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About Dan Millman



Daniel Jay Millman (born 1946) is an American author and lecturer in the personal development field. He is best-known for the movie Peaceful Warrior, which is based on his own life and taken from one of his books. Wikipedia

  

Quotes by Dan Millman

Dan Millman (quotes)

  • There are no ordinary moments.
  • Wisdom is the use of knowledge
  • The warrior acts, the fool reacts.
  • There are no mistakes, only lessons.
  • Your fears are not walls, but hurdles.
  • Accepting What Is, Finding Peace, Embrace
  • I had lost my mind and fallen into my heart.
  • The only laws are paradox, humor and change.
  • Freedom from mental distraction equals power.
  • Better never begin; once begun, better finish.
  • As you manage your money, you manage your life.
  • Today is today. But there are many tomorrows…
  • Dream big. Start small and then connect the dots
  • The birth of the mind is the death of the senses
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  • you can live a whole life time never being awake.
  • Life has three rules: Paradox, Humor, and Change.
  • Bad people don’t go to hell, they are already there.
  • In life, stress happens when you resist what arises.
  • When you lose your mind, you’ll come to your senses.
  • To be authentic literally means to be your own author.
  • If we agree on everything, only one of us is necessary.
  • It doesn’t matter what you do, only how well you do it.
  • Here and now…breathe and relax…in battle and in life
  • Live with a peaceful heart; cultivate a warrior’s spirit.
  • No need to feel brave or confident; just behave that way.
  • You have to lose your mind in order to regain your senses.
  • Be happy now, without reason – or you never will be at all.
  • We discover our character through decisions under pressure.
  • Your business is not to ‘get somewhere’ — it is to be here.
  • A warrior doesn’t seek pain, but if pain comes, he uses it.
  • The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination.
  • Aim not to win or succeed, but for excellence in the moment.
  • Responsibility is a grace you give yourself not an obligation
  • If you don’t learn the lesson the first time, they get harder.
  • You get no more and no less than what you believe you deserve.
  • Before you can see the Light, you have to deal with the darkness.
  • Choice means saying no to one thing so you can say yes to another.
  • Every athletic career, no matter how modest or lofty, is a journey.
  • Although motivation comes and goes, you can always rely on your will.
  • Stay present. You’ll always have time to worry later on if you want to.
  • Babe Ruth was the home-run king of his time, but also the strikeout king.
  • If you face just one opponent, and you doubt yourself, you’re out-numbered
  • While some of us act without thinking, too many of us think without acting.
  • Choice means giving up something you want for something else you want more.
  • Find the heart of it. Make the complex simple, and you can achieve mastery.
  • As we stop monitoring others’ opinions, we connect with our heart’s wisdom.
  • A warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does
  • Remember that life develops what it demands – the toughest path creates the
  • You’re a prisoner of your own illusions – about yourself and about the world.
  • To see where something leads, it’s best to wait until you’ve reached the end.
  • This moment deserves your full attention, for it will not pass your way again.
  • While you fear missing a meal, you aren’t fully aware of the meals you do eat.
  • You are a dynamic whole greater than the sum of your parts. By integrating your
  • Everything you need to know is within you. Listen. Feel. Trust the body’s wisdom.
  • Live in the Moment”, “Empty Your Mind of the Trash” Wisdom is the Use of Knowledge
  • If you want peace of mind I suggest you resign as general manager of the universe.
  • Life is not a private affair. A story and its lessons are only made useful if shared.
  • When in haste, rest in the present. Take a deep breath and come back to here and now.
  • Conscious evolution begins as we take responsibility for clearing our own obstructions.
  • You don’t have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.
  • Unless someone truly has the power to say no, they never truly have the power to say yes
  • Unless someone truly has the power to say no, they never truly have the power to say yes.
  • Action is stronger than subjectivity. No matter what you feel or think, you can still act.
  • Never struggle with anyone or anything. When you’re pushed, pull; when you’re pulled, push.
  • Life comes at us in waves. We can’t predict or control those waves, but we can learn to surf
  • Humor: Keep a sense of Humor, especially about yourself. It is a strength beyond all measure
  • Consciousness is not in the body; the body is in consciousness. And you are that consciousness.
  • Meditation is a valuable exercise, but eventually you have to open up your eyes and look around.
  • The hours of your life are the most valuable currency you will ever have. How will you spend them?
