The Peaceful Warrior - Q-News July 2006, Issue 367

Iranian American Producer Mark Amin first discovered Dan Millman’s The Way of the Peaceful Warrior at an ocean-side retreat in Big Sur.

“I saw the book sitting on the coffee table,” he recalls. “I read the first ten, twenty pages and I was hooked. I didn’t get up again until I was finished.” He immediately recognised many of Mevlana Rumi’s teachings in the book and found that the central relationship in the story was remarkably similar to the extraordinary bond between Mevlana and his teacher, the spiritual master Shems of Tabriz.

Now a critically acclaimed film, Peace Warrior tells the story of arrogant, talented Dan Millman. Dan seems to have the perfect college life: a stunning gymnast’s body of incredible strength, handsome looks, good grades, plenty of money and a shot at the Olympic qualifiers in men’s gymnastics. Still, he wakes up almost nightly from terrifying nightmares and odd visions he can’t explain or dismiss.

One night, awakened by yet another nightmare, Dan goes for a run through his foggy neighborhood and comes upon a well-lit service station. Behind the counter, an old man seemingly moves without regard for space or time. One moment, Dan is paying for his snacks, the next the old man is on the roof of the station. Stunned by this impossibility, Dan begs the old man, whom he instinctually names Socrates, to share the secret of his abilities in order to achieve his goal of Olympic Gold.

The old man puts him through a regimen that changes his diet, training, and lifestyle. Before long, his life is ruined, and he loses his friends, his girls, and is almost thrown off his gymnastics squad.

Thus begins a journey of discovery shatters every preconceived notion Dan has about academics, athletics, and achievement. Guided by Socrates, Dan considers a whole new ideology - one that values consciousness over intelligence, strength in spirit over strength in body. It isn’t surprising that Dan was influenced by the writings and life of Rumi.

Peaceful Warrior premiered at the Cannes film festival and stars Nick Nolte, Scott Mechlowicz and Amy Smart. Now on general release in the United States, the film is still awaiting distribution in the UK. In the current atmosphere of bling-bling blockbusters, Peaceful Warrior has been hailed as an instant “spiritual classic”. We wait with baited breath for it to come to our shores.