Way Of The Peaceful Warrior Essay

The American “way of war” is primarily based on the American interpretation of the national fundamentals and values to include capitalism and basic freedoms surrounding financial enterprising as applied in the democratic system. Along with these ideals concerning free marketing and democracy, the American “way of war” seeks to reinforce alliances with nations that uphold similar concepts and values through international trade and commerce. In doing so, the United States intrinsically denounces political ideologies that are contradictory, such as communism.

Ethos is a code or an idea that illustrates what you, or your group, stands for, or how you conduct yourselves. It is a code of ethics that you live by and abide by too. There can be many differnet aspects to it depending on your moral standing of what is right or wrong. Some are born with a better understanding and ability to apply their specific ethos. This ethos is developed over time through the fires of adervsity. It is the chaos of what we call war that makes the warriors ethos. All cultures today have there variations of it.

A change in governance structure can take place due to any variety of causes. While it is well known that Japan was governed for centuries by the warrior class, it is not always known why. The samurai rose to power over a long period of time. Following their eventual rise to the top of the Japanese social ladder, they spent centuries consolidating their new power. There were a number of factors that lead to the rise of the warrior class in the late Heian period, continuing until their the Meiji Restoration.

“All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable” (Thoreau). Resistance to the government is legal when the government becomes tyrannical, which is when it abuses the rights of the people. Peaceful resistance to laws positively impacts a free society because it protects the rights of the people, including life, and if viewed as nonviolent, it can protect terrifying turmoil. Also, peaceful resistance does not always mean civil disobedience, which involves breaking laws, which violent resistance tends to be.

Joseph Campbell, a well know mythologist states in “the Power of Myth” that “a hero is someone who has given his or her life to something greater than oneself” (Campbell 151). Campbell also indicates that there are two types of hero deeds. One type is a physical deed, “in which the hero performs a courageous act in battle or saves a life” (Campbell 151). The second is a spiritual deed, “in which the hero learns to experience the supernatural range of human spiritual life and then comes back with a message” (Campbell 152). In his story “The way of the peaceful Warrior”, Dan Millman tells us about his experience with a white bearded man known as Socrates who takes him on many adventures and gives him knowledge on life. Although

Our world is full of corruption; peace between countries is thrown out the window when power takes charge of everything we know. Because of that, there are issues that are more than difficult to solve- fighting, protest outbreaks, slaughters in the streets, rebels, countries turning their backs on their own people - everything is out of control. In some countries, the intensity has been growing for more than two years, and obviously it’s not getting any better. What we want, what everyone wants, is to have peace. But that is just a product of our imagination as horror is leaked out and we can't stop the wars, hatred, and starvation that destructs the world that we know and love. These issues can affect people who never wanted to get involved: women, children, the elderly. That is what’s so sickening about it all, destruction that is threaded together by greed, power, and selfishness. Most of us might think the officials are exaggerating on the seriousness of these issues, but this is real. If we transition to peace, it could bring up questions about how to handle the security forces. The Security Sector Reform is for rebuilding a country’s security sector, and it contributes to sustaining the peace in differing ways that really keep these societies on their feet.

Charlie and Tommo are the main characters of the novel Private Peaceful, written by Michael Morpurgo. The boys head off in search of their “great adventure,” spending time training in the Salisbury Plains, England and in Etaples, France. Life in the training camps was a complete new experience from their normal day to day life in rural England. The training camps are very strict, they are run by Sergeant Hanley. Everything in the training camps was in lines, straight and organised. We see this when Tommo explains that “we lived every moment of every day together, and usually in lines. We lined up together for shaves, for food, for inspections. Even when we dug trenches, they had to be in lines, straight trenches with straight edges.” Life

Sometimes the longest and toughest journeys are inside one’s mind; and although others cannot notice them instantly, they change personalities profoundly. Dan, the main character, is a gymnast-student for Berkley University, California. His life seems perfect, he has everything he wants: friends, girls, good grades, his talent and passion for gymnastics and the strive to go to the Olympics. Until he meets Socrates. Socrates is a gas station attendant who leaves a mark in Dan’s memory right from the beginning. When they start to get to know each other, Dan understands that he’s nothing but a fool, and that he needs Socrates’s guidance to wake up and reach a deeper state of knowledge, a state of enlightenment.

Conversely, your future is something that you should want to try to be ahead of if possible. I think the drawbacks of not having long-term goals and plans to achieve them are that you wouldn’t know what is ahead of you for your future and it is always significant that you know what

Non- violence is wanted by many but practiced by few. It is not a feasible option, nor is it an alternative for today’s world at all. The world is not seen as a peaceful place to each unique person because of the many diverse religions, cultures, and beliefs that comprise us. Things seen in one’s eyes may be something totally different in another’s. Quoted by Gandhi himself “One man’s food could be another’s poison,” hence in some religions, terrorism is seen as the acceptable thing to do; yet in others, it may be seen as horrible and horrific (450). Although Gandhi had many great beliefs and theories, the world itself has many of its own too.

Non-violent values and peaceful powers must be the pursued alternative, because the previously believed myth of the honorable and noble wars is reduced to a lie. It is obvious that Struk uses many quotations by soldiers in her book to prove this through narrating their experience of war. For example, one of the veterans who came back from Iraq comments on his experience in 2005:

“The Way of The Warrior,” or Bushido is the name given to a set of Japanese values stressing honor and loyalty to country and family above everything else. These values began to develop among the samurai and eventually became the warrior class’s code of conduct. Bushido was spontaneously developed over hundreds of years as a way of life for samurais. Throughout the years the principle tenets of Bushido changed and varied, but a general emphasis on loyalty to country and family, and a downplaying of individualism remained constant throughout the ages. Akira Kurosawa is a descendent of the samurai class and whatever part heredity and environment may have played, Kurosawa’s films include very pure forms of compassion, honesty, loyalty and actions based on belief, all of which are elements of the Samurai Bushido. The application of bushido in his films is obvious, and Kurosawa’s commitment to the virtues of the bushido is certainly part of the success of his films, including Seven Samurai and Yojimbo.

“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less”. As americans, people believe if we experience more we are happier. In the film, Peaceful Warrior, Dan shows the audience this is not entirely true. Most people find happiness not seeking more. But enjoying less or things they currently have. Happiness is found within. Dan begins to seek happiness within his self. However, in Peaceful Warrior, Dan’s life begins to turns into self vs. alter ego conflict as he seeks for happiness.

At the conclusion of the nineteenth century, an era referred to as the “redemption” period, the white population organized many revolts and riots against the black population (White, Bay, and Martin 2012, 398). These acts, for example, banned the black population from voting, forbid them from becoming educated, and threatened their safety and well-being (White, Bay, and Martin 2012). These racially driven uprisings, which where coordinated by the white population, continued into the twentieth century. However, following the First World War, the black American possessed “a keener and more sharply defined consciousness, not only of his duties as a citizen, but of his rights and privileges as a citizen of the United States” (Scott 1919).

     True to many observers that since there hasn't been any major conflicts to start the second half of the 20th century that there should be peace and prosperity in the world. The truth though shows a different picture of this time period. Prosperity was very prevelent in the world and many of the countries that were ravaged during the second World War did quite well after. Aid from outside countries such as the United States helped countries like France dig themselves out of the rubble that was and enter a time of growth.