Living on Purpose

An Interview with Dan Millman

By Steve Collins

“We are all peaceful warriors in training in the spiritual boot camp known as planet Earth,” says Dan Millman. “It’s not a church one can join. In fact‚ if I ever start a church, I think I’d call it the Born Yesterday Church of Occasional Clarity."

Many people know Dan Millman through his popular book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior‚ first published in 1980. Last September, New World Library re-released the book in a 20th anniversary edition simultaneously with his 11th book, Living on Purpose.

The book evolved as a response to numerous letters from readers asking, “How do you apply these ideas from Way of the Peaceful Warrior to everyday life?”

Millman discovered teaching was his calling when he was a young gymnast. “I love to share what I learn with other people. No matter what I learned, only one person benefited. That led to writing.

Way of the Peaceful Warrior was intended to convey life’s larger picture and promise and the winding path toward awakening. Way of the Peaceful Warrior covered many aspects of life and Millman wanted an umbrella concept that would embrace them all.

Millman became a student of martial arts at a young age. This is still a major interest in his life. “When I was about nine years old my father enrolled me in a boxing class which didn't last very long because I didn’t like getting hit.” He studied Judo, Aikido karate and various kinds of kickboxing and later Tai Chi “in case I’m ever attacked in slow motion.”

His experience in martial arts led him to draw on the tradition of the Warrior. “Warrior lineage is not about winning or losing points in a game, as in competitive sports. It’s about life and death. Many metaphysically inclined folks are interested in ‘near death experiences.’ But they forget that this moment is a ‘near death experience.’”

Although we usually associate the term “warrior" with fighting, the Way of the Peaceful Warrior isn’t about fighting, except our inner battles (doubt and various kinds of fear-—self doubt, insecurity, etc).

Ancient warriors knew that physical skill alone was not enough; we have to integrate body, mind and spirit.

Every culture has archetypes, he says; Sage, Warrior, Trickster, for example. It’s important to understand what it means to live in the Moment of Truth.

In the in-depth tradition of Martial Arts‚ a Warrior is not merely a soldier. It’s about having a Warrior Spirit in a peaceful heart.

“It’s also about healing, about protecting life and great respect for life. It’s a way of spiritual growth - the Warrior/Sage or the Warrior/Monk,“ Millman says.

“Everywhere I look I see peaceful warriors. Only the most courageous souls come down to this planet in order to learn. We’ve all faced adversity in the gauntlet of daily life. That’s why I say Earth is a school for peaceful warriors.”

His newest book, Living on Purpose, is organized in a question and answer format using “House Rules.” He says in the book’s preface, “My education began the first time I asked Socrates [his “mentor” in Way of the Peaceful Warrior] a question. He shrugged and said ‘It’s the House Rule.’ It took me awhile to understand that Socrates meant the House is Life—The Tao—the Universe.

I wrote Living on Purpose to energize the reader’s psyche and activate their own wisdom. “One of the House Rules is ‘judge with compassion.’ It doesn’t say ‘do not judge’ because that’s not realistic.”

We all know that judgements come up and telling ourselves “oh no” doesn't help. All we end up doing is judging ourselves for judging others.

It’s only when we mistake our judgements for Truth (with a capital T) that we get in trouble. “We know from our own experience that when we’re feeling happy and good, we tend to act more kindly and expansively. When we’re feeling bad we do the opposite. It doesn’t excuse people’s bad behaviors, but whether they cut us off in traffic or speak to us negatively, we need to remember: there is a suffering soul right now.”

He says Living on Purpose is his most reader-friendly book. “I call it a potato chip book because people can’t really buy just one. If they buy it they find, ‘Oh I know some relatives that need to see this.’

Most books convey knowledge. Living on Purpose actually does something different. It conveys wisdom, which is how to act upon what we know.

These House Rules actually offer realistic guidelines to help us live with integrity and compassion in this world. All I can do is to remind people what they might have forgotten.

My life is certainly busy but it is also simple. I can only do one thing at a time. Living simply in a complex world involves focusing on the present moment as much as possible.”

Mark Twain once wrote, “I’ve had many troubles in this life, most of which never happened.” Also, whatever dilemma we have in our life, remember to trust the process of our life unfolding, he adds.

“Life gives us spiritual weights to lift and challenges to overcome in order to test us and teach us. We don’t have to pretend to like the challenges. St. Augustine said, ‘Lord, pray not for a lighter load but for stronger shoulders.’”

Steve Collins interviewed Dan Millman by phone from his home in Northern California. Millman's new book, Living on Purpose, was recently released by New World Library, which in conjunction with HJ Kramer, has also recently released a 20th anniversary edition of Way of the Peaceful Warrior. Steve Collins can be reached at hummingbear@juno.com.

Reprinted by permission of The Healing Path.

Contents | | Newsletters Directory | | AIHT Home Page