Better Never Begin; Once Begun, Better Finish

Padowan asked me to create a book list and immediately one book came to mind above all others: Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman, Why? Because it includes a valid and fairly complete initiatory path: even though the book is fiction (like say, possibly the Gospel of Matthew), the narrative exists to deliver the important stuff that a noob needs to know.

Looking back, I think there's some literary puppetry going on -- Dan most likely invented Socrates for two reasons: 1. It allowed Dan to write the book from the point of veiw of the student, even though he's the teacher. This is wholly missing from a lot of books, being the student he describes his reactions to what's presented in the book. I'd say his depiction is fairly normal. 2. The worthwhile information in the book sounds better coming from a mysterious teacher with a name that's never revealed. Yes, the dude is referred to throughout the book as "Socrates" but that's a nickname. No other name for the character is given. (That I remember. Maybe in the sequel. Been a long time.)

At any rate, expect quite a few other posts inspired by my re-reading of das classic.