  • When you release your expectations that the world should fulfill you, your disappointments vanish.
  • The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.
  • Your fears are not walls, but hurdles. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquering of it.
  • Life is the only real teacher. It offers many experiences….But the lessons of experience are hidden.
  • If you want a kinder world, then behave with kindness; if you want a peaceful world, make peace within.
  • Words mean little unless you realize the truth of it yourself. And when you do, you’ll be free at last.
  • Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.
  • Do you have the courage for it? Do you have the love? If you have enough of one, you will develop the other.
  • It may be true that the unexamined life is not worth living-but neither is the unlived life worth examining.
  • If we lose touch with our heart’s wisdom, then no method avails; if we love, then nothing else is necessary.
  • The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.
  • The secret of change consists in concentrating one’s energy to create the new, and not to fight against the old.
  • To rid yourself of old patterns, focus all your energy not on struggling with the old, but on building the new.
  • When running up a hill, it is all right to give up as many times as you wish-as long as your feet keep on moving.
  • Looking back we see with great clarity, and what once appeared as difficulties now reveal themselves as blessings.
  • This planet is a divine school, and daily life a classroom. Our choice of teachers depends on what we need to learn.
  • everyone tells you what’s good for you. they don’t want you to find your own answers. they want you to believe theirs.
  • When we feel stuck, going nowhere-even starting to slip backward-we may actually be backing up to get a running start.
  • Enlightenment is not an attainment, it is a realization. And when you wake up, everything changes and nothing changes.
  • Everything you’ll ever need to know is within you; the secrets of the universe are imprinted on the cells of your body.
  • Allow rather than resist what arises in the present moment-inside or out. Let it be interesting rather than good or bad.
  • Embrace the higher truth that everything comes to pass exactly as it should. Find peace and wisdom by accepting what is.
  • Autumn leaves shower like gold, like rainbows, as the winds of change begin to blow, signaling the later days of autumn.
  • Don’t be like the preacher who thought about praying while making love with his life and thought about love while praying.
  • Our sense of self-worth is the single most important determinant of the health, abundance, and joy we allow into our lives.
  • Faith means living with uncertainty – feeling your way through life, letting your heart guide you like a lantern in the dark.
  • When we align our lives with spiritual laws, challenges remain, but we can approach them with arms open wide, ready to dance.
  • The seasons do not push one another; neither do clouds race the wind across the sky. All things happen in their own good time.
  • Stress happens when your mind resists what is…The only problem in your life is your mind’s resistance to life as it unfolds.
  • Refine your senses a little more each day; stretch them…your awareness will pierce deeply into your body and into the world.
  • Personal and collective awakening are one and the same – when a raindrop joins the sea, the sea also merges with the raindrop.
  • …when you resist what happens, your mind begins to race; the same thoughts that impinge upon you are actually created by you.
  • Faith is the recognition that Spirit works in, as and through each and all of us – through every person and every circumstance.
  • Faith is the courage to live your life as if everything that happens does so for your highest good and learning. Like it or not.
  • Life is a series of moments. The quality of attention and action that we bring to each moment determines the quality of our lives.
  • Of course not. He laughed. “Words mean little unless you realize the truth of it yourself. And when you do, you’ll be free at last.
  • A little bit of something beats a lot of nothing. Break the largest of difficult tasks into the smallest of steps and it can be done.
  • As a peaceful warrior, I would choose when, where and how I would behave. With that commitment, I began to live the life of a warrior.
  • People love miracle stories and dramatic moments of transcendence or transformation, and may then pursue their own dramatic “awakenings.”
  • A fool is ‘happy’ when his cravings are satisfied. A warrior is happy without reason. That’s what makes happiness the ultimate discipline
  • Willpower is the key to success. Successful people strive no matter what they feel by applying their will to overcome apathy, doubt or fear.
  • Money is neither my god nor my devil. It is a form of energy that tends to make us more of who we already are whether it’s greedy or loving.
  • Thoughts naturally arise. The point of meditation is not to banish thoughts but to make peace with them by realizing their lack of substance.
  • Faith does not rely on knowing anything with certainty. It requires only the courage to accept that whatever happens is for the highest good.
  • Money is neither my god nor my devil. It is a form of energy that tends to make us more of who we already are, whether it’s greedy or loving.
  • Carry your groceries, garden, and do other activities that keep you moving. You will add more years to your life and more life to your years.
