Excerpt

The years prior to 1966 had smiled upon me. (Location 84)
somersaulting, (Location 116)
corduroy (Location 149)
windbreaker (Location 150)
He paused and drew a deep breath. “Whether you have a proper teacher or not depends upon what you want to learn.” (Location 286)
“The world out there,” he said, waving his arm across the horizon, “is a school, Dan. Life is the only real teacher. It offers many experiences, and if experience alone brought wisdom and fulfillment, then elderly people would all be happy, enlightened masters. But the lessons of experience are hidden. I can help you learn from experience to see the world clearly, and clarity is something you desperately need right now. You know this is true, but your mind rebels; you haven’t yet turned knowledge into wisdom.” (Location 289)
Ignoring me, he let the flood continue — saying, “Dan, 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.” (Location 302)
- Note: Descrates
“Understanding is the one-dimensional comprehension of the intellect. It leads to knowledge. Realization is three-dimensional — a simultaneous comprehension of head, heart, and instinct. It comes only from direct experience.” (Location 316)
“That is the point. You cannot answer it, and you never will. There is no knowing about it. You are ignorant of where the universe is, and thus, where you are. In fact, you have no knowledge of where anything is or of what anything is or how it came to be. Life is a mystery. “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.” (Location 358)
Knowledge alone does not suffice; it has no heart. No amount of knowledge will nourish or sustain your spirit; it can never bring you ultimate happiness or peace. Life requires more than knowledge; it requires intense feeling and constant energy. Life demands right action if knowledge is to come alive.” (Location 391)
it was even said that they could fly — for short distances only, of course.” (Location 470)
“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.” (Location 532)
“Comfort yourself with a saying of Confucius,” he smiled. “‘Only the supremely wise and the ignorant do not alter.’” (Location 612)
“What?... ” as he muffed his final somersault (Location 731)
cuddling in the backseat of my Valiant with Phyllis, my first curvy girlfriend. (Location 789)
I leaped out of bed and looked in the mirror, touching my still-youthful face, shivering with relief. It had all been a dream — a lifetime in a single dream, Soc’s “little surprise.” (Location 826)
“Just as there are different interpretations of the past and many ways to change the present, there are any number of possible futures. What you dreamed was a highly probable future — the one you were headed for had you not met me.” (Location 835)
fix a Chinese dinner (Location 860)
disillusion (Location 872)
“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. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change, free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is a law, and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.” (Location 892)
“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.” (Location 896)
“‘Mind’ is an illusory reflection of cerebral fidgeting. It comprises all the random, uncontrolled thoughts that bubble into awareness from the subconscious. Consciousness is not mind; awareness is not mind; attention is not mind. Mind is an obstruction, an aggravation. It is a kind of evolutionary mistake in the human being, a primal weakness in the human experiment. I have no use for the mind.” (Location 912)
But when you can’t stop thinking of that math problem or phone number, or when troubling thoughts and memories arise without your intent, it’s not your brain working, but your mind wandering. Then the mind controls you; then the tractor has run wild.” (Location 920)
kneejerk (Location 924)
She was a little over five feet tall, sturdy looking, yet with an aura of delicate fragility. (Location 944)
Two very important lessons just offered themselves to you; they fell out of the sky, so to speak.” I dug into the food, trying not to listen. “First,” he said, munching on some lettuce, “neither your disappointment nor your anger was caused by the rain.” (Location 970)
“The rain was a perfectly lawful display of nature. Your ‘upset’ at the ruined picnic and your ‘happiness’ when the sun reappeared were the product of your thoughts. They had nothing to do with the actual events. Haven’t you been ‘unhappy’ at celebrations for example? It is obvious then that your mind, not other people or your surroundings, is the source of your moods. That is the first lesson.” (Location 974)
“The second lesson comes from observing how you became even more angry when you noticed that I wasn’t upset in the least. You began to see yourself compared to a warrior — two warriors, if you please.” He grinned at Joy. “You didn’t like that, did you, Dan? It might have implied a change was necessary.” (Location 978)
“She’ll only lead you down the primrose path,” (Location 992)
gristle (Location 1039)
There was no mistaking the musty smell, the thin, gray carpets, the two tiny beds, and the small, cracked secondhand mirror. (Location 1105)
“Socrates, did you know that you looked just like a cat when you stretched?” “I suppose I do,” he replied nonchalantly. “It’s a good practice to copy the positive traits of various animals, just as we might imitate positive qualities of some humans. I happen to admire the cat; it moves like a warrior. (Location 1180)

