*Way of the Peaceful Warrior* author lays wisdom on Monterey via Skype.

Best-selling author Dan Millman’s journey from an athletics coach to a champion of personal and spiritual growth is a story that has taken him a long time to tell – 17 volumes, to be exact.

At the Center for Spiritual Awakening, Millman will discuss his latest novel, The Hidden School: Return of the Peaceful Warrior, and answer questions during an exclusive virtual talk via Skype.

Coleen Gsell, the center’s executive director, decided to host Millman based on the success of his first autobiography, Way of the Peaceful Warrior. She says his beliefs align with the center’s doctrine.

“I hope [audiences] feel inspired to stay on a spiritual path and build a relationship with their inner being,” she says.

Way of the Peaceful Warrior combines truth and fiction in a mentor/pupil tale of discovery that has captivated millions of readers worldwide. It follows the author – or a mostly true-to-life version of him – and his encounter with a mysterious gas station attendant who helps him shift his perspective from future goals to the here and now.

In an email, Millman says he hopes the book offers “an approach to living rather than a philosophy.

“It focuses on constructive action in the moment, rather than seeking ways to fix our thoughts or emotions,” he adds. “We’re all peaceful warriors in training.”

For years, Millman trained as a professional athlete, and was a gymnastics coach at Stanford. “Talent is about 20-percent innate… [and] 80-percent developed,” he said in a TEDxBerkeley talk, a principle which he applies to the inner life.

“Dan Millman is a spiritual seeker,” Gsell says. “He finds a mentor who teaches him how to live in this world in a peaceful way and to lead with love.”

The student has become the master.

DAN MILLMAN speaks via Skype 10am Sunday, June 25, at the Center for Spiritual Awakening, 522 Central Ave., Pacific Grove. Free. 372-1942, thecsa.info@gmail.com.

Editor's note: This story has been updated from the print version that appears in the June 22-28 issue of the Weekly to reflect the following correction. The Center for Spiritual Awakening was identified in one instance as a church; it is not a church, but a spiritual center that draws form multiple faith traditions and the sciences.