Favorite Quotes from Dan Millman’s book: The Way of the Peaceful Warrior
“Life is the only real teacher. It offers many experiences, and if experience alone brought wisdom and fulfillment, then elderly people would all be happy, enlightened masters. But the lessons of experience are hidden. - pg.14.
“… like this gas tank, you are overflowing with preconceptions, full of useless knowledge. You hold many facts and opinions, yet know little of yourself. Before you can learn, you’ll have to first empty your tank….clean up the mess will you?” – p.15
“Everything you’ll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body.” - p. 15
“You understand many things but have realized practically nothing.”
“Realization is three dimensional – a simultaneous comprehension of head, heart, and instinct. It comes only from direct experience.” – p.15
“No amount of knowledge will nourish or sustain your spirit; it can never bring you ultimate happiness or peace. Life requires more than knowledge; it requires intense feeling and constant energy. Life demands right action if knowledge is to come alive.” – p. 19
“That’s your problem – you know but you don’t act. You’re no warrior.” – p.20
“You may 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, extending compassion to those around you.” – p. 20
“The warrior acts…and the fool only reacts.” – p.20
“You had better reconsider your ‘importances’ if you are to have a better chance of becoming a warrior.” – p.21
“You’ll have to cleanse your body of tension, free your mind of stagnant beliefs, and open your heart to loving-kindness.” – p.21
“It is better for you to take responsibility for your life as it is, instead of blaming others, or circumstances, for your predicament.” – p.28
“When you become fully responsible for your life, you can become fully human; once you become human, you may discover what it means to be a warrior.” – p.29
“ the best performers had the quietest minds during their moment of truth” – P.41
“For the first time, I realized why I loved gymnastics so. It gave me a blessed respite from my noisy mind. When I was swinging and somersaulting, nothing else mattered. When my body was active, my mind rested in moments of silence.” – p.41
“You’re a prisoner of your own illusions – about yourself and about the world. To cut yourself free, you’re going to need more courage and strength than any movie hero.” – p.50
“Disillusion is the greatest gift I can give you.”….dis-illusion is literally a ‘freeing from illusion.’ “
“ you are suffering; you do not fundamentally enjoy your life. Your entertainments, your playful affairs, and even your gymnastics are temporary ways to distract you from your underlying sense of fear.” p.50
“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.” – p.51
“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.” – p.51
“ ‘Mind’ is an illusory reflection of cerebral fidgeting. It comprises all the random, uncontrolled thoughts that bubble into awareness from the subconscious. Consciousness is not mind; awareness is not mind; attention is not mind. – p.52
“…when troubling thoughts and memories arise without your intent, it’s not your brain working, but your mind wandering. Then the mind controls you; then the tractor has run wild.” – p.53
“all your emotions. They’re your knee-jerk responses to thoughts you can’t control. Your thoughts are like wild monkeys stung by a scorpion.” – p.53
“You are all too willing to change anything except yourself, but change you will. Either I help you open your eyes or time will, but time is not always gentle…”
“It’s time you began learning from your life experiences instead of complaining about them, or basking in them” – p.55
“your mind, not other people or your surroundings, is the source of your moods. That is the first lesson.” – p.56
“…everything is so clear, so simple and so funny” p.58
“physical symptoms tell you when your body needs to rebalance itself, to restore its proper relationship with sunlight, fresh air, simple food.” – p.72
“stressful thoughts reflect a conflict with reality. Stress happens when the mind resists what is.” – p.72
“when you resist what happens, your mind begins to race; the thoughts that assail you are actually created by you.”
“Your mind is full of waves because you feel separated from, and often threatened by, an unplanned, unwelcome occurrence. Your mind is like a pond into which someone has just dropped a boulder!” – p.73
**“When you understand the source clearly, you’ll see that the ripples of your mind have nothing to do with you; you’ll just watch them, without attachment, no longer compelled to overreact every time a pebble drops. You will be free of the world’s turbulence as soon as you stop taking your thoughts so seriously.” – p.73
“Remember – when you are in trouble, let go of your thoughts to see through your mind.” – p.74
“leaps of awareness….require time and practice. And the practice of insight into the source of your own ripples is meditation.”
