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Thread: Way of the Peaceful Warrior, fasting, vegatrianism/raw foods, internal arts, life

  1. #1
    brucelee2 Guest

    Way of the Peaceful Warrior, fasting, vegatrianism/raw foods, internal arts, life

    I recently reread Way of the Peaceful Warrior, one of my first and favorite spiritual books, and am now almost finished with a seven day fast, my longest ever (similiar to the one described in the book). I've quit smoking and want to change my diet now too, but I'm not sure whether or not I'll take it to the extreme of the book (just seeds, nuts, fruit, grains, and raw salads- no condiments) or if I'll just do something similar to the book with occasional meat/fish and also condiments and legumes. I think all this stuff and my bagua/internal arts training and spiritual pursuits really complement eachother. Just wondering if anyone else out there is into all this stuff.

  2. #2
    woliveri Guest
    Wow, I have never seen that book before. Thanks for mentioning it. So far my faviorite spiritual books have been "Live and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East" by Baird T. Spalding. A series of 6 books of about 170 pages each. Deals with pure spiritual and is EXCELLENT!!! Give it a try. I will give "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" a read as soon as I can find it.

    Life and Teaching of the Masters of the Far East
    By Baird T. Spalding

  3. #3
    brucelee2 Guest
    Thanks Woliveri, I'm gonna check if my library's got it and let you know how I like it and you do the same.

  4. #4
    o Guest

    Let's start a spiritual library list here!

    Here's an idea:

    Everyone can post their favorite spiritual-related books here and we can start a library. I think it would be very helpful for those seekers of wisdom.

  5. #5
    o Guest

    book 3 (1 and 2 above)

    A Brief History of Everything

    by Ken Wilber

  6. #6
    Qiman Guest

    Just Two of my Favorites

    Living Buddha, Living Christ
    By: Thich Nhat Hanh

    The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success
    By: Deepak Chopra

  7. #7
    old jong Guest

    Way.....

    Well guys.
    As I read this I felt a little funny.I looked at the callendar and saw 2001... not 1971!!! I think IMHO that the only real thing these books can do is;make their authors millionnaires!
    We should beware of these things and look at the cold reality of life for inspiration. the only truth is inside of you not in some book written by some exotic guru!
    Eat what you want!As for some " Laws "of succes.It is easy. do like them,start a sect and sell books and conferences!
    P.S. look at the drawings at the end of your peaceful warrior book and tell me if it is good to expand the chest like that! where is the chi from breathing like that?...That guy was a gymnast! He knows nothing about internal,external or whatever martial arts. He is only taking advantage of a certain current or fad toward the oriental or esoteric thing and making a lot of money out of it! Live YOUR life!

    C'est la vie!

  8. #8
    brucelee2 Guest
    Old Jong- My copy of the book doesn't have pictures in it, however, the focus of the book is not the internal martial arts or martial arts in general, nor to my knowledge is Dan Millman, in the book, supposed to be a martial artist, so I don't think that particular criticism is relevant. However, I do agree with you about not following gurus and ultimate inspiration/guidance coming from the self- any true teacher will always want to make him/herself obsolete, i.e., teach the student to teach him/herself. On the other hand, I believe there are legitimate 'ways' out there that can help people, be it zen or daoism or vegetarianism or NLP,(martial arts is also another way) and I believe these and other 'ways' have helped millions. Now that I think about it, using your logic one should never have a martial arts teacher, they should just fight 'in their own' way.

    I'd still like to hear if anyone out there is experimenting with fasting, vegetarianism/raw foods, etc. Some of my favorite books have been Mutant Message Down Under, Conversations with God part I,Emmanuel's Book (can't say how many times that books helped me when I've been depressed)...I've read so many I can't remember them all. As a matter of fact I've read so many and learned so many techniques (TM, Reiki, shamanism, Zen, Yoga, Chiqong, Visualization, Focusing...........) I am now in the process of rereading some old favorites and reading/learning some new ones so as to form a daily routine (hopefully one that's not too time consuming as I'm aiming to practice my bagua for 4 hours a day, though I'm sure they'll compliment each other.) For example, right now I'm reading Dianetics, Elements of Qaballah, Soul Love, and Secret Path. I'm also currently working with the Silva Mind Control Techniques. I just ordered from the library today Friendship with God, plus Unlimited Power (by Anthony Robbins) and another book on NLP. Anyone have any experience with Anthony Robbins stuff or NLP? It looks fascinating, though my initial response is to feel that the modeling and connecting to people stuff is a bit manipulative.

    By the way I just finished my first one week fast (master cleanse) and ate an apple, I wasn't even that hungry, I'm feeling pretty good.

  9. #9
    old jong Guest

    I stand corrected!

    It is not about internals m.a. at all but it sure would like to get the same audience!(no offense intended) the version of the book I had,has drawings of the author and his wife doing physical exercises,some kind of greco-roman chi-kung I presume!