  • There is no path to Happiness. Happiness is the path. There is no path to Love. Love is the path. There is no path to Peace. Peace is the path.
  • When you become fully responisble for your life, you can become fully human; once you become human, you may discover what it mens to be a warrior.
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  • My ignorance is based on this understanding. Your understanding is based on ignorance. This is why I am a humorous fool, and you are a serious jackass.
  • Sometimes sorrow, sometimes joy. But beneath it all remember the innate perfection of your life unfolding. That is the secret of unreasonable happiness.
  • When you begin your transcendental training, focusing your best efforts, without attachment to outcomes, you will understand the peaceful warrior’s way.
  • If you desire to dig a well to reach water, your efforts are more fruitful if you dig one 100-foot-deep hole than if you dig ten holes each 10 feet deep.
  • When we know deep down that we’re acting with integrity despite impulses to do otherwise, we feel gates of higher energy and inspiration open inside of us.
  • My life has been less like a light switch suddenly turning on, and more like a dimmer switch slowly turned up, over time, more in some moments than others.
  • The time is now, the place is here. Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for.
  • A jet plane cannot mow the lawn, but it can fly to distant destinations. Don’t worry so much about what you can’t do; just do what you can as only you can do it.
  • Simplicity has power. Founding our life on constructive, positive behavior is the simplest, most direct, and powerful approach I’ve ever found-simple, but not easy.
  • There are times to let things happen, and times to make things happen. Now is that time. You will either make things happen, watch what happens, or wonder what happened.
  • Sometimes I look back and think, “How did I write that? The book is smarter than I am!” I have never written strategically, but rather, followed the dictates of my muse.
  • Freedom from mental distraction equals power. Body mind masters eventually come to the realization that this and every moment, on or off the field, is the moment of truth.
  • So trust the process of your life unfolding, and know with certainty, through the peaks and valleys of your journey, that your soul rests safe and secure in the arms of God.
  • Sports and sex and movies are not inherently bad – But for you they’re addictions, not enjoyments. You use them to distract you from what you know you should do. Break free!
  • Ships are safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for. So set sail on the stormy sea of love. You’re going to get soaked at times, but at least you’ll know you’re alive.
  • You can change your life with a simple shift of attention. But to make that simple shift, you have to find your heart. It’s the only way. Accept yourself, then transcend yourself.
  • 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.
  • Your body is malleable; you can sculpt it over time with daily habits of diet and exercise. The law of accommodation reminds us that the body may change slowly, but it will change.
  • I have an almost religious zeal… not for technology per se, but for the Internet which is for me, the nervous system of mother Earth, which I see as a living creature, linking up.
  • 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?
  • If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever.
  • Managing your money does not depend upon becoming wealthy or declaring vows of poverty. Rather, it is about creating stability and sufficiency – a balanced flow of monetary energy through your life.
  • Avoid fragmentation: Find your focus and seek simplicity. Purposeful living calls for elegant efficiency and economy of effort-expanding the minimum time and energy necessary to achieve desired goals.
  • The light will disturb us when we’re comfortable, and comfort us when we’re disturbed. We turn to spirit for help when our foundations are shaking only to find out that it is spirit who is shaking them!
  • Everyone everywhere live[s] a confused, bitter search. Reality never matched their dreams; happiness was just around the corner – a corner they never turned. And the source of it all [is] the human mind.
  • I learned that we can do anything, but we can’t do everything… at least not at the same time. So think of your priorities not in terms of what activities you do, but when you do them. Timing is everything.
  • As poet-philosopher Rabindranath Tagore reminds us, “We cannot cross the sea merely by staring at the water.” Simplicity has power. And living on purpose comes to this: Just do it. How much simpler can we get?
  • 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.
  • Anybody can be happy when things are going well, and I’ve learned that. But when things aren’t going well it draws out the inner warrior in us to radiate that and bring whatever happiness we can to the situation.
  • Just handle what is in front of you now and the future will take care of itself. Otherwise, you’ll spend most of your life wondering which foot you’ll use to step off the curb when you’re still only halfway to the corner.
  • It’s better to make a mistake with the full force of your being than to timidly avoid mistakes with a trembling spirit. Responsibility means recognizing both pleasure and price, action and consequence, then making a choice.
  • The quality of your moments produces the quality of your life. So, as thoughts come and go and the waves of mind rush on, Carpe punctum-Seize this moment. It deserves your full attention, for it will not pass your way again.
