergo another major trauma when he suffered amnesia after<br />nearly being assassinated, and was subsequently hunted<br />throughout the world by the covert agency that once employed<br />him.<br />While often over the top, the Jason Bourne novels (and films)<br />are very entertaining and have many interesting details that<br />anyone pursuing a “spy”, “assassin” or “international fugitive”<br />type of Dark Knight persona can take inspiration from.<br />THE EXECUTIONER<br />Mack Bolan is an archetypical “dark avenger” type of Dark<br />Page 111<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Knight, who becomes as ruthless as the criminals he fights in<br />order to wage his “holy war” against the Mafia. Bolan’s<br />Traumatic Experience came when he learned that the Mafia<br />had forced his sister into prostitution and driven his father to<br />murder his own wife and daughter. Using the skills he acquired<br />as an elite special operations soldier in Vietnam, Bolan targeted<br />the mob in cities across America. To better strike fear into the<br />hearts of his enemies, Bolan created his “Executioner” persona,<br />complete with a fearsome “blacksuit”, a marksman’s medal<br />calling card, and a mobile Sanctum called the “war wagon”.<br />Grandmaster, Warren Murphy and Molly Cochran<br />Tulku, Stephen K. Hayes<br />ESOTERIC FICTION<br />The following are examples of “Esoteric Fiction”: stories that<br />are presented as factual accounts of the adventures of<br />individuals who experienced powerful inner awakenings, but<br />which are generally considered to be fictional (or at least<br />highly embellished).<br />Carlos Castaneda<br />Deng Ming-Dao<br />Deng wrote an excellent trilogy about the adventures of a<br />“wandering Taoist” who is inducted into an ancient lineage of<br />Chinese Taoist hermits. The three novels<br />(The Wandering<br />Taoist, Seven Bamboo Tablets of the Cloudy Satchel<br />and<br />Gateway to a Vast World) are collected as Chronicles of Tao:<br />The Secret Life of a Taoist Master.<br />Deng does for China's ancient Taoist esoteric tradition<br />.
what Lobsang Rampa does for the Tibetan tradition: give us a<br />glimpse into ancient magical world before it was disrupted by<br />the upheavals of the 20th century. Deng explores the secrets of<br />everything from Taoist philosophy and Chinese history to<br />Page 112<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />meditation, Qigong and Kung Fu.<br />Lobsang Rampa<br />Lobsang Rampa wrote an entertaining series of novels about<br />the past life of a Tibetan lama who has been reincarnated as a<br />… in 20 th century Britain. Beginning with<br />The Third Eye ,<br />Rampa takes us into the magical world of old Tibet, before the<br />Chinese invasion and its opening to the modern world. While<br />widely considered pure fiction, like Castaneda's books,<br />Rampa's are full of fascinating details about an ancient<br />mystical tradition, and contain much esoteric wisdom that<br />should stimulate your curiosity and stretch your imagination.<br />The Magus of Java, Kosta Danaos<br />The remarkable story of John Chang, reputed to be the master<br />of an ancient Taoist discipline that has given him the ability to<br />start fires, move objects and communicate, directly with his<br />mind. This book may convince you that the superpowers of the<br />comic book heroes are real, and available to those few with the<br />will and vision to seek them out.<br />Opening the Dragon Gate: The Making of a Modern Tao<br />Wizard, Chen Kaiguo, Zheng Shunchao, Thomas Cleary<br />Meetings With Remarkable Men, G. I. Gurdjieff.<br />NON-FICTION<br />The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell<br />Hagakure (The Book of the Samurai), Yamamoto Tsunetomo<br />A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy,<br />Miyamoto Musashi<br />The Spiritual Practices of the Ninja, Ross Heaven.<br />When Things Fall Apart, Pema Chödrön<br />A Masters Guide to the Way of the Warrior,<br />by Stefan<br />Verstappen<br />Page 113<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />Seven Years in Tibet, Heinrich Harrer<br />The amazing true story of a champion German mountain<br />climber who is imprisoned by the British during World War II,<br />escapes across the Himalayas into Tibet, where he becomes a<br />tutor and friend of the Dalai Lama.<br />The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T. E. Lawrence.<br />.