stressful thoughts reflect a conflict with reality. Stress happens when the mind resists what is.” (Location 1247)
As you’ve learned from your physical training, leaps of awareness don’t happen all at once; they require time and practice. And the practice of insight into the source of your own ripples is meditation.” (Location 1278)
asinine. (Location 1326)
I learned the meaning of attention — it is the intentional channeling of awareness. (Location 1357)
then started to laugh more uproariously (Location 1366)
“Meditation consists of two simultaneous processes: One is insight — paying attention to what is arising. The other is surrender — letting go of attachment to arising thoughts. This is how you cut free of the mind.” (Location 1392)
- “Sitting meditation is the beginner’s practice. Eventually, you will learn to meditate in every action. Sitting serves as a ceremony, a time to practice balance, ease, and divine detachment. Master the ritual before you expand the same insight and surrender fully into daily life. (Location 1472)
- 🫧 扩展了我对冥想定义的认识，原来很多种活动都能带来冥想体验，写作也是冥想！核心是与外界隔绝，观察，倾听自己的声音。
“Yes — and the conventions of language reveal the ways we see the world. You do, in fact, act as if you were a ‘mind’ or a subtle something inside the body.” (Location 1421)
“Why would I possibly want to do that?” “Because you fear death and crave 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?” “It’s a thought,” I said with a grin. (Location 1423)
You have been immortal since before you were born and will be long after the body dissolves. The body is 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?” (Location 1430)
koan (Location 1462)
“Sitting meditation is the beginner’s practice. Eventually, you will learn to meditate in every action. Sitting serves as a ceremony, a time to practice balance, ease, and divine detachment. Master the ritual before you expand the same insight and surrender fully into daily life. (Location 1472)
change, can’t you?” he asked, not looking at me. “No, sorry,” I said, not feeling sorry at all. As I walked away, I thought, “Get a job.” Then vague (Location 1540)
I wished her to share my victories; she always saw me in defeat. (Location 1616)
An old man and his son worked a small farm, with only one horse to pull the plow. One day, the horse ran away. “How terrible,” sympathized the neighbors. “What bad luck.” “Who knows whether it is bad luck or good luck,” the farmer replied. A week later, the horse returned from the mountains, leading five wild mares into the barn. “What wonderful luck!” said the neighbors. “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?” answered the old man. The next day, the son, trying to tame one of the horses, fell and broke his leg. “How terrible. What bad luck!” “Bad luck? Good luck?” The army came to all the farms to take the young men for war, but the farmer’s son was of no use to them, so he was spared. “Good? Bad?” (Location 1619) ❝ 塞翁失马
“The realm of the warrior is guarded by something like a gate. It is well hidden, like a monastery in the mountains. Many knock, but few enter.” (Location 1701)
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Socrates come toward me, reaching out for my head. Oh no, not now; I’m not up to it, I thought. But he was only feeling my clammy forehead. Then he checked the glands in my neck, looked at my face and eyes, and felt my pulse. “Dan, your energies are way out of balance, and your spleen is probably swollen. I suggest you visit a physician. Tonight. Now.” (Location 1724)
“Warriors are always held in fear and awe.” He grinned. “You also look like a warrior: slim, supple, and strong from your rudimentary preparation in gymnastics. (Location 1754)
everyone wants respect. But it is not just a matter of saying, ‘Please respect me.’ You must earn respect by acting respectable — and the respect of a warrior is not easily earned.” (Location 1788)
“Fear and sorrow inhibit action; anger generates it. When you learn to make proper use of your anger, you can change fear and sorrow to anger, then turn anger to action. That’s the body’s secret of internal alchemy.” (Location 1802)
“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.” (Location 1808)
“When a baby is upset, it expresses itself in banshee wails — pure crying. It doesn’t wonder about whether it should be crying. Babies accept their emotions completely. They let feelings flow, then let them go. In this way, infants are fine teachers. Learn their lessons and you’ll dissolve old habits.” (Location 1813)
“You’ll need to refine every human function — moving, sleeping, breathing, thinking, feeling — and eating. Of all the human activities, eating is one of the most important to stabilize first.” (Location 1849)
