Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives

I can always tell when I have found a good book because either I finish the book in 24 hours of reading time OR my hand develops a mind of its own and begins systematically highlighting the important contents of the book. When I encounter a book that I do BOTH . . . then I know I have found a GREAT book worthy of typing up the important points that are in colorful highlighting. Since I see most people are giving positive reviews and I'm one to read the 5 and 1 star reviews to assist in making my choices, I have decided to paste the points that I highlighted in the book and those of you who find the information interesting and would like to read it in full context can buy the book. Terms and Reminders from "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" Body Wisdom - Everything you'll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body. Understanding - the one-dimensional comprehension of the intellect. It leads to knowledge. Realization - the three-dimensional, simultaneous comprehension of head, heart and instinct; comes from direct experience. Life requires more than knowledge; it requires intense feeling and constant energy. Life demand right action if knowledge is to come alive. You have to cleanse your body of tension, free your mind of stagnant beliefs and open your heart to loving-kindness. The best performers have the quietest minds during their moment of truth. Dis-illusion - is literally a `freeing from illusion'. In your habitual quest for achievement and entertainment, you avoid the fundamental source of your suffering. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free change, free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is a law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality. Life is not suffering; it's just that you will suffer it, rather than enjoy it, until you let go of your mind's attachments and just go for the ride freely, no matter what happens. Brain - directs the body, stores information and plays with that information. The brain's abstract processes are `the intellect'. Brain and Mind are not the same. The brain is real, the mind is not. Mind - an illusory reflection of cerebral fidgeting. It is all the random, uncontrolled thoughts that bubble into awareness from the subconscious. An obstruction; an aggravation; a kind of an evolutionary mistake in the human being; a primal weakness in the human experiment. I have no use for the mind. Consciousness is not mind; awareness is not mind; attention is not mind. When you can't stop thinking of that math problem or phone number, or when troubling thoughts and memories arise without your intent, it's not your brain working, but your mind wandering. Your mind - not other people or your surroundings - is the source of your moods. Observing how you become angry when you notice that another is not the least bit upset. Stressful thoughts reflect a conflict with reality. Stress happens when the mind resists what is. The thoughts that assail you are actually created by you. Stop taking yourself so seriously. When you are in trouble, let go of your thoughts to see through your mind. Silence is the warrior's art - and meditation is his sword. The highest purpose of the human body is to become a clear channel for this light - so that its brightness can dissolve all obstructions, all knots, all resistance. Attention - the intentional channeling of awareness. Real Meditation - to expand awareness; to direct attention; to ultimately surrender to the light of consciousness. Meditation consists of two simultaneous processes: 1. Insight - paying attention to what is arising. 2. Surrender - letting go of attachment to arising thoughts. This is how you cut free of the mind. Relax and stop acting so serious! (Do you see a pattern here?) You still believe that you are your thoughts and defend them as if they were treasures. Your stubborn illusions are a sinking ship. Let them go while there's still time. Consciousness is not in the body; the body is in Consciousness. You are that Consciousness. Body - is Consciousness; never born; never dies; only changes. Mind - your ego, personal beliefs, history and identity - is all that ends at death. Sitting meditation is the beginner's practice. Eventually, you will learn to meditate in every action. Sitting serves as a ceremony, a time to practice balance, ease, and divine detachment. Master the ritual before you expand the same insight and surrender fully into daily life. Emotions are not the problem. The key is to transform the energy of emotion into constructive action. Food: First, give your complete attention to what you are making. Second, love is one of the primary ingredients in everything you make. Purifying, regenerative practices are essential. You'll need to refine every human function - moving, sleeping, breathing, thinking, feeling - and eating. Of all the human activities, eating is one of the most important to stabilize first. That means your good habits must become so strong that they dissolve those which are not useful. Eat only what is wholesome and eat only as much as you need. The pleasure from eating is more than the taste of the food and the feeling of a full belly. Learn to enjoy the entire process - the hunger beforehand, the careful preparation, setting an attractive table, chewing, breathing, smelling, tasting, swallowing, and the feeling of lightness and energy after the meal. When you pay attention to all elements of the process, you'll begin to appreciate simple meals. Avoid foods that contain refined sugar, refined flour and meat as well as coffee, alcohol, tobacco, or any other drugs. Focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. Breakfast: fresh fruit meal with occasional yogurt. Lunch: your main meal should be a raw salad, baked or steamed potato and wholegrain bread or cooked grains. Dinner: should be a raw salad and, on occasion, lightly steamed vegetables. Make good use of raw, unsalted seeds and nuts at every meal. Find your thrills in fresh air, fresh food, fresh water, fresh awareness and sunshine. Let feelings flow; then let them go. Any unconscious, compulsive ritual is a problem. But specific activities are both bad and good; every action has its price, and its pleasures. Recognize both sides; then you can make the warrior's free and conscious choice - to do or not to do. Responsibility means recognizing both pleasure and price, action and consequence, then making a choice. My actions are conscious, spontaneous, intentional and complete. There are no ordinary moments! Treat every moment as special, worthy of your full attention. Satori - a Zen concept; occurs when attention rest in the present moment, when the body is alert, sensitive, relaxed and the emotions are open and free. Your task is to expand this clarity into your daily life. Satori must become your everyday reality. Satori is your key to the gate. Meditating an action is different from doing it. To do, there is a doer, a self-conscious `someone' performing. When you meditate an action, you've already released attachment to the outcomes. There's no `you' left to do it. You become what you do, so your action is free, spontaneous, without ambition, inhibition or fear. The master dedicates his training to life. House Rules reveal that you can control your efforts, not outcomes. Do your best; let God handle the rest. The birth of the mind is the death of the senses. Jesus of Nazareth once said you must become like a little child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The dry concepts of the mind obscure your direct perception. You have to `lose your mind' before you can come to your senses. There are two ways to be rich: 1) You earn, inherit, borrow, beg or steal enough money to meet all your desires; or 2) You cultivate a simple lifestyle of few desires; that way you always have enough money. A peaceful warrior has the insight and discipline to choose the simple way - to know the difference between needs and wants. The secret of happiness is found in developing the capacity to enjoy less. There is the way of the peaceful warrior and the way to the peaceful warrior. As long as you tread the way, you are a warrior. The way is now; it always has been. A fool is `happy' when his cravings are satisfied. A warrior is happy without reason. That's what makes happiness the ultimate discipline. Happiness is not just something you feel - it is who you are. Sometimes sorrow, sometimes joy. But beneath it all, remember the innate perfection of your life unfolding. That is the secret of unreasonable happiness.

