5 Rules Of Life From The Movie "Peaceful Warrior". Are They Correct? - Reviews

15 years ago, a film was released, which became a cult among people interested in spiritual development and oriental practices. The question "Have you watched Peace Warrior?" was the password for “friends” who were keen on finding answers to deep questions about life

Since the release of the film, the amount of information available on the topic has increased many times over. I propose to return to this picture, look at it from the point of view of practical psychology and think about which rules and principles of life for the heroes of the film remain relevant and which no longer.

Gymnast's way

Student Dan Millman is a capable gymnast, winner of the competition and a candidate for the Olympic team. Sports achievements, attractive appearance, success with girls - it would seem, what else is needed for the happiness of a young man? But his soul is restless, he cannot sleep at night. And on one such sleepless night, he meets a gas station worker - a seemingly ordinary older man. However, a new acquaintance tells Dan such unusual things about himself, about his life, that the young man is surprised, interested in learning more. Soon he becomes a disciple of Socrates, an auto mechanic who is actually a "peaceful warrior", a master of Zen and martial arts.

Socrates criticizes Dan's vanity, narcissism and makes him rethink how and for what he lives. Learning is informal. Usually, teaching is built in the form of a dialogue and unusual sayings of the teacher, but he can also throw the student into the river - especially to speed up the process of mastering knowledge.

The young man is inspired by new experience, and it seems that new successes are about to come, when suddenly he is hit by a car, a pin is inserted into his leg, and dreams of a sports career and the Olympics can be given up.

Contrary to Dan's decadent mood, his teacher says that nothing terrible has happened, “everything has a meaning - and you have to find it” under the circumstances. In passion, Dan smashes his cups and awards, crying parting with the past, with the illusion of control over his life, with the race for "gold".

Neither fellow athletes nor the gymnastics coach believe in the possibility of recovering from such an injury, but Dan starts training on his own and, overcoming pain, fear, his own limiting beliefs, achieves the impossible - he wins not only rivals in the competition, but above all - himself yourself.

The rules of life through the prism of practical psychology

Each meeting with Socrates is a lesson, and the film contains several interesting theses and rules of life. We propose to consider them from a psychological point of view.

Rule 1. "Many people sleep their whole lives"

Translated into ordinary human language, we are talking about the fact that we live on autopilot: we thoughtlessly assimilate social stereotypes, accept the rules of our environment, and do not realize our actions.

This idea is often found in spiritual teachings. Socrates' thesis is not outdated: we often commit rash acts, act in accordance with the attitudes laid down in childhood.

Many readers know the eminent psychologist Eric Berne as the author of Games People Play, which outlines the basics of transactional analysis. However, Berne has a second theory - scenario analysis, according to which an adult realizes a life scenario - a set of decisions about himself, about other people, about the world, made by him in childhood. In fact, this is the life “in a dream” that Socrates speaks of.

Rule 2. "The most important thing is what happens here and now"

This is also one of the basic tenets of many spiritual traditions, especially Zen Buddhism. There is no real past and future. Only the present moment is real. When we regret the past or worry about the future, these are just our thoughts happening right now.

Many modern psychotherapeutic techniques include the principle of "here and now" and pay great attention to it. In gestalt therapy, for example, an important part of the work is to develop awareness whether I am in the "here and now", or mentally flew into the events that happened "there and then."

Sometimes, of course, it is necessary to analyze the past and plan the future, but do not forget that life is happening right now.

Of our contemporaries, in my opinion, Eckhart Tolle and Ken Wilber speak and write about the importance of being present in the moment.

Rule 3. "Thoughts are rubbish that clogs your mind"

Socrates criticizes Dan for being worried about thoughts like “What if I can't perform perfectly?”, “What if they don’t take me to the national team?”. When, following the advice of the teacher, a young gymnast stops thinking in training and concentrates completely on the exercise on the horse, he does everything perfectly. Moreover, at the end of the film, Dan himself, in the role of a mentor, advises a teammate: "Make movements for the sake of movement, not for the" gold ", not for the praise from your father."

Speaking in psychological language, we live life "through" our thoughts - assessments, comparisons, concepts - to the detriment of sensations and direct experience of what is happening.

As a response to this "bias" towards thinking, body-oriented practices, for example, embodiment, are actively developing. The body is viewed not just as a "shell" for the mind, but as a channel of communication with the world, uncluttered by thoughts, a source of a person's genuine reactions to events.

Body-oriented psychotherapy is involved in solving psychological problems through work with the body, in which the body is given a central place and the client works through his problems not through thinking, but through purposeful actions with muscle clamps, discomfort and other phenomena in his body.

Rule 4. "Nothing stays the same, everything changes"

This is one of the fundamental theses of Buddhism, so it is not surprising that Socrates includes this provision in the list of basic rules of life. Any practicing psychologist will confirm that a huge number of client requests are associated precisely with changes in life. Divorce, job loss, death of a loved one, moving to another country, and even smaller events cause severe stress, discomfort and require readaptation. The prerequisite for painful experiences is the unconscious attitude: "what is, will always be."

While working through the problem, it is important not only to accept the current situation and find a way to cope with it, but also to realize the inevitability of changes in the future. Understanding clearly that everything changes, nothing lasts forever, we will appreciate more what is good, and more calmly meet the inevitable changes. The hero of the film enters the path of change and wins.

Rule 5. "The path makes us happy, not the goal"

In order for Dan to truly understand this rule of life, Socrates arranges for many hours to climb the mountain. Dan overcomes challenges enthusiastically, expecting something special to be found at the top. But there is nothing special there. After a flash of discontent and disappointment, the student understands what this lesson is about: it is the journey itself that makes us happy, not the ultimate goal.

Many people, especially perfectionists and neurotics, alas, do not understand this. They only care about the end result: to win a competition, get an excellent mark, “win” an attractive person - to achieve success. This is how many people live. It is necessary to achieve the goal, experience short-term satisfaction - and forward to a new peak.

The most important thing remains “behind the scenes”: the “journey” itself, deepening knowledge, acquiring new skills, personal development, new experience.

We should also remember this rule from the film: to enjoy not only the result, but also the process. And the scope of this rule is not limited, because, as Socrates said, "a peaceful warrior trains in everything."