Anyone who has seen the film “Lawrence of Arabia” knows<br />this story: An eccentric British ... who ... in Arabia ... Lawrence<br />had many traumatic experiences ..., including a stay in a<br />Turkish prison, that transformed him from an eccentric British<br />scholar into a legendary figure whose exploits helped transform<br />the Middle East in a way that is still reverberating today.<br />Beasts, Men and Gods, Ferdinand Ossendowski.<br />The incredible adventures of a Polish journalist in the<br />Nighttime World of Russia and Mongolia in the 1920s.<br />Ossendowski experiences the true darkness that lurks in the<br />hearts of men, unleashed in all its horror during the Russian<br />Civil War. His Threshold Crossing comes at the end of the<br />book, when he encounters a Tibetan Buddhist mystic who tells<br />him about the Shambhala ... Particularly interesting was his<br />account of Tushegoun, the “avenging lama” – a Dark Knightlike<br />fighting monk and sorcerer who struck terror in the hearts of his enemies.<br />The Long Walk, Slavomir Rawicz The unbelievable account of a Polish army lieutenant who escapedfrom<br />a Siberian Gulag in 1941 with six other people and proceeded to walk 4000 miles through the Gobi desert,<br />Tibet and the Himalayas to reach British India.<br />The hardships and adventures the party endures are a true Dark Knight's<br />journey that should inspire anyone on this path. The 2010 film<br />The Way Back is based on this story.<br />The Falcon and the Snowman and The Flight of the Falcon<br />No Surrender: My Thirty-Year War, by Hiroo Onoda<br />Page 114<br />The Dark Knight Mind<br />MOVIES<br />Batman Begins<br />The Dark Knight<br />The Dark Knight Rises<br />The Shadow<br />Bourne Identity<br />…
.<br />Page 115<br />NOTES<br />Dark Knight. Master of Darkness. Dark Avenger. Dark Jedi.<br />Black Hat. Shadow. Batman. Phantom. Punisher. There have<br />been many names for individuals we call Dark Knights in<br />fiction and in fact, but they all refer to the same breed of men.<br />In history, there are many examples of real orders of Dark<br />Knights: samurai, ninja, Hashashin, holy warriors, Knights<br />Templar, Shaolin monks, old Western lawmen, bounty hunters,<br />special forces soldiers, snipers, ... and untold other warriors,<br />known and unknown, who faced the darkness within their own<br />souls and the souls of others, conquered their fears, and became<br />something more than ordinary men.<br />Four Gates to Freedom (ninja): courage, power, clarity of<br />vision, zest for life (spirit)<br />Initiations to pass through four gates:<br />Walking on coals (fear)<br />Finding a treasure in a hidden cave (power)<br />Jumping into an abyss (clarity)<br />Wilderness vision quest (spirit)<br />THE DARK KNIGHT SPIRITUAL JOURNEY<br />The following was written by a Dark Knight ...( the esoteric<br />side of the Dark Knight’s Journey)<br />Page 116<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />.