I was given this book by my brother when I was a teenager going thru a rough spell and I loved it back then. Recently my son has been going thru some similar things and this book popped up in my memories. I ordered this for him and he read nearly the entire book the first night. He told me the next day how much he’s enjoying it. Made me happy to hear.

Everyone Needs this Read. Look Around It's Universe 25

Overall a good read, I decided it, would be good for a book club. I think with a conversation group it would work well.

I am always on the prowl for books with a self-help theme and a philosophical approach. Most of the time these are non-fiction books; however, sometimes they can also be a fiction story, which is exactly what this book (Way of the peaceful warrior: a book that changes lives by Dan Millman) is all about. Surprisingly, this esoteric book turned out to be a unique approach to living a full and meaningful life. The author (Dan Millman) relates a personal mystical experience and a meeting with a man who Dan calls Socrates or Soc for short. Dan is in college at the time and is also world champion gymnast athlete and one night when he could not sleep he wound up at a small all-night gas station. This is where he meets a man working the night shift who becomes his philosophical and spiritual mentor. The unique and original approaches to learning about what is really important in life are the lessons Dan is taught in sometimes subtle and unusual ways. The numerous conversations and feedback between Dan and Socrates makes this 217 page soft cover an interesting read. I had heard about this book some time ago but did not read it until recently. There also was a movie made based upon this book. This book is organized into three books. Book one covers “the winds of change.” Book two is about “the warrior’s training.” The final book (3) is about the final search and the gate opens. There is also information about the movie being made from the book. Even though I enjoyed reading this book I have some disagreements with some of the esoteric approaches in this book; nevertheless, I felt it was good enough to give 5 stars. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Zen Poetry Moments: Haiku and Senryu for special occasions).

