After reading Way of the Peaceful Warrior in college, I retained some images and phrases - Let it flow and let it go; the man whose house had burned down & he was able to pick up the pieces without looking back. The idea of the peaceful warrior itself.

Last week, I found this book in a box someone had left by the road as they were moving. It was a quick and compelling read, and a good time for me to read it. I particularly appreciated the quotes at the beginning of each chapter. The three selves in the Kahuna tradition were a vivid illustration of the levels of work we need to do on ourselves at the base level to find any hope for insight.
This is a simple book about complex things- which turn out to be pretty simple. We must listen to and trust ourselves, and participate in our own lives, at their heart, now.

Sometimes when you read three books of the same author, and series in succession, the story can become predictable, and may even start to lose its meaning along the way. This however is not the case with the peaceful warrior journey, and in fact becomes more enlightened, and fulfilling with every spiritual truth that is revealed with your own deep understanding.
I hope that all who have dedicated themselves to a higher purpose beyond their own minds, read and share this with other souls, so the treasure that is held inside the heart will have a chance to open its eyes, and see the world for what it truly is, Love waiting to be discovered.

I truly enjoyed the first book that I read by Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior (and the movie is not bad either!), but this book was not as good. That being said (really written), I did like many aspects of this book. The only negative that I can think of is that while Mr. Millman is off in India and then Hawaii having all of these fantastical spiritual experiences, his wife and daughter who were living in Ohio at the time, had no idea where he was or if he was ever coming back. I know that he is sharing his spiritual experience with a wide readership because of these specific journeys, but it just makes me sad to think that such a spiritual man could leave his wife and daughter and search for his "spiritual family" instead of trying to remain in this reality and works things out with his family. Anyways, I believe that this is a very uplifting book in many ways and one that I know I will read again and again (especially for all of the precious quotes at the beginnings of chapters).

"The important thing is this: To be ready at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you could become." - Charles Dubois

BOOK EXCERPTS
- To really help people, you first need to understand them - but you can't someone until you understand yourself. Know yourself; prepare yourself; develop the clarity, the courage, and the sensitivity to exert the right leverage, in the right place, at the right time. Then act.

- I once knew a man who climbed up to a mountaintop and reached up to God. He stretched his arms to heaven and cried, 'Fill me full of light! I'm ready. I'm waiting!' The voice of God answered him, and said, 'I'm always filling you with light - but you keep leaking!'

- Until we clear these issues and master ourselves, our lives reflect a constant struggle to bridge the chasm between knowing what to do and actually doing it.

- Accept yourself and just serve. Serve out of duty until you can serve out of love - without attachment to the results. And when you'd be content to spend a hundred lifetimes - or an eternity - serving others, you no longer need to practice a way, because you've become the Way.

- The first step to change, she said, is accepting where you are right now. Completely accept your process. Negative judgments about yourself only hold the patterns in place...

- These men had nothing left to had. They weren't trying to look good or save face. They had dropped their social masks, allowing me to drop mine, too.

- Mama Chia, however, without missing a single limping step, walked over to a nearby starfish, bent over, picked it up, walked to the water's edge, and placed it in the water. She then walked back and picked up another little star, and returned the creature to the sea. Completely overwhelmed by the sheen numbers of starfish, I said, "Mama Chia, there are so many - how can what you're doing make any difference?" She looked up at me for a moment as she lowered another starfish into the sea. "It makes a difference to this one," she replied.

- The earth has been the school for most human souls, but our souls are not yet completely of this earth. We have been schooled elsewhere; there are things we just know without knowing how we know - things we recognize, as if this is a refresher course, and we are most definitely here on a service mission.

- This is what Mama Chia taught me: We cannot always do great things in life, but we can do small things with great love.

- And I understood that everything she had shown me came to this: Live until you die.

- ...the words of George Bernard Shaw came to me..."I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoin in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible -"

- Now I understood the Taoist saying "He who says does not know; he who knows does not say"

- There is no way to peace; / Peace is the Way. / There is no way to happiness; / Happiness is the Way. / There is no way to love; / Love is the Way.