The Dark Acolyte must journey to a place mystics call the Dark<br />Land: a spiritual realm accessible from the depths of your soul,<br />where you’ll encounter the things you most fear, hate and shun.<br />The Dark Land is a mysterious, elusive place not found on any<br />map; entrances to it normally only appear after great personal<br />traumas and trials.<br />The Dark Knight’s journey begins with your entrance into the<br />Dark Land, via the Traumatic Experience that begins your Dark<br />Awakening. The rest of your journey is about learning what<br />you can in that pathless land, finding a way out, ascending to<br />the Realm of the Immortals, and bringing your knowledge of<br />both realms back to the Daytime World.<br />Note that unlike religions like Christianity or Islam, in the Dark<br />Knight Path you do not end up in Hell or Paradise depending<br />on your conduct in the mundane world. Rather, you begin in<br />the mundane world, pay a visit to Hell (the Dark Land), ascend<br />to the heavens (the Realm of Heroes), return to earth (the<br />Daytime World) as a demigod, then retire and dwell for eternity<br />in the Realm of Heroes.<br />Ninjas<br />In Batman Begins , Bruce Wayne received his Dark Knight<br />training from “The League of Shadows,” an ancient order of<br />ninjas based somewhere in the mountains of East Asia. And<br />this is fitting, because historically, ninjas are perhaps the<br />closest thing to archetypal Dark Knights: shadow warriors,<br />masters of martial arts, stealth, deception, theatricality,<br />resilience and fear. ...<br />Ninjas practiced kyojitsu: the art of deception. The idea of<br />kyojitsu is to control your opponent’s perceptions, to create<br />illusions that induce him to act in predictable ways. This allows<br />you to anticipate their responses, and counter them. Kyojitsu<br />might be as simple as a feint in hand-to-hand fighting, and as<br />complex as a ... in a war.<br />Page 117<br />Notes<br />Kyojitsu served another vital purpose for the ninjas: it gave<br />them a larger-than-life reputation, as superhuman, supernatural<br />warriors capable of doing the impossible. Even today, centuries<br />after their heyday, we see the legend of the ninjas continue to<br />grow. Surely every aspiring Dark Knight legend can learn<br />much from the ninja masters of deception!<br />BRUCE WAYNE’S JOURNEY (NOTES)<br />Trauma: parents killed<br />Awakening: reality of crime and corruption in Gotham<br />Leaving Daytime World: Bruce travels world<br />Meeting Mentor: meets Ra’s al Ghul<br />Crossing Threshold: travels to LoS monastery<br />Purging Fear: trial of darkness and bats<br />Test of Commitment: executing criminal<br />Transcending Training: escapes the monastery<br />.
Revelation of Symbol: sees bat, becomes Batman<br />Developing Persona: batman costume, gadgets, etc.<br />Applying Knowledge: begins fighting crime in Gotham<br />Great Test: defeat major foe<br />PERSONAL TRANSFORMATIONS<br />The Dark Knight’s journey can be described as a series of<br />personal transformations, from less powerful and awakened<br />states of being to more powerful and awakened ones.<br />Sleeper:<br />Most of us begin our journey as “sleepers”: people who live<br />according to the conditioned values and myths of the society in<br />which they are born. They<br />Sleeper -> Adventurer -> Warrior -> Magus -> Legend<br />Page 118<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />DARK KNIGHTS IN FICTION<br />The Dark Knight Path is inspired first and foremost by the<br />great “dark heroes” and “dark avengers” of fiction. Batman is<br />the most obvious of these, and the first one to actually be<br />referred to as a Dark Knight. In particular, we model ourselves<br />on Batman of the “Dark Knight” movie trilogy:<br />Batman<br />Begins, The Dark Knight, and the Dark Knight Rises<br />. This<br />masterful series brought the Dark Knight’s journey to<br />cinematic life, and gave the world a powerful new myth for our<br />time: the Legend of the Batman.<br />The Batman comics that inspired the films are another source<br />of inspiration: the original dark avenger from the 1940s,<br />invented by ...; the dark detective and ... from the Denny<br />O’Neil/ Neal Adams comics of the 1970s; the darker, edgier<br />Batman of Frank Miller’s “Legends of the Dark Knight” ... in<br />the 1980s and continuing to the present. ...<br />The Shadow is another important fictional Dark Knight worth<br />studying, since he was such a clear inspiration for the Batman.<br />Like the Caped Crusader, the Shadow wears a dark cloak and<br />masks his face; he uses fear, theatricality and a larger than life<br />image to terrorize criminals; he spent years in the East among<br />hidden masters, studying mysticism and martial arts, learning<br />the secrets of hypnotism, invisibility and “clouding men’s<br />minds”, then putting these powers to work fighting crime. Like<br />Batman, the Shadow was a wealthy playboy by day, who<br />employed ingenious gadgets and had a secret “Sanctum”<br />beneath his mansion from which he directed his campaign<br />against crime.<br />There are many other fictional role models for Dark Knights<br />worth looking at. Mack Bolan of The Destroyer novels and the<br />Punisher of comic books are classic “dark avengers”, who had<br />loved ones murdered by criminals and turned themselves into<br />ruthless vigilante supermen. Many fictional spies and assassins<br />also fit the Dark Knight archetype: Jason Bourne, Matt Helm,<br />Quiller, ... Nicholas Hei of Trevanian's great novel Shibumi is a<br />brilliant example; … Eric Van Lustbader created several<br />.
