Dan Millman: Self-Mastery, Service & the Peaceful Warrior Spirit

Ep. 12 (Part 1 of 2) | Dan Millman, a man who has devoted his life to mastery—in sports and in the arena of life itself—and author of the book that opened doors for so many, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, published in the 80s, talks about inspiration, talent, discipline, mastery, ordinary life, and his own path, practices, teachers, and new book, Peaceful Heart, Warrior Spirit: The True Story of My Spiritual Quest. Humorous and humble, Dan embodies the peaceful warrior way, centering his life around service, sharing his wisdom, and living the question, “What needs doing right now?” Recorded on October 20, 2021.

Dan Millman has shown us how to live with both a peaceful heart and a warrior’s spirit for forty years. His new book Peaceful Heart, Warrior Spirit shares his reflections on the extraordinary experiences that shaped his evolution from youthful dreamer to spiritual teacher. Dan’s first book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior, was a bestseller and adapted into a feature film. Dan is a former world trampoline champion, Stanford University gymnastics coach, martial arts instructor, and Oberlin college professor. His 18 books are published in 29 languages. Dan has traveled widely, teaching in over thirty countries. To learn more about his books, events, online courses, and free life-purpose calculator, visit www.PeacefulWarrior.com.

“There are no ordinary moments.”

• The deepest source of Dan’s inspiration (05:32) 
• How do we develop talent? In sports—and in life (06:46)
• The heart of Dan’s motivation: What’s the bigger picture? Asking “What do I do?” instead of “Who am I?” (11:25)
• The importance of gaining self-knowledge (Know thyself): otherwise we make the right choice for the wrong person! (12:51)
• On discipline, the Marshmallow Experiment, and using failure as a stepping stone (15:15) 
• The learning curve of mastering...anything (18:18)
• There are no ordinary moments: practice everything (24:21)
• How self-mastery leads to a path of service (27:37) 
• Practicing happiness (33:05)
• Helping others, helping ourselves: connecting heaven and earth (36:08)

• Dan Millman, Peaceful Heart, Warrior Spirit*
• Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior*
• PeacefulWarrior.com
• Dan Millman, The Hidden School*
• Dan Millman, No Ordinary Moments*
• The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment on delayed gratification
• Picasso, “It took me...a lifetime to paint like a child.”
• Roger Walsh’s essay, Contributing Effectively in Times of Crisis
• Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow*
• Groundhog Day movie
• Ramana Maharshi, I want to give people what they want...eventually they may want what I want to give them.
• Sri Nisargadatta, Not this, not this, not this.
• Joseph Campbell, “Participate joyfully in the sorrows of the world.”
• Adyashanti, spiritual teacher and author
• Golda Meir, “Don’t be so humble, you’re not that great.”
• Ram Dass, from Be Here Now: “Just because you are...experiencing waves of bliss...is no reason to not know your zip code.”*

* As an Amazon Associate, Deep Transformation earns from qualifying purchases.

Podcast produced by Vanessa Santos

Show Notes by Heidi Mitchell