- I remembered a story about Aldous Huxley. In his later years, a friend once asked him, "Professor Huxley, after all your spiritual studies and practice, what have you learned?" With a twinkle in his eye, Aldous answered, "Perhaps...to be a little kinder."
***

BONUS
Dan Millman Tedx talk:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MDL85fz...

To be honest, my opinion of this book wavered back and forth as I read it. Whilst it finished strong and I took away lessons that were both meaningful and insightful for me personally, I couldn't help but be a little perplexed for the first half of the book as I felt Dan could not have possibly been as naive borderline ignorant at that point in his journey (upon meeting Mama Chia) and throughout his initiation and path into finding the three selves and in evolving past the third floor after all he had already been through. It was well written. It was inspired and I am grateful to Hal and Linda Kramer and particularly to Dan Millman for putting the series out into the universe and into our collective consciousness. I am just not sure how well the two books mesh together. I would imagine the vast majority of readers myself included prefer Way of the Peaceful Warrior to Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior, but that only means that Dan Millman did such a brilliant job with the first book that ultimately the second would always fall shorter. Thus, my criticism shouldn't take away from what they achieved in sum total. I rate the first book 5 stars and the 2nd 4 stars (only just). Both are valuable at any rate.

I'm afraid that I have to agree with the people who think Millman discovered a large unexpected bill he had to pay.

I consciously forgave the first book - the unexplained gaps, the unbelievable connections, the convenient magic, the writing ... - because he really did have something to say about approaches to life.

But here ... Mr Millman seems to have fallen for his own publicity. He has written this second book out of the misguided conviction that we got through the first book because we cared about the adventures of D Millman Esq.
I, for one, do not.

By all means, tell us about chakras (although do it with more than some highly dramatic and magically-induced visions). Certainly, re-name Freud's Id, Ego and Super-Ego (and then tell us something useful about them). But do not imagine Mr Millman that we all bought this second book because we found your life story so rivetting, nor because your literary style was so captivating.

I would usually try to soften a critical review like this. Having seen though, the other titles in what is now a series, I suspect that the author reads these criticisms and cries all the way to the bank.

Both of these books had lots of wise stuff in them that I remember really enjoying at the time. I really thought the main character and the teacher were real people when I first read them. There is great general info in here for how to live a better and more fulfilling life and I think that was the point. I would need to re-read these to have a better say about them since it's been a good several years since I read them, but I still recommend reading to anyone, these were good thought stimulators.

Becoming the peaceful warrior equals being a more productive individual!

In Book #2 of series... Overcoming all life's challenges, as a peaceful warrior just makes more sense in today's challenging and competitive world.

I waited awhile before reading this. I guess I was not ready for the message at the time I bought it (September 2004). After reading this book, it's almost like a retreat experience. You remember how clear your head was during the retreat. When you came back to reality, however, things weren't as peachy as you'd hope.

This book is about living that experience of self-discovery every single day. It's about having peace, without ignoring or forgetting the troubles surrounding your life. It completes the purpose of why we need to understand ourselves, and how valuable that understanding is to your life.

Exlclellent ..I must thank the authorlllllpp for bringing ayer another book for I was so fascinated by his earlier one that was The way of the peaceful warrior " and I sort from buying one for me, have gifted few to my dearest friends and a youngll




Excellent ..I must thank the author for bringing ayer another book for I was so fascinated by his earlier one






T

#AwesomeBook Anyone whose been to HI or planning to go should read it!

What an incredible journey it is! From the beginning to the end this book is quite a fascinating adventure. An awesome continuation of the journey. How our daily life is our training ground. How to find peace in the heart and happiness in day to day activities. How to face fears and re-connect with nature. This book gives answers to some questions that arose in Way of the peaceful warrior. Way of The Peaceful Warrior was so good that it wasn't easy to keep up that standard in a sequel. I wasn't disappointed. In some way, this book is possibly better than the first book! It hit me deeper than I'd expected it to. I'm highly fascinated by the female spiritual figure Mama Chia and her simple way of life.

This book is largely focused on three selves. Someone who isn't familiar with meditation and chakras may find them some mere abstract ideas. There are complex things that aren't explicitly explained, so the message can vary from person to person. That's why I think it is essential to read Way of the peaceful warrior to understand this book better.