  • We are here to live moment by moment, and each moment brings a task, a challenge, a goal. It’s good to have big goals, but we need to connect the dots between where we are and where we are going, one day, one moment at a time.
  • In the real world, those of us who are most productive, successful, and satisfied focus not on fixing feelings or manipulating thoughts, but on what needs to be done-and then doing it-no matter what thoughts or feelings arise.
  • A Zen student asked his roshi the most important element of Zen.The roshi replied, “Attention.” “Yes, thank you,” the student replied. “But can you tell me the second most important element?”And the roshi replied, “Attention.”
  • Faith is our direct link to universal wisdom, reminding us that we know more than we have heard or read or studied that we have only to look, listen, and trust the love and wisdom of the Universal Spirit working through us all.
  • Ultimately, fear of failure generates a vicious circle that creates what is most feared. To break this cycle, you need to make peace with failure. It isn’t enough to merely tolerate it; you need to appreciate the failure and use it.
  • Energy follows thought; we move toward, but not beyond, what we can imagine. What we assume, expect, or believe creates and colors our experience. By expanding our deepest beliefs about what is possible, we change our experience of life.
  • You don’t need to control emotion, he said. Emotions are natural, like passing weather. Sometimes it’s fear, sometimes sorrow or anger. Emotions are not the problem. The key is to transform the energy of emotion into constructive action.
  • May you find grace as you surrender to life. May you find happiness, as you stop seeking it. May you come to trust these laws and inherit the wisdom of the Earth. May you reconnect with the heart of nature and feel the blessings of Spirit.
  • Process transforms any journey into a series of small steps, taken one by one, to reach any goal. Process transcends time, teaches patience, rests on a solid foundation of careful preparation, and embodies trust in our unfolding potential.
  • If babies held the same tendency toward self-criticism as adults, they might never learn to walk or talk. Can you imagine infants stomping, ‘Aarggh! Screwed up again!’ Fortunately, babies are free of self-criticism. They just keep practicing.
  • Peaceful warriors have the patience to wait until the mud settles and the water clears. They remain unmoving until the right time, so the right action arises by itself. They do not seek fulfillment, but wait with open arms to welcome all things.
  • No amount of knowledge will nourish or sustain your spirit, it can never bring you ulimate happiness or peace. Life requires more that knowledge; it requires intense feeling and constant energy. Life demands right action if knowledge is to come alive.
  • So be gentle with yourself; show yourself the same kindness and patience you might show a young child – the child you once were. If you won’t be your own friend, who will be? If, when playing an opponent, you are also opposing yourself, you will be outnumbered.
  • . . . Action always happens in the present, because it is an expression of the body, which can only exist in the here and now. But the mind is like a phantom that lives only in the past or future. It’s only power over you is to draw your attention our of the present.
  • Life has three rules: Paradox, Humor, and Change. – Paradox: Life is a mystery; don’t waste your time trying to figure it out. – Humor: Keep a sense of humor, especially about yourself. It is a strength beyond all measure – Change: Know that nothing ever stays the same.
  • Every positive change – every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness – involves a rite of passage. Each time to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation. I have never found an exception.
  • You are rich if you have enough money to satisfy all your desires. So there are two ways to be rich: you earn, inherit, borrow, beg, or steal enough money to meet all your desires; or you cultivate a simple lifestyle of few desires; that way you always have enough money.
  • I kind of got more interested in writing after I turned in my last college essay and nobody was going to tell me what kind of academic papers to write anymore. I could write whatever I wanted, and I realized that I actually liked it when I could choose what I would write.
  • The universe does not judge us; it only provides consequences and lessons and opportunities to balance and learn through the law of cause and effect. Compassion is the recognition that we are each doing the best we can within the limits of our current beliefs and capacities.
  • Inward spiritual practices such as meditation, breathing techniques and self-analysis generate insights and enhance abilities, but none are so useful as learning to live harmoniously in a committed relationship, being a skillful parent, or juggling the demands of daily life.
  • No matter what we feel or know, no matter what our potential gifts or talents, only action brings them to life. Those of us who only think we understand concepts such as commitment, courage, and love, one day discover that we only know when we act; doing becomes understanding.
  • A warrior takes responsibility for his acts, for the most trivial of acts. An average man acts out his thoughts, and never takes responsibility for what he does.When we feel stuck, going nowhere — even starting to slipbackward — we may actually be backing up to get a runningstart.