“Silence is the warriors art – and meditation is his sword. With it, you’ll cut through your illusions.” – p.75
“My own body became a radiant prism, throwing splinters of multicolored light everywhere. And it came to me that 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.” – p.78
“Meditation consists of two simultaneous processes: One is insight – paying attention to what is arising. The other is surrender - letting go of attachment to arising thoughts. This is how you cut free of the mind.” p. 80
“You still believe that you are your thoughts and defend them as if they were treasures.” – p. 81
“Consciousness is not in the body; the body is in Consciousness. And you are that Consciousness – not the phantom mind that troubles you so. You are the body, but you are everything else too.” p.82
“Only the mind resists change. When you relax mindless into the body, you are happy and content and free, sensing no separation.” – p.82
“The body is Consciousness; never born; never dies; only changes. The mind – your ego, personal beliefs, history, and identity – is all that ends at death.” – p.82
“Your attention must burn…train your attention. Focus! Do or die!” – p. 83
“Sitting meditation is the beginner’s practice. Eventually, you will learn to meditate in every action….surrender fully into daily life.” – p.84
“There are no accidents…Everything is a lesson. Trust your life. Everything has a purpose…” – p.96
“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.” – p.96
“It’s not your bad habits that count, but your good ones.”
“…your habits must become so strong that they dissolve those which are not useful.” – p.109
“What comes out of your mouth is as important as what goes into it.”- p.113
“Let feelings flow, then let them go.” – p.123
“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.” – p.125
“It’s better to make a mistake with the full force of your being than to timidly avoid mistakes with a trembling spirit.” – p.126
“I have no compulsions or habits. My actions are conscious, spontaneous, intentional, and complete.” – p.126
“Old urges continue to arise, but urges do not matter; only actions do. A warrior is as a warrior does.” – p.129
“did you mourn your son before he was born?….Well then, you need not mourn for him now. He has only returned to the same place, his original home, before he was ever born.” – p. 130
“Death is not sad; the sad thing is that most people don’t really live at all.” – p.131
“Satori occurs when attention rests in the present moment, when the body is alert, sensitive, relaxed, and the emotions are open and free.” – p. 145
“An expert dedicates his life to his training with the purpose of winning competitions.”
“The master dedicates his training to life.” – p.152
“you can control your efforts, not outcomes. Do your best; let God handle the rest.” – p.152
“now it’s time to lose your mind and come to your senses once again.” – p.157
“Every infant lives in a bright Garden where everything is sensed directly, without the veils of thought – free from beliefs, interpretation, and judgements.” – p.157
“The birth of the mind is the death of the senses” – p.158/159
“You became bored with things because they only exist as names to you. The dry concepts of the mind obscure your direct perception.” – p.159
“You’ve ‘seen it all before’; it’s like watching a movie for the twentieth time. You see only memories of things, so you become bored, trapped in the mind. This is why you have to ‘lose your mind’ before you can come to your senses.” – p.159
“You are rich if you have enough money to satisfy all your desires. …cultivate a simple lifestyle of few desires; that way you always have enough money.” – p.161
“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
“whenever your attention begins to drift off to other times and places, I want you to snap back. Remember, the time is now and the place is here.” - p..162
“I had finally released my expectation that the world would fulfill me; with that, my disappointments had vanished…..I had fewer illusions to defend” – p.163
“the mind is like a phantom that lives only int he past or future. Its only power over you is to draw your attention out of the present.” – p.164
“Don’t let anybody or anything, least of all your own thoughts, draw you out of the present.” – p.166
“Your business is not to ‘get somewhere’ – it is to be here.”
“Just keep your attention in the present moment…This is freedom from suffering, from fear, from mind. When thoughts touch the present, they dissolve.” - p.166
“It doesn’t matter what you do, only how well you do it.” – p.168
“The Peaceful warrior’s way is not about invulnerability, but absolute vulnerability – to the world, to life, and to the Presence you felt.”
“a warrior’s life is not about imagined perfection or victory; it is about love.”
“Love is the warrior’s sword; wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death.” – p.178
“Better to live until you die” – p.179
“I am a warrior, so my way is action. I am a teacher, so I teach by example.” – p.179
“embody what you teach, and teach only what you have embodied” – p179
“You don’t have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason – or you never will be at all.” – p.185
“Enlightenment is not an attainment; it is a Realization. And when you wake up, everything changes and nothing changes. If a blind man realizes that he can see, has the world changed?” – p.187
“”Happiness is not just something you feel – it is who you are.” – p.193
“Act happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.” – p.193
“Feelings change… Sometimes sorrow, sometimes joy. But beneath it all remember the innate perfection of your life unfolding. That is the secret of unreasonable happiness.” – p.193
“All the people of the world…are trapped within the Cave of their own minds. Only those few warriors who see the light, who cut free, surrendering everything, can laugh into eternity.” – p.196
“All searches, all achievements, all goals, were equally enjoyable, and equally unnecessary.” – p. 199
**“I had lost my mind and fallen into my heart.” – p.199
“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 far 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 humour. Don’t worry, you are already free!” – p.201
, and a pile of baby shampoos thieved from various hotels throughout North America, old toothbrushes, lots of Q-tips, hair jel, scarily OLD eye shadow, lipsticks, face cream –still smells…kinda okay?
Motivate your Kid – Great site for Parents and Caregivers!
Parenting From HEART
