Download Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman PDF eBook free. Way of the Peaceful Warrior is the self-development, spiritual and meditation book in which the author reveals the secrets of living a fuller life.
way of the peaceful warrior book free download
Alex Ferrari 0:14 thank you so much for coming on the show. I've been a fan of the Peaceful Warrior since I was just a wee lad back in the back in the 90s, when I first read it for the first time, and I'm excited to talk to you. So I wanted to, I really love the story, which is in your new book, peaceful heart, warrior spirit. This kind of like the origin stories of the way of the Peaceful Warrior, which I was kind of floored, because you think it's like, oh, it's a blockbuster head. It just comes out the gate. It's all good. Can you tell the audience, first of all, where you originally came up with the way of the Peaceful Warrior?
Dan Millman 0:54 Sure. I was teaching how as a professor at Oberlin College, in physical education, teaching courses like mirthful movement, which was an act circus course, teeter board and type of walking and juggling, and so on acrobatics, but I also decided based on my background is, as you understand in martial arts, I decided to teach an overview of Aikido and Tai Chi. And I was going to call the course the way of the warrior, which makes sense. But but these are internal martial arts. They're not really aggressive. They're more receptive. So a light bulb went on. And I said, Why don't I call it way of the Peaceful Warrior. So it first appeared in the catalog at Oberlin. And years later, when I want to share something, I wasn't sure what, based on what I learned, especially from the first two mentors of the four that I mentioned in the in the memoir. After that time, I wanted to share something, I didn't know what to call it. And then I thought, Wait, why don't I call it the way in the peaceful warrior. So that was the origin of the title of the book, and every book has its own title story, how you come up with it. But that's it. Again, I view everyone as a peaceful warrior in training, because we're all seeking to live with a more peaceful heart a sense of serenity, equanimity in the chaos of the changes of everyday life, as many of us have noticed recently. So there are, you know, we need to, we're all seeking that. But also there are times we need to live with a warrior spirit, in terms of rolling up our sleeves, marching into life and facing the challenges and joys of course of everyday life. So that's, that's the balance that's implied by this idea of peaceful heart, warrior spirit. And that's why I view everyone as a peaceful warrior in training.
Dan Millman 7:25 Well, it's hidden in plain sight. That was the takeaway from the book, the idea that the fundamental theme, which came in later in the book, it was more of an adventure story is, you know, but the major theme was that we all spend about 90 to 99% of our time and attention in the conventional world, conventional thinking conventional truths, as we appropriately should, taking care of kids getting an education, working, and so on. But most of us, there's a thread of attention of possibility. And people find a different way, some going to church, some going to our temple, some exploring spiritual growth. And that is the transcendent, and it has a different set of truths, which introduces the idea of paradox. You know, the opening of a tale of two cities, it was the best of times it was the worst of times. Both are true, even though they're opposite. We can argue for either one. And so there are certain fundamental philosophical principles like does free will exist? Are we separate individuals are we all want is death real? Does time pass? These are questions that have very different answers in the conventional world, where one thing is true. For the transcendent, which is the big picture of life. It's as if we go from the the weeds down at the base of a mountain, and find ourselves on the mountain top where everything looks more beautiful. In the distance, we see a panorama. We sigh and take a deep breath, we see it all that it's okay. The way it's unfolding. That's the transcendental the big mind view. And so I was seeking this. And by the way, I might interject, Alex, that I believe we're all on a spiritual search, whether we would phrase it like that or not, whether it's conscious or not. Everyone is seeking more fulfillment, peace, love, understanding, and even transcendence, understanding what we're here for. And that's that why I thought it was appropriate to describe my own spiritual quest, not because I presumed everyone wanted to read about this Dan Millman character, but because it really speaks to our universal quest for this big picture sense of fulfillment or liberation.