  • Unless the desire to change remains strong, body and mind tend to return to old, familiar patterns. It takes time-from three to six months-for old habits to become obsolete. By the end of that time, you’ll have adapted to a new pattern. In a sense, you’ll have found a new way of life.
  • Wake up! If you knew for certain that you had a terminal illness – if you had precious little time left to make use of your life and consider who you are, you’d not waste time on self-indulgence or fear, lethargy or ambition. Be happy now, without reason – or you never will be at all.
  • Nature and training (in any sport or art) can teach us all the spiritual laws I describe in another book, The Laws of Spirit. But now I’m happy to share these four purposes of life that lend meaning and direction to anyone’s life, especially those in transition, going through changes.”
  • Your greatest fear is death and your deepest craving is survival. You want Forever, you desire Eternity. In your deluded belief that you are this ‘mind’ or ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’, you find the escape clause in your contract with mortality. Perhaps as ‘mind’ you can wing free of the body when it dies, hmm?
  • Our practices – our most spiritual practices – are hanging laundry on the line, raising children, building strong relationships, practicing kindness as much as we can, striving for excellence in the workplace, and developing deeper self-knowledge. I wrote The Four Purposes of Life to assist in these endeavors.
  • It is better for you to take responsibility for your life as it is, instead of blaming others, or circumstances, for your predicament. As your eyes open, you’ll see that your state of health, happiness, and every circumstance of your life has been, in large part, arranged by you – consciously or unconsciously.
  • Masters of one art have mastered all because they have mastered themselves. With dominion over both mind and muscle, they demonstrate power, serenity, and spirit. They not only have talent for their sport, they have an expanded capacity for life. The experts shine in the competitive arena; the masters shine everywhere.
  • My parents, like others of “The Greatest Generation” who lived through the Great Depression and World War II, wanted to provide the best possible life for their children. My mother and father both attended college but dropped out to earn a living during the Depression, working the rest of their lives at blue-collar work.
  • Surrender means accepting this moment, this body, and this life with open arms. Surrender involves getting out of your own way and living in accord with a higher will, expressed as the wisdom of the heart. Far more than passive acceptance, surrender uses every challenge as a means of spiritual growth and expanded awareness.
  • Wake up! If you knew for certain you had a terminal illness–if you had little time left to live–you would waste precious little of it! Well, I’m telling you…you do have a terminal illness: It’s called birth. You don’t have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason–or you will never be at all.
  • We are both burdened and blessed by the great responsibility of the will – the power of choice. Our future is determined, in large part, by the choices we make now. We cannot always control our circumstances, but we can and do choose our response to whatever arises. Reclaiming the power of choice, we find the courage to live fully in the world.
  • Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is… The only problem in your life is your mind’s resistance to life as it unfolds.
  • Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is… The only problem in your life is your mind’s resistance to life as it unfolds.
  • I’d always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed. I never suspected that I would have to learn how to live – that there were specific disciplines and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.
  • If there is a central theme to what I called “a peaceful warrior’s approach to living,” and to The Four Purposes of Life, it is that there may be innumerable techniques or methods one can learn (from the Eastern spiritual cultures and from the Western psychological tradition), but that above and beyond all these technologies waits the school of everyday life.
  • Fear is like a little garden spider that makes us jump back or the poor lost bee on the steering wheel that we blame for our automobile wreck. The problem in fear is our response – the way we treat animals or insects that frighten us. . . . Fear is also the universal scapegoat we blame when we take flight from intimacy or shrink up inside ourselves in a thousand little ways.
  • All these years I had been sustained by an illusion-happiness through victory- and now that illusion was burned to ashes. I was no more happier, no more fullfilled, for all my achievements. Finally I saw through the clouds I saw that I had never learned how to enjoy life, only how to achieve. All my life i had been busy seeking happiness, but never finding it or sustaining it.
  • Dad, once an aspiring architect, drove his own catering truck to feed factory workers in downtown Los Angeles, and mom, with a Mensa IQ and mathematical gifts, served as a bookkeeper and worked in a grocery store while pursuing her calling in music: playing piano and composing songs. Perhaps in a way, part of my drive was to complete their unfulfilled ambitions and dreams, but in my own way.
