Greetings Peaceful Warriors:
I just returned from Greece. In the coming year, I’ll be teaching in Australia, Japan (March-April) and Germany, Austria, Switzerland — and possibly in Greece, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Turkey, and elsewhere (Sept-Oct), in addition to speaking across America. I’ll keep you posted. You can also check the Event Schedule for updates. Good to be home now and getting back to work on a new book. More on that later.
Several Cruises coming up:
o In Sept 2008, a very special Peaceful Warrior Life-Purpose cruise from Seattle, Washington to Alaska — more on this later
o In Feb 2009, I’ll also be one of the guest speakers on a Healthy Living cruise through the Virgin Islands.
And DO keep in mind the Japan Adventure in April — “Discovering the Hidden School.”
Now we turn to:
(1) A MAJOR ISSUE OF OUR TIME:
My last emailing included links to a preview of a film titled “The 11th Hour,” produced by Leonardo DiCaprio. It contained strong images of fear and also of hope.
Apparently this strong message about global warming brought up strong emotions for some of you. This entire issues generates polarized beliefs ranging from “the sky is falling!” to “it’s all alarmist nonsense.” Most of us remain in the middle-ground, depending upon our sources of information. But there is no doubt that changes are coming.
When I teach martial arts I sometimes remind my students, if you find yourself walking alone at night in the city, and are about to go around the corner of a building:
o If you believe there’s someone lurking around the corner, you’d be paranoid.
o If you believe there’s no one lurking around the corner, you’d be naive.
o If you believe there might be someone around the corner, you’d be wise.
Similarly, in our approach to sustainable living, it seems best to take small actions that make us part of the solution (and less a part of the problem).
Replacing incandescent bulbs with florescent ones may save energy but such bulbs currently contain small amounts of mercury and need to be recycled. Creating “carbon offsets” by planting trees or supporting alternative energy sources are creative approaches but also have detractors. Still, little by little, we are learning.
What are we (as individuals) actually willing to do differently to help a larger good? Most of us would like to do something real, not just empty gestures. What is good for our world environment may also be good for us, too: Walking and biking more; driving less. We can also use technology to save paper and reduce travel. So can a change in diet.
Which brings me to the point of this message — and a link to my newest blog post: EAT YOUR VEGETABLES! It turns out, we can do something real and significant for our world, and at the same time for our health. Read the blog to learn more.
(2) PEACEFUL WARRIOR MOVIE SCORE
Many of you had asked us to let you know when the Peaceful Warrior movie score / soundtrack would be available, since you loved the music. Well, you can download it from iTunes now. But we need to make something clear: If you go to the iTunes store and search for “Peaceful Warrior,” two different albums will appear for the movie.
One is a sound track listed under Dan Millman – which alternates my brief readings of lines from the film with various songs contributed by different artists generally relating to the peaceful warrior theme.
If you want the movie music, then you are better off searching for Bennett Salvay (the composer of the score). Then you’ll find the actual movie music. Hope that’s clear. Or search Peaceful Warrior and click on the album that says Bennett Salvay.
(3) INSPIRING LINK – on Gratitude
Hear comments by Brother David Stendahl-Rast on Gratitude, with the music of Gary Malkin.
http://www.gratefulness.org/brotherdavid/a-good-day.htm
Then, for perspective, check my earlier blog comments ON GRATITUDE.
(4) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED DOCUMENTARY FILM:
My respected film-maker friend Adrian Belic’s award-winning film BEYOND THE CALL is screening in various cities in America and abroad. A truly inspiring documentary! The following link provides information about where the film is being screened:
(5) WISDOM OF THE PEACEFUL WARRIOR
For those of you who enjoyed Way of the Peaceful Warrior but haven’t yet read Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior, I encourage you to check it out for a much clearer understanding of the teachings. Especially for those who only saw the movie or who haven’t read WPW recently. Having read Wisdom, you will truly understand the teachings in my first book.
(6) SOME QUOTATIONS
Good quotations hold energy and wisdom. I hope you enjoy these reminders:
Both optimists and pessimists
contribute to our society.
The optimist invents the airplane
and the pessimist, the parachute.
G.B. Stern
When the power of love
overcomes the love of power,
the world will know peace.
Jimi Hendrix
Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle,
and the life of the candle will not be shortened.
Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha
There is just one life for each of us: our own.
Euripedes
The free thinking of one age
is the common sense of the next.
Matthew Arnold
The recipe for perpetual ignorance is:
Be satisfied with your opinions
and content with your knowledge.
Elbert Hubbard
That which wrestles with us
strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill.
Our antagonist is our helper.
Edmund Burke
(7) THE SHIFT – a movie preview
If you haven’t seen this clip from an upcoming movie, “The Shift,” you might find this upcoming film quite powerful.
http://theshiftmovie.com/index2.html
That’s it for now. I wish you good health and spirits in these interesting times.
If life is a roller coaster, we might as well enjoy the ride!
In Spirit,
Dan