Way Of The Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives (2006) - Plot & Excerpts
The first realization of a warrior is not knowing.My ignorance is based on this understanding. Your understanding is based on ignorance. This is why I am a humorous fool, and you are a serious jackass.Everything has a purpose, Danny; it‘s for you to make the best use of it.It's just one of the body's changes. When it happens, it happens. The warrior neither seeks nor flees from death.Reading the future is based on a realistic perception of the present. Don't be concerned about seeing the future until you can clearly see the presentKnowledge is not the same as wisdom. Wisdom is the application of knowledge at the right time.One is insight, the willing of attention, the channeling of awareness to focus precisely on what you want to see. The other process is surrendering, letting go of all arising thoughts. That is real meditation; that is how you cut free of the mind.Ultimately, you will learn to meditate your every action.Because your greatest fear is death and your deepest craving is survival. You want Forever, you desire Eternity. In your deluded belief that you are this 'mind' or 'spirit' or 'soul', you find the escape clause in your contract with mortality. Perhaps as 'mind' you can wing free of the body when it dies, hmm??Fear and sorrow inhibit action‘ anger generates is. When you learn to make proper use of your anger, you can change fear and sorrow to anger, then turn anger to action. That‘s the body‘s secret of internal alchemy.The right use of gymnastic to focus your full attention and feeling on your actions; then you will achieve satori. Gymnastics draws you into the moment of truth, when your life is on the line, like a dueling samurai. It demands your full attention: satori or die!?And I felt a growing power, a wave of fury at all those who said I'd never perform again. My passion turned to icy calm. There, in that moment, my fate and future seemed in balance. My mind cleared. My emotions surged with power. Do or die.Warriors, warriors we call ourselves. We fight for splendid virtue, for high endeavor, for sublime wisdom, therefore we call ourselves warriors. — Aunguttara Nikaya a Buddhist scripture.That was to develop your will, you see, and to give your instincts a refresher course. And we can say that habit itself--any unconscious, compulsive ritual--is negative. But specific activities-smoking, drinking, taking drugs, eating sweets, or asking silly questions are bad and good; every action has its price, and its pleasures. Recognizing both sides, you become realistic and responsible for your actions. And only then can you make the warrior's free choice--to do or not to do.Responsibility means recognizing both pleasure and price, making a choice based on that recognition, and then living with that choice without concern.So whether or not my behavior meets your new standards or not, it should be clear to you that I have mastered all compulsions, all behavior. I have no habits; my actions are conscious, intentional, and complete.?It was over; I was through being a slave to random impulses.Why I call myself a Peaceful Warrior? Because the real battles we fight are on the inside.Find your answers from inside.Events may create physical pain but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is? the only problem in your life is your mind's resistance to life as it unfolds.Never struggle with anyone or anything. When you’re pushed, pull; when you’re pulled, push.Granted that you may, in fact, experience the mind of a warrior on occasion; resolute, flexible, clear, and free of doubt. You can develop the body of a warrior, lithe, supple, sensitive, and filled with energy. In rare moments, you may even feel the heart of a warrior, loving everything and everyone who appears before you. But these qualities are fragmented in you. You lack integration. My task is to put you back together again, Humpty.There are no ordinary moments.This moment is the only thing that matters.Where are you? HereWhat time is it? NowWhat are you? This moment.The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination.If you have enough money to satisfy your desires, Dan, you are rich. But there are two ways to be rich: You can earn, inherit, borrow, beg, or steal enough money to meet expensive desires; or, you can cultivate a simple lifestyle of few desires; that way you always have more than enough money.The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.Wake up! Wake up! Soon the person you believe you are will die - so now, wake up and be content with this knowledge: there is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! Love is the only reality of the world, because it is all ONE, you see. And the only laws are paradox, humor, and change. There is no problem, never was, and never will be. Release your struggle, let go of your mind, throw away your concerns, and relax into the world. No need to resist life; just do your best. Open your eyes and see that you are for more than you imagine. you are the world, you are the universe; you are yourself and everyone else too! It's all the marvelous Play of God. Wake up, regain your humor. Don't worry, just be happy. You are already free!I looked aimlessly at the clouds below, drained of ambition. All these years I had been sustained by an illusion--happiness through victory--and now that illusion was burned to ashes. I was no happier, no more fulfilled, for all my achievements.Finally I saw through the clouds. I saw that I had never learned how to enjoy life, only how to achieve. All my life I had been busy seeking happiness, but never finding or sustaining it.