Page 119<br />Notes<br />interesting Dark Knight characters that incorporate Eastern<br />training and mysticism, such as Nicholas Linnear of The Ninja<br />series, Jake Maroc of Jian and Shan and Michael Doss of<br />Zero. In a somewhat different vein, the Character “V” of the V<br />for Vendetta comics and movie provides an example of a more<br />political, subversive type of Dark Knight.<br />All these darker heroes have undergone life-changing traumas<br />become larger life than life figures; men who are willing to kill<br />and risk death in the service of their ideals. While their exploits<br />may be somewhat far-fetched and unrealistic for you to try to<br />imitate, they can still serve as powerful role models and<br />sources of inspiration on your path.<br />THE JOURNEY EAST<br />In the East, there is a long tradition of larger-than-life,<br />perfected men – Bodhisattvas, yogis, lamas, monks – who<br />trained themselves relentlessly in various esoteric arts and<br />acquired seemingly superhuman powers. ... The Journey East,<br />or myth of “Shangri-La”, is really a metaphor for the journey<br />inward – the quest to acquire inner, occult, mystical<br />knowledge, or seek perfection, in a way that is unavailable in<br />the West.<br />This surely explains why so many fictional superheroes have<br />travelled East, to remote temples and monasteries, where they<br />learned ancient secrets and acquired fantastic powers under the<br />tutelage of mystic masters. Many fictional Dark Knights ...–<br />Batman, the Shadow, Doctor Strange, Doctor Doom, Nicholas<br />Linnear ... – acquired their special knowledge in the East and<br />returned to the West to apply it in the service of an ideal. ...<br />LIFE LESSONS FROM BATMAN<br />(From http://www.slideshare.net/bright9977/10-life-lessonsfrom-batman)<br />1. Build a better you<br />2. Find what drives you<br />Page 120<br />Dark Knight Academy: The Path of Legends<br />3. The night is darkest before the dawn<br />4. Be the hero we needed<br />5. It’s what you do that defines you<br />6. Be prepared for any eventuality<br />7. Always be kind to people<br />8. Always think about others before yourself<br />9. Give and share knowledge freely<br />10. Humanity deserves to be saved<br />LESSONS FROM DARK KNIGHT:<br />.
http://www.slideshare.net/thinktank1987/10-lessons-i-learnedfrom-the-dark-kight<br />Have a vision for your life<br />Be a lifelong student<br />Be humane (doesn’t kill enemies or use firearms)<br />Synergize (team up when necessary)<br />Become an active citizen<br />Be the leader<br />Be the legend<br />Be the best detective (observe & study)<br />Think strategically (backup plans, preparation)<br />Keep on mentoring (your ideas will live on after you)<br />LESSONS FROM DARK KNIGHT TRILOGY:<br />http://www.slideshare.net/RogerGomes2/leardhips-lessons-tolearn-from-the-dark-knight-trilogy<br />Organizations should be built around ideas, not people<br />Build great, everlasting legacies<br />Actions matter more than intentions<br />Trust people with the truth<br />Trust the good in people<br />You need to risk failure in order to succeed<br />Page 121<br />Notes<br />Don’t let failure destroy you<br />Learn from mistakes<br />DARK KNIGHTS<br />Dark Knights are individuals who have devoted themselves to<br />an ideal and become more than men.<br />Dark Knights as fully realized spiritual beings who use<br />physical training and crime fighting as spiritual tests of their<br />material beings.<br />.
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