  • A flash of enlightenment offers a preview of coming attractions, but when it fades, you will see more clearly what separates you from that state – your compulsive habits, outmoded beliefs, false associations, and other mental structures. Just when our lives are starting to get better, we may feel like things are getting worse – because for the first time we see clearly what needs to be done.
  • You haven’t yet opened your heart fully, to life, to each moment. The peaceful warrior’s way is not about invulnerability, but absolute vulnerability–to the world, to life, and to the Presence you felt. All along I’ve shown you by example that a warrior’s life is not about imagined perfection or victory; it is about love. Love is a warrior’s sword; wherever it cuts, it gives life, not death.
  • Moderation? It’s mediocrity, fear, and confusion in disguise. It’s the devil’s dilemma. It’s neither doing nor not doing. It’s the wobbling compromise that makes no one happy. Moderation is for the bland, the apologetic, for the fence-sitters of the world afraid to take a stand. It’s for those afraid to laugh or cry, for those afraid to live or die. Moderation…is lukewarm tea, the devil’s own brew.
  • The first step to change,… is accepting your reality right now. Honoring your process. Compassionate self-awareness leads to change; harsh self-criticism only holds the pattern in place, creating a stubborn and defensive Basic Self. Be gentle with yourself as you would with a child. Be gentle but firm. Give yourself the space to grow. But remember that the timing is in god’s hands, not yours. page~147
  • Don’t wait until you die to learn the warrior’s way. Do it now, each night, just before you drift off to sleep. As you review your day, consider these two questions of courage and love. Learn from each day, so that each day you can show a little more courage and a little more love. Then, as incidents occur, you may rise to the occasion and look back at the end of your life and feel good about the way you lived.
  • My parents were only one part of my lineage. I also met a number of mentors, one of whom I nicknamed “Socrates” after the ancient Greek, and wrote about in my first book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior. That book emerged in 1980, as a result of travels around the world and decades of preparation, eventually leading to 15 other books written over the years, culminating in my newest offering, The Four Purposes of Life.
  • Book ideas are like planes, lined up to approach the runway. Some never leave the gate, but others move quickly to the front of the line. It was like that with The Four Purposes. Honestly, I cannot remember the moment I had the idea for the book; perhaps because it emerged like a green shoot emerging from the soil of my subconscious. But it seemed important enough to begin the flow of words that eventually shaped themselves into this new book.
  • Silence is the warrior’s art — and meditation is his sword. With it, you’ll cut through your illusions. But understand this: the sword’s usefulness depends upon the swordsman. If you don’t know how to use the weapon properly, it can become a dangerous, deluding, or useless tool. Meditation can initially help you to relax. You may put your ‘sword’ on display, proudly show it to friends. The gleam of this sword distracts many meditators until they abandon it to seek other esoteric techniques.
  • Coming to appreciate your worth can, in some cases, dramatically improve your circumstances by changing the choices you make and the actions you take. And as you begin to treat yourself with more respect, other people begin to do the same, since we subconsciously “train” others how to treat us through messages we send through body language, tone of voice, and other subtle cues and behaviors. Discovering your innate worth and living from that place allows you to make more constructive choices-to choose the higher roads of life
  • Someday, in the moment of death, your whole life will pass before you. In a few fractions of a second-because time no longer applies-you will see many incidents from your life in order to learn. You will review your life with two questions in your consciousness: Could I have shown a little more courage in these moments? Could I have shown a little more love? You will see where you let fear stop you from expressing who you are, how you feel, or what you need. You will see whether you were able to expand into these moments, just a little, to show love, or whether you contracted.
  • There is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! 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 humor. Don’t worry, just be happy. You are already free!
  • Wake up! Wake up! Soon the person you believe you are will die – so now, wake up and be content with this knowledge: there is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! 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 for 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 humor. Don’t worry, just be happy. You are already free!
  • That’s exactly what it is, Dan – a thought – no more real than the shadow of a shadow. Consciousness is not In the body; the body is In Consciousness. And you Are that Consciousness – no the phantom mind that troubles you so. You are the body, but you are everything else, too. That is what your visions revealed to you. Only the mind resists change. When you relax mindless into the body, you are happy and content and free, sensing no separation. Immortality is Already yours, but not in the same way you imagined or hope for. You have been immortal since before you were born and will be long after the body dissolves. The body is in Consciousness; never born; never dies; only changes. The mind – your ego, personal beliefs, history, and identity – is all that ends at death. And who needs it? Socrates leaned back into his chair.