    C'est la vie!

  10. #10
    dwid Guest
    Dan Millman does claim to have learned Aikido, and this comes up throughout the book. He also makes the claim that students who come to his 2 week summer retreat leave with the equivalent of like 6 months or a year of Aikido training. That's a hell of a claim. I enjoyed the book when I was younger, but have a hard time swallowing a lot of it now. It's sort of like the whole Carlos Castaneda thing. Millman likely invented his mentor to make his points in the book. He comes very close to admitting as much in the introduction. If you read on in the series, you will learn in Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior about his justification for leaving his wife and marrying one of his students when he later became a college instructor. Kind of puts his ethics in a questionable light.
    Anyway, when it comes to books on spirituality, I'd say it's best to avoid flavor of the month stuff and cults like Dianetics/Scientology. Having an open mind is one thing, but this stuff is obviously designed to capture gullible people in search of some power over their lives. Read stuff by people who walk the walk, like the Dalai Lama. Or go back to the original sources like the I Ching and old sutras of buddhism and draw your own conclusions. The trouble with so much of the crap that was written during the sixties and seventies is that it's infused with the hippy mentality that you can achieve great things without really having any discipline

    _________________________________________
    The way of the samurai is in desperateness. Ten men or more cannot kill such a man. Common sense will not accomplish great things. Simply become insane and desperate. - Hagakure

  11. #11
    DragonStudios Guest

    Millman and such

    Way of the Peaceful Warrior was and still is the book that puts all of the esoteric Eastern philosophies and practices into perspective for my tragically Western thinking mind. I had studied Zen, Taoism, Yoga, Taiji, Quigong, etc., but for some reason had trouble bringing it together until I read Way of the Peaceful Warrior. It's still a book I read in one sitting, and I thoroughly enjoy it each time.

    My favorite spiritual books (in no particular order):

    • Returning to Silence by Dainin Katagiri (Zen)
    • Zen Flesh, Zen Bones compiled by Paul Reps
    • Shambhala, the Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa
    • The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
    • The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff
    • Tao Te Ching by Lao Tse
    • Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain by Chungliang "Al" Huang
    • Integral Yoga Hatha by Yogiraj Sri Swami Satchidananda
    • The Art of War by Sun Tzu
    • Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
    • Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman


    Without going outside, you may know the whole world.
    Without looking through the window, you may see the ways of heaven.
    The ****her you go, the less you know.

    --Lao Tsu

  12. #12
    origenx Guest
    I've been experimenting with vegetarianism for the past ~4 months now. I eat primarily raw fruits/vegetables and nuts. Not 100% strict mind you - I admittedly "cheat" a little bit once in a while. But, no meat has been no problem and seems to be workin just fine for me.

    Note - I only recommend doing it when your body is ready and you naturally lose the urge for meat or whatever. Your diet should follow your body, not vice-versa.

  13. #13
    brucelee2 Guest
    Dragon Studios-
    If you loved Way of the Peaceful Warrior, I bet you'll also really like Mutant Message Down Under- it also has powerful spiritual ways in the form of a story, which is my favorite form- much more fulfilling than a 'how to' book. Incidentally, I traded emails with Mr. Millman recently and he said that Peaceful Warrior is not a 'how to' book- for that you should read his 'Everyday Enlightenment"- I ordered it yesterday from the library.

    As far as Dan Millman's martial arts abilities go, I know that he teaches them at his workshops- my point is that in the book his 'character' is not supposed to be an 'advanced' martial artist and in any event, that has little to do with the point of the book for me. To me the book is much more focused on enlightenment or how to live in this crazy world or whatever you want to call it but its not about fighting! I think just about everybody I lent this book to felt really inspired by it and that, to me, is the most important point- not whether its true, or Dan Millman is a great martial artist, or whatever. It works.

    Just out of curiosity, has anyone out there met Mr. Millman or taken one of his workshops?

    [This message was edited by brucelee2 on 01-22-01 at 01:12 PM.]

  14. #14
    8stepsifu Guest

    He has a website

    Anyway, Socarates was made up, he never leapt up onto buildings and joy is his secretary and they never knew each other through this Socrates that was actually a collaberation of several of his teachers one of whom he met in Berkly in the Sixties. I found this book along with all our other hundreds of MA books from the Sixties, 70's and 80's. (Some from the 1900's and 30's too) It was a good book. I read it a few times and for someone that hasn't really explored different ways of experiencing the world this book is a good eye opener. Personally I don't follow Dan Millman's path, I follow my own. Some days I'm a vegitarian, some days I like steak and beer, to each his own

    If your not bleeding, your not having enough fun.

  15. #15
    o Guest

    quoting--a side note

    A lot of people who post info include quotes. The most common ones are by Lao Tzu. I'm wondering what is the intention for this. I'm also wondering if the writer understands the quote and can explain it's literal meaning (not metaphorical).

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