Dan Millman 11:05 Sure, sure. Well, one can teach in a peaceful warriors approach to life without addressing this topic and thinking a lot about it. I, I experienced very visceral, objective fear of getting hurt or injured or killed. In gymnastics, when I was training, or any day in the gym, any moment of inattention could result in a serious injury. So I was quite familiar, it was a companion of mine. And yes, fear can obstruct whether whether it's in the spiritual realm or just everyday life, and there are many different kinds of fear. We have words anxiety, nervousness, insecurity, self doubt, these are all forms of fear that we face, even though it's not abject terror every day. But you know, it's funny, you see two people on a roller coaster, they're both screaming, one with excitement, one with absolute dread and terror. Why? Why are they screaming from different motives, because one is thinking, this is going to be so exciting. And the other is, I'm going to die. And so often the way we frame things and look at them affect how we how we view them. And, you know, there's a wonderful saying that I once read it to death is perfectly safe. Once we get past that, what is there to fear, but there's still things to fear, there was a Canadian study that rated public speaking as slightly higher than the fear of death. So we people fear, shame, and embarrass people not liking them. We have many different sorts of fears. But let's just get down to a boxing coach named custom moto once said, heroes, and cowards feel exactly the same fear, they just respond differently. And so maybe it's not about what we feel. Many people are afraid of feeling fear. But it's a part of life, I still feel fears of various sorts of various degrees in different situations. But I've learned especially from that fourth mentor of the four that I described in the book, the sage really taught me it's not about trying to control or fix our emotions, not feeling fear. And this phrase always seemed nonsensical, to me letting go of fear. How does one let go of fear? You know, if somebody is terrified in a situation, they're about to go up and out on stage to sing, but really ups the ante some and telling them just let go of fear? That's not very helpful.
Dan Millman 27:07 Well, secondarily, once the better we understand what we have in this moment, you know, it was either young Carl Jung or Fritz Perls, one of the psycho analysts or psychotherapist, or it might have been Joseph Campbell, who said often, many people drag the past behind them like a heavy black bag full of stone. And they drag it into the present. And they use it, whether they consciously would say they use it or not, as I've been traumatized, and that happened to me, and therefore I can't function very well now. And what we do carry with us, our bad habits, of perception of thinking of our traumas, may create a sensitivity to react rather than respond. We also carry tensions in the body. So I'm, and that can happen over time. fear based tensions, we don't carry fear in the body, some people say, but it's more of a metaphor, or a lyrical way of saying, but we do carry tensions, chronic stuff, which can block energy and limit energy in life, and limit movement. And because the nerves are all connected to our brain and the way we live life. So I do recommend most people explore bodywork of one kind or another, to start opening up the body. You know, even when we meditate. We're not just trying to quiet the mind. We're quieting the body. And when we quiet the body, the mind tends to follow their they interact so intimately. So let me just jump back a moment in and as I get to responding to your question, which is, I benefited from doing trampoline and gymnastics, which are warrior sports. They're sports in which you, you don't just lose a point or a match, you could lose your life, because the body's at risk. There are other other warrior sports of course, certain martial arts, deep sea diving, freediving, solo, rock climbing, all those kinds of things, bungee jump, being a racecar driving, sure, racecar driving. Yeah, we get the image, certain sports where the body's at risk forces you to focus completely on that present moment. So you learn to do that. But it's actually a beginner's practice because you forced to do it. The hardest point is doing it in everyday life, when you don't feel at risk in still remembering to focus on the present moment, the quality of this moment. So having done martial arts, having done gymnastics, but anyone who's played a musical instrument knows that sense of absorption, the zone, the flow and so on. And, in fact, if, when I'm with a group of people, I can take out some car keys, a ring of car keys and throw them to them and say catch, and as they reach out for those car keys, they're not thinking about the past. They're not projecting into the future, except maybe a moment. But they're reaching their like a cat, pure awareness. Because in this present moment, the mind is quiet. We can't think about anything. In this present moment, the moment we think about something, we're thinking about what we anticipate is going to happen, or what already happened. In the present moment. There's only pure awareness. It's a different way to live. But time flies when you're having fun when you're absorbed in something, Time does fly. So it's really a blissful feeling. Why do you think people like to play frisbee, they throw it and they're reaching for it. And they get these moments of freedom, where they're reaching, it's floating through the air, and then they catch it. And then they throw it, they watch where it goes. So we like to do sports and play musical instruments and do all sorts of things. To come back to that to revisit that moment of silence, that moment of truth, and get, some people call it a vacation from all the daily worries. So imagine living like that. Imagine every moment doing that 2ff7e9595c
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