Just Do It!
An interview with Dan Millman

Q: What is your definition of "self-mastery"?

DM: Self-mastery involves the recognition what we are not responsible for the thoughts that enter our mind and flow out, and the emotions that pass like the weather - and also what we are responsible for, which is our behavior. My view of self-mastery focuses on acting with kindness whether or not we're in the mood, based on three principles: accept your emotions; know your purpose; then do what needs to be done-whether or not you happen to feel like it at the time.
As I see it, we humans are filled with tendencies. We tend to be lazy or to overwork. We tend to let our emotions drive our behavior. We tend to indulge or to deny ourselves. We tend to be passive or aggressive, lackadaisical or obsessive, to act without thinking or to think without acting. We tend to deny or avoid dealing with problems until the eleventh hour or a crisis. We tend to be self-centered, defensive and resentful. Daily life - spiritual life - tests us, teaches us, challenges us to transcend our tendencies by observing the consequences of our actions through this natural, evolutionary process of living and learning. Self-mastery appears in those moments when we subordinate our little will - our personal tendencies and preferences - to the dominion of our higher will, higher self, higher integrity or higher ideals. It's a conscious movement from "What's in it for me?" to "What will serve the highest good of all involved?" George Bernard Shaw put it well when he said, "Never mind likes and dislikes; they are of no consequence. Just do what must be done. This may not be happiness, but it is greatness."

Q: And how would you define "enlightenment"?

DM: Arbitrarily we can say that there are two realities. A transcendent reality and a conventional reality. For example, the idea that "we are all One" is certainly not true from a conventional viewpoint. If I stub my toe, it doesn't hurt you. If I have a feeling or a thought, you may not have the same feeling or thought. So, conventionally speaking, we're separate individuated beings, physically, emotionally and mentally. But transcendentally speaking, from the viewpoint of higher truth, we are each and all the same Awareness shining through all these different gift wrappings, these different eyes. At that level, we are One. Different truths operate at different levels-conventional truths and transcendental truths.
Now if we're talking about enlightenment, traditionally speaking, we refer to a transcendent Realization that has nothing to do with fixing one's personality, making things work, succeeding, reaching goals, getting what we think we need or want to make ourselves happy, or even achieving self-mastery. Transcendental Enlightenment has been described in many different ways - seeing life from the bigger picture, from a viewpoint at the ends of the universe, through the eyes of God - as a sense of union, communion, unity, and freedom. But really it's beyond words, which is why it's been described in so many different ways. Lao Tsu said, "Those who know do not speak, and those who speak do not know," because we can only point to it. I've had glimpses of that transcendent state.
But I believe this issue of enlightenment becomes more clear if we view life as a series of moments - I often say I've never met an intelligent or neurotic or enlightened being; I've only met people who have more intelligent, neurotic or enlightened moments. I've studied with different masters who were acknowledged by many to be enlightened - or who had declared themselves so and seemed to manifest a presence, charisma, or capacities that some associate with enlightenment. But I've also seen these masters in what struck me personally as some unenlightened moments. It may be more realistic to say that we have a responsibility to realize and live our enlightenment from moment to moment rather than thinking that we'll just have an experience and say, "From now on, that's it. I'm enlightened."

Q: You seem to be suggesting that while enlightenment is in one sense beyond this world, it also must be lived in this world in a very practical way. From that perspective, what do you see as the relationship between enlightenment and self-mastery?

DM: The Indian saint Ramakrishna once said, "If you try to open a walnut when the shell is green, it's almost impossible, but if you wait until the walnut is ripe, it opens with just a tap." Life is our ripening process. I view the quest for self-mastery as a conventional ripening process - something we can learn, do, bring into the world. It occurs in the context of everyday life and involves our functional human capacities - our will - and leads toward our human potential. The quest for self-mastery provides our preparation or ripening. But self-mastery in itself has nothing to do with enlightenment; in a sense, nothing we do has to do with enlightenment! It is by definition a transcendent Realization that I believe that comes by grace. At some point, somebody or something or God working through somebody or something provides the tap when we are ripe. We can not achieve enlightenment by hard work, but we can prepare ourselves, set the foundation, pray, then wait. The rest is on God's timetable.
There's a proverb that goes, "There's God, then there's not paying attention." What I often mention in my seminars is something Rabbi Hillel once said: "There are three mysteries in this world: air to the birds, water to the fish, and humanity to itself." Even now we are immersed in Spirit, whether we call it "God" or "beauty" or "inspiration." After all, it's not as if the weather person on the radio or television says, "Twenty percent chance of rain and forty percent Spirit out today." Spirit, God, is always here but we don't notice. We don't commune with That because our attention is trapped by issues like, "How am I going to pay for the car repair, get to the appointment on time, deal with my relationships and emotional issues, my physical issues, my body?" And on and on. Self-mastery serves as a preparation for noticing God, for communion, for Self-Realization, by cleaning up unfinished business, by confronting and resolving those issues which monopolize or imprison our attention. As we function cleanly and clearly in the world, we liberate our attention to notice God or spirit or beauty. In this sense, self-mastery is our ripening process. Life isn't a neat, orderly, step-by-step process toward enlightenment. Life doesn't offer guarantees. So self-mastery doesn't necessarily leads to enlightenment. But there are laws of reality I've learned from my athletic training, and one of those laws is that if you prepare well, you're more likely to get desired outcomes than if you don't prepare well. But ultimately, we are not in control. Michael Jordan cannot control whether he makes a basket every time. But he can control whether he takes a shot. That's the best we can do in our own lives - to take the shot. Doing so will vastly increase the likelihood of making the basket over not taking the shot. But there is the other side of this issue, which is that we trying too hard may be counter-productive. Trying implies tension and attachment. Remember those five rules for living: First, show up; second, pay attention; third, live your truth; fourth, do your best, and fifth, don't be attached to outcomes (which we can't control).