Last night I watched the movie "A Peaceful Warrior". It is about a restless, naive, and egotistic young championship gymnast who comes under the tutelage of a wise, zen master type mentor he owns a Gas service station. The movie documents the waking and wizening up of this young man as he goes from being a typical headstrong and selfish American party-animal college student into an aware and mindful of the present moment inner warrior. The wise service station mentor was played by Nick Nolte, and he was full of wonderful parables and idioms taken directly from the wisdom traditions of east and west. I would like to share some of the useful quotes from the mentor character, Socrates:
1. Life has three aspects: Paradox, Humour, and Change.
2. Paradox: Life is a mystery; don't bother figuring it out.
3. Humor: No matter what circumstances, do not lose your sense of humor.
4. Change: Do not be so sure in life; anything can change.
5. There is never nothing going on. There are no ordinary moments.
6. This moment: The past and the future do not matter; all that matters is now, this moment.
7. It's not the destination that brings happiness, but the journey.
8. Take out the trash from what's inside your head.
9. Empty your mind.
10. Everything has a purpose, even this, and it's up to you to find it.
11. A warrior does not give up what he loves, he finds the love in what he does.
12. I call myself a Peaceful Warrior... because the battles we fight are on the inside.
13. A warrior is not about perfection or victory or invulnerability. He's about absolute vulnerability.
14. There is no starting or stopping - only doing.
15. There's no greater purpose than service to others.
16. Everyone wants to tell you what to do and what's good for you. They don't want you to find your own answers, they want you to believe theirs.
17. I want you to stop gathering information from the outside and start gathering it from the inside.
18. People are not their thoughts, they think they are, and it brings them all kinds of sadness.
19. Death isn't sad. The sad thing is: most people don't live at all.
20. What time is it? Now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peaceful_Warrior
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1 comment:
Dave,
I just remembered you have a blog, so I just read through most of the entries. Thanks for sharing with us your experiences. We should go for a hike when you get back. Be well.
-Jeff
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