Way of the Peaceful Warrior, a Book That Changes Lives is the first of twelve self-help books written by Dan Millman. Prior to becoming a writer, Millman's professional background was gymnastics and teaching, as was that of his lead character. This book is a fictional autobiography, which he categorized in an interview with David Cohen as "inspired by true events".
Plot Summary:
The story is that of a young Dan Millman, a gymnast in his first year at UC Berkeley. He meets a mystical old man who works the graveyard shift at a nearby gas station. Dan names this mysterious attendant Socrates because he never gives a straight answer. Socrates has special powers that get Dan's interest, such as the ability to jump tall buildings like a cat. He tells Dan that he must learn the way of the peaceful warrior. Socrates becomes his mentor and Dan begins spending his evenings at the gas station.
Dan asks Socrates lots of questions in between servicing customers. Socrates often calls him a fool, answering questions with parables and fables from around the world. Occasionally, to make an especially difficult point, Socrates will touch Dan and take him on Ebenezer Scrooge style journeys in super-real waking dreams. Each time something changes in Dan's knowledge of reality and himself. He sees himself as part of all consciousness and the connections between him and the greater universe.
Socrates demands discipline from Dan and Dan's focus begins to steer away from academics and his gymnastic abilities to inner growth. Socrates warns Dan he has a rough path ahead and sure enough, Dan's leg is shattered in a motorcycle crash. Nonetheless, with the help of Socrates and a mysterious yet delightful woman named Joy, he makes a rapid recovery and manages to win the National Collegiate Championships for his team. He discovers that the path to the championship was the true victory.
In the end, Dan has learned much about satori and yet is still seeking answers. Socrates sends him away. Dan goes on to live his life after college in the way most of us do, getting caught up in the grind and moving farther and farther away from the truths learned during his time with Socrates. He leaves his settled life and scours the world for other teachers, never quite getting it.
Socrates returns to him years later in the wilderness and takes him on one last journey. Dan experiences his own death, and then sees his body decompose and recycle back into the ecosystem, feeding the soil, the plants, and the animals. He is all of it and all of it is he. He sees the insignificance of each individual life and knows that after death he will go on as part of the oneness. Socrates passes on his journal and tells Dan to become a teacher, then disappears like Obi Wan Kenobi but with a fantastic light show. Dan finds Joy, both figuratively and literally, and heads happily for a new future.
Key Concepts:
The difference between mind and body/thought and action is a key topic in this book. Socrates tells Dan to stay in the present because action and the body are always in the present. Past and future exist only in the mind. The mind only distracts from the present. (170) "Mind is an illusory outgrowth of basic cerebral processes. It is like a tumor. It comprises all the random, uncontrolled thoughts that bubble into awareness from the subconscious." (62) This powerful statement affected me strongly. I had always thought of mind as defining who a person is but now I see it may be more like the incessant questions and chatter of a child in the backseat of a car on a long trip. The body is closer to reality, being the only truth in the moment. Like Aristotle, Socrates taught that action is what you are. You are what you do, not what you think.
The simplest message of the book is to be happy, for no reason. Socrates does not tell Dan how to be happy, he just tells him to be happy. A warrior is happy without reason. (197) Enjoy every moment because there are no ordinary moments the only reality is right now. Unfulfilled desires and expectations are the cause of suffering. When Dan let go of his "expectation that the world could fulfill" him, his disappointments also disappeared. (169) "The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less." (168)
"Life is not suffering; it's just that you 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." (61) The trick is to always go with the flow, get into harmony and practice the techniques of nonresistance. "Never struggle with anyone or anything. When you are pushed, pull; when you are pulled, push. Find the natural course and bend with it; then you join with nature's power." (152)
Another powerful concept was a Zen related discounting of words, labels and symbols. We see things and immediately label them, explaining them away. We need to become more childlike, to see things with the clarity and openness of seeing them for the first time. When we name something, we curb its nature, we control it, and we stop wondering about it. Everything is seen "through a veil of associations about things, projected over a direct, simple awareness." (166)
Most of Way of the Peaceful Warrior deals with the concept of paying attention to the now, being aware of and happy in the present moment. There are many parallel concepts to Zen Buddhism, such as the emphasis on experience and the low value placed upon words and traditional learning. Actually, this whole book was very Zen in nature, with many repeated and circular stories and themes, yet without an obvious set of rules or principles to memorize and follow.
Millman explains the Zen Satori concept as: "Satori is the warrior's state of being; it occurs at the moment when the mind is free of thought, pure awareness; the body is active, sensitive, relaxed; and the emotions are open and free." (151) Socrates illustrated the concept by throwing a knife at Dan, focusing him on the truth of the moment. He teaches Dan that the "right use" of sports, art, music, and other forms of creative expression "is to focus your full attention and feelings on your actions; then you will achieve satori." (151) Bringing this practice into every moment of daily day life is the final step, living in satori all the time.
Review:
I did not care much for the "Peaceful Warrior" title because it seems designed to appeal to weekend warriors. I was not too terribly impressed with the story and I found Socrates' powers implausible and too much of a deus ex machina. Each time Socrates touched Dan and gave him some sort of astral hallucinatory experience I got disgusted and had to put the book down.
Aside from that, I really enjoyed the content of this book and look forward to reading some of his other ones. Particularly significant to me was the emphasis on movement, on right action, and being in the present with the body. Millman's descriptions of satori ring true because I remember having those moments of perfect body knowledge knowing something through experience. Even though I am far from having a strict physical regimen, I crave the discipline and know in my heart of hearts that I will be happy when I begin to push myself again. This is an example of a concept that is easy to understand but difficult to implement. I have never been an athlete but becoming athletic is on my list of things to do before I'm 35 and this book was wonderfully motivating on that front.
These concepts had the most value for me: Do not try to be happy, just be happy. Take a vacation from the mind. Spend some quality time with the body. Reality is now. The body is now. Mind is irrelevant. Action is now. Action is who you are. You are what you do. Being is not thinking. Thinking is not doing. Do not fight. Strive. Train.
The ego does not survive death. There is only one shot at this life with this body and individuality. Use time well; there is no do over. There is also no pressure; stress is something the mind makes up. There will always be the right amount of time if there is the right amount of effort. Live well. Be happy.