Holy guacamole. . This. . Book. . About thirty pages in, I wasn’t sure. I pick my first read of the new year so carefully, so thoughtfully, and I kept thinking...should I set this one aside? What will that say about the next 364 days? <hello, superstition, no matter how nerdy> . I’m so glad I pushed on; ironically, it’s a metaphor for its message: keep searching, don’t give up, you are all that you surround yourself with, be in the moment, the search for happiness is fruitless if you are never to realize that you already have the key to that door... . As a graduate of a small, Catholic university, the existentialistic, winding manner of the writing was oddly comforting. The Jesuits do love their (mandatory) philosophy and theology classes, you know. . Reminiscent of The Shack, Dan Millman threw in bits of vision quests and Mr. Myogi for good measure. “Wax on, wax off...” . Bottom line? I’m so glad this was book 1 of 2019. It was precisely what I needed at precisely the right moment. . “Life is not a private affair. A story and its lessons are only made useful if shared.” . “Only the supremely wise and the ignorant do not alter.” -Confucius . “Life is not suffering; it’s just that you will suffer it, rather than enjoy it, until you let go of your mind’s attachments and just go for the ride freely, no matter what happens.” . “There are no accidents, Danny. Everything is a lesson. Trust your life. Everything has a purpose, a purpose, a purpose...Let the pain purify your mind and body. It will burn through many obstructions...A warrior doesn’t seek pain, but if pain comes, he uses it.” . “‘When you sit, sit; when you stand, stand; whatever you do, don’t wobble.’ Once you make your choice, do it with all your spirit.” . “...the House Rules reveal that you can control your efforts, not outcomes. Do your best; let God handle the rest.” . “Love is not something to be understood; it can only be lived.” . “Better never begin; once begun, better finish.” . “There are no ordinary moments.” .

This book is purportedly based on the life of the author. It definitely shares the life in the world we know that Dan Millman lived / lives. He was a world class gymnast who taught at the places mentioned in the book and who experienced the trauma that affected the main character of the story. He is married to a woman named Joy. The character of the story, however, goes through very dramatic transformations that I doubt most of us will ever have the chance to see. The spiritual journey is a lifelong journey. However, I’ve heard of no one who has had experiences like the Dan Millman of this story. Do we have teachers? Yes. Do we have unexpected, otherworldly experiences? Sometimes. Do we have someone who touches our temples and takes us to completely different dimensions, not once, but repeatedly? Eh, not in my world. Let me know if it’s in your world and, if so, how you stumbled into it. I’d love to experience it first hand. A lot of the stories Dan hears from his teacher are well known Zen stories. They are not unique to Dan’s story or Dan’s teacher, “Socrates”. Even the idea of leaping on or over tremendous heights are known in both Christian mysticism and Eastern mysticism. I suspect Mr. Millman has read a lot of the Asian mystical writings. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with making stories, either. It’s just that, for me, this didn’t work. Honestly, I only finished reading the book because I had nothing better to read and I was home sick. My guess is that if you are just starting reading any spiritual enlightenment type books, you’ll love this book. However, if you’re well read in this area or if you have been in a meditation practice for any length of time, you might find the book to be just so-so. This was a book recommended by Kindle for me based on the type of books I read.

This book makes you think and take introspection a bit deeper

At first, I thought joyce and socrates are imaginary characters of the protagonist but later I realized that they were his mentors. I enjoyed a s tory a lot. It questions us, how little, we interact with our inner world. This book inspired me further, to pursue the searching the truth in inner world.

I absolutely loved this book and read it in a weekend. Somehow I was drawn to it while searching on Amazon for something to read and I was not disappointed. It is beautifully written and easy to read while every minute thoroughly enjoyable. It gives you a great insight into what life is really about and what it means to be at peace with yourself and be truly happy. This book is a must.

An enjoyable fun read and I imagine if we each had our own physical life guide it probably would resemble the Socrates in this story more than our own image of what a guide would be. Dan's journey speaks of ours; our struggles and difficulties to see ourselves an the world differently. We put much in the way and it's a battle to break down the walls we build. Humor is much needed in our lives to overcome and this work provides much to ponder.

I have truly enjoyed reading this book, a friend recommended it to me and I am grateful they did because following this man's journey has helped me and inspired me.

So interesting book that everyone should read at least once in their lifetime, sooner might be better ;). It's planting the seeds to new ways of thinking and seeing the world/life differently