This review is for my personal journal not for you to read so feel free not to read this : These are more rambling notes and observations for me to reflect on in the future. As far as the writing , dialogue , character development and interaction , this book is lacking. It was very difficult for me to get through what should`ve been a very quick read. I didn`t really enjoy the characters at all and rarely empathized with them even when confronted with obvious universal "situations" we all have been in. I blame the authors lack of skill at this moment in his life ....he apparently wrote 9 more books , and I must assume he got better. This book did have a few moments of clear thought , fair philosophy , and profound statements. They seemed to be interspersed just enough to make me continue reading. These documentations of insight were surrounded by trite , new-age pseudo-philosophy. I also get the feeling that the few parts of the book that had impactful messages were not written by the author but copied out of an eastern philosophy didactic. I could be wrong. I did find myself HOPING that some aspect of enlightenment or simple truth would be revealed to me , reminding me of my general unhappiness. Some good things to come out of the book and to add to my strivings for happiness... Paradoxically related to the above statement is that happiness is not something you obtain or search or strive for but something that you feel in the here and now - Be happy , don`t resist life . --Even this is weak as I reread what i just wrote. I feel jipped , I had HOPE that some wisdom was going to be related and I don`t think there was enough , especially considering the story one had to suffer thru to recieve this weak wisdom. There was a lot in this book that I just don`t see working for me at the extreme he reccomended. Also , some aspects that I feel are poor philosophy in a world of doers. He seemed to put down his education and reading and put more faith in the physical.. his vegetarian diet , meditation , tai chi , gymnastics and running ... I agree a good diet and good exercise is essential to a happy body/mind but there was just too much emphasis on it. The old man , almost died trying to duplicate the phsicality of his young student. I think working out the brain and expanding your education and understanding of the world has as much import as the physical , esp; the majority of us won`t be able to live a lifelong physically fit life such as this author envisions , and I don`t believe those people are necessarily doomed to unhappiness. The author also poopoos attaining goals , belittles business acumen as unimportant , calls out monetary accumulation as unnecessary etc; this combined with the confusion of , one moment concentrating on the self , and the next advocating altruism and the sacrifice of self. Ayn Rand would spin in her grave and screech about the dangers of such a philosophy in the "real world" we all live in. The spiritual silliness about dying and being in the trees and the birds and the wind , blah blah silliness is just spiritual fluff to mask the fact that death holds no answers. I must say he makes a compelling argument that it should have no sway either. Some of the negativity in here aside, I haven`t written this much of a review on a book in a while so there must be something to it. I would call it hope ...I have hope that one day I will find contentment. I think I do want to read some more self help books to see if I may glean some bits of wisdom that may help me in my goal. other positive thoughts - Happiness = satisfaction/desires - a simpler life and less expensive desires is one easy way to enjoy what you have Pg 133 - an attack on the Aristotelian philosphy of Moderation - compellingStoicism - seems to be an influenceConcentration - harped upon thruought the book- clear your mind of distractions and the silliness of everyday doubts , worries , etc; In the grand scheme , unimportant trivialities. Present moment awareness -- reminds me of some stuff I wrote on my website at
What do You think about Way Of The Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives (2006)?
I have no doubt that this book was life changing for some people, but for anyone who's already done any research into alternate spirituality, this read like "New age 101". For a complete newbie, this might be just what you need to open up new vistas of thought.Be aware though, This book only constitutes the beginning of a journey, and in my opinion, a very flawed start, but if it's what gets you asking questions, then so be it.Like most self help/new age spirituality novels, Way of the Peaceful Warrior tries to have it both ways, and ultimately fails. The lessons imparted by the book get in the way of the narrative, making the story structure very odd, with shallow characters, improbable plot elements and long boring sections of instructive passages.It also fails as an instructional book, as the story telling makes the lessons seem disconnected from reality, and often useless. The teacher character in the book isn't a real person who we can direct our questions at, and the book leaves many. I feel like the book gives an overview of spiritual line of thought, but is really skimpy on the details. It tells you what to do, but there is very little about "how" to accomplish it.It's very rare that a book is able to capably strike this balance; Sophie's World and Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit do the best job I've seen with this genre, but it's not easy trying to alternate religious teachings with an interesting story. Usually one of those elements suffers for it, but in this case, both of them felt lacking.If you are trying to explore your spirituality, this book might just help you out to start with, but if you're left feeling like you missed something, then by all means there is more to explore, and expect a lot of your later reading to contradict what you've picked up here.
—Robyn
I think the biggest warning sign for this new-age fluff piece is that it says in the title "a book that changes lives"...if a book has to say it in the title, it ain't true. Let the text of the book speak for itself, and it's effects on the reader - don't make it a "sell point". Lame.I *AM* a new-age, eclectic person and I gagged audibly at some of the tripe in this book. Yes, I finished it (yecch), but like a meal which one eats at the in-laws house as to not offend them, it left me with indigestion.What really ticked me off was that it's presented as a true story by Millman, but then he goes off on these hallucinogenic tangents that are NOT "real life" (yes, he may have experienced them allegorically), which just cheapens the whole thing as he passes them off as "god's honest truth" (I swear he really just jumped up on top of the gas station, really!)Not recommended for people SERIOUS about changing their lives. If you want to follow a vegetarian diet like Millman, read 'Diet for a New America' by Robbins. This is just a mish mash of personal stories embellished a LOT to make them INCREDIBLE and MEANINGFUL.
—Thomas
This book is really cool!! I had never really read an INSPIRATIONAL book before but my Pagan friend suggested that I read this one and wowzers!! I quite enjoyed it :)It's all about a guy (DAN) that thinks way too much (I can relate). He runs into a gas station attendant that just so happens to know the way of the peaceful warrior. And while on the Warrior Path the Dan learns how to let go, how to laugh, and what really matters.An inspiration :)My favorite line in the book was: "Dan, there are things you don't yet understand. For now, just think of death as a transformation - a bit more radical than puberty, but nothing to get particularly upset about. It's just one of the body's changes. When it happens, it happens. The warrior neither seeks death nor flees from it."Even though this is a "Somewhat True Story" I can really see how it can be considered "A book that changes life"Definately a good read for people of all ages, religeons, and backgrounds :)
—Greta is Erikasbuddy