Our primary source of energy is the sun. But in general, the human being — that’s you — “ “Thanks for the concession.” “In your present state of evolution, you cannot ‘eat sunlight’ except in limited ways. When humanity does develop this ability, the digestive organs will become vestigial and laxative companies will go out of business. For now, a proper diet allows you to make the most direct use of the sun’s energy. This energy helps you focus your attention, sharpening your concentration into a slashing blade.” (Location 1857)
Without another word, Joseph took the plates and returned with two beautiful wooden bowls. In each bowl was a perfectly carved, miniature replica of a mountain. The mountain itself was a blended combination of cantaloupe and honeydew melon. Small chunks of walnuts and almonds, individually carved, became brown boulders. The craggy cliffs were made from apples and thin slices of cheese. The trees were made of many pieces of parsley, each pruned to a perfect shape, like bonsai trees. An icing of yogurt capped the peak. Around the base were halved grapes and a ring of fresh strawberries. (Location 1881)
cantaloupe and honeydew melon. (Location 1882)
“The pleasure from eating, Dan, is more than the taste of the food and the feeling of a full belly. Learn to enjoy the entire process — the hunger beforehand, the careful preparation, setting an attractive table, chewing, breathing, smelling, tasting, swallowing, and the feeling of lightness and energy after the meal. You can even enjoy the full and easy elimination of the food after it’s digested. When you pay attention to all elements of the process, you’ll begin to appreciate simple meals.” (Location 1889)
follow until my body regained its natural instincts.”In a few years, there will be no need for rules. You can experiment and trust your instincts. For now, however, you’re to avoid foods that contain refined sugar, refined flour, and meat, as well as coffee, alcohol, tobacco, or any other drugs. Focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. (Location 1901)
I don’t believe in extremes, but for now, make breakfast a fresh fruit meal, with occasional yogurt. Your lunch, your main meal, should be a raw salad, baked or steamed potato, and whole-grain bread or cooked grains. Dinner should be a raw salad and, on occasion, lightly steamed vegetables. Make good use of raw, unsalted seeds and nuts at every meal.” (Location 1904)
esoteric secrets of India, Tibet, or China. (Location 2033)
I started breathing slowly and deeply, the way Socrates had shown me. “No, don’t try so hard.” After a few minutes I started to feel funny in my belly and chest. They were warm inside, relaxed, and open. Suddenly I was crying like a baby, wildly happy and not knowing why. In that moment, I was breathing completely without effort; it felt like I was being breathed. It felt so pleasurable, I thought, Who needs to go to the movies to be entertained? I was so excited I could hardly contain myself! Then I felt the breathing start to tighten again. “Joseph, I lost it!” (Location 2092)
Socrates looked at me as if surprised. “Do I have to tell you everything?” After a moment of exquisite anger, I found myself laughing. He laughed, too, pointing at me. “Dan, you just experienced an alchemical transformation — you just transmuted anger to laughter. (Location 2120)
“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.” (Location 2177)
“Moderation?” He leaped up on the desk, like an evangelist. “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 fencesitters 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” — he took a deep breath, getting ready for his final condemnation — “is lukewarm tea, the devil’s own brew!” (Location 2180)
Old urges continue to arise, but urges do not matter; only actions do. A warrior is as a warrior does. (Location 2246)
“Dan, there are things you don’t yet understand. For now, just think of death as a transformation — a bit more radical than puberty, but nothing to get particularly upset about. It’s just one of the body’s changes. When it happens, it happens. The warrior neither seeks death nor flees from it.” (Location 2268)
“Death is not sad; the sad thing is that most people don’t really live at all.” (Location 2271)
In the morning, I understood: Socrates had simply not met my expectations. I saw the futility of trying to live up to anyone else’s expectations, including my own. I would, as a peaceful warrior, choose when, where, and how I would behave. With that commitment, I began to live the life of a warrior. (Location 2276)
You don’t have much time left! Each day that passes is one day closer to your death. We are not playing games here, do you understand that?” (Location 2281)
The huge sword sliced again, and the young swordsman’s head fell from his shoulders and rolled to the earth, a shocked expression on its face. (Location 2291)
“There are no ordinary moments!” (Location 2376)
After that, I treated every moment in the gym — on the ground as well as in the air — as special, worthy of my full attention. But as Socrates had explained to me more than once, the ability to extend razor-sharp attention to every moment in my daily life would require much more practice. (Location 2378)
calisthenics, (Location 2391)
grizzled tomcat (Location 2421)
“Now let me tell you about satori, a Zen concept. Satori occurs when attention rests in the present moment, when the body is alert, sensitive, relaxed, and the emotions are open and free. Satori is what you experienced when the knife was flying toward you. Satori is the warrior’s state of being.” (Location 2512)
- Satori 悟り🫧
  - 顿悟
  - Sudden enlightenment
  - 硬币🪙在半空中，突然知道自己想要哪一面
“Yes, that is the experience of satori. Sports, dance, or music, and any other challenging activity can serve as a gateway to satori. You imagine that you love gymnastics, but it’s merely the wrapping for the gift of satori. Your gymnastics requires full attention on your actions. Gymnastics draws you into the moment of truth; your life is on the line. As with a dueling samurai, it’s satori or death.” (Location 2516)
Remember, every-moment satori.” (Location 2621)
“Meditating an action is different from doing it. To do, there is a doer, a self-conscious ‘someone’ performing. But when you meditate an action, you’ve already released attachment to outcomes. There’s no ‘you’ left to do it. In forgetting yourself, you become what you do, so your action is free, spontaneous, without ambition, inhibition, or fear.” (Location 2624)
Here it was, my final test. My mind was awash with memories: that night of pain when my thighbone was splintered; my vow to recover; the doctor’s admonition to forget about gymnastics; Socrates and my continual training; that endless run in the rain, far up into the hills. And I felt a growing power, a wave of fury at all those who said I’d never perform again. My passion turned to icy calm. There, in that moment, my fate and future seemed in balance. My mind cleared. My emotions surged with power. Do or die. With the spirit and focus I’d learned in that small gas station over the past months, I approached the high bar. There was not a sound in the gym. The moment of silence, the moment of truth. (Location 2671)
“That place — my grandfather’s garden — it was like the Garden of Eden.” “Yes, it was the Garden of Eden. Every infant lives in a bright Garden where everything is sensed directly, without the veils of thought — free of beliefs, interpretation, and judgments. (Location 2730)
“You ‘fell’ from grace when you began thinking, about — when you became a namer and a knower. It’s not just Adam and Eve, you see, it’s all of us. The birth of the mind is the death of the senses (Location 2732)
You’ve become bored with things because they only exist as names to you. The dry concepts of the mind obscure your direct perception.” (Location 2744)
“You now see everything through a veil of associations about things, projected over a direct, simple awareness. You’ve ‘seen it all before’: it’s like watching a movie for the twentieth time. You see only memories of things, so you become bored, trapped in the mind. This is why you have to ‘lose your mind’ before you can come to your senses.” (Location 2746)
“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. (Location 2781)
The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” (Location 2785)
From now on, whenever your attention begins to drift off to other times and places, I want you to snap back. Remember, the time is now and the place is here.” (Location 2796)
“Understand this above all,” he interrupted. “You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you expect or hope for. (Location 2827)
pentacle (Location 2862)
embody what you teach, and teach only what you have embodied.” (Location 3057)
And now forget me. Go, and come back radiant.” (Location 3090)
Lao Tzu fell asleep and dreamed he was a butterfly. Upon awakening, he asked himself, “Am I a man who has just been dreaming that he was a butterfly, or a sleeping butterfly, now dreaming that he is a man?” (Location 3170)
If a blind man realizes that he can see, has the world changed?” (Location 3193)
“First mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers. “Then mountains are no longer mountains and rivers are no longer rivers. “Finally, mountains are mountains and rivers are rivers.” (Location 3196)
“Better never begin; once begun, better finish.” (Location 3204)
Act happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will.” (Location 3281)
carrion (Location 3358)
But now I know that I am not only the single piece of flesh — and that secret makes all the difference! There was no way to describe the impact of this knowledge. I was simply awake. (Location 3378)
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, you are already free!” (Location 3411)

Referred in

the Primrose Path

🎴 with allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet Ⅰ. iii. 50 🫧 莎翁真的是一己之力大型扩展英文词汇表 ❝ “She’ll only lead you down the primrose path,” (Location…

Way of the Peaceful Warrior

Excerpt

Referred in