Dan Millman’s books have touched millions of readers in twenty-nine languages.
Q. You’ve written 12 books on your own — Bridge Between Worlds is your only collaboration. 
How did you and your co-author come to write the book together, and what was that experience like?
DM: The project was Doug’s idea, which he brought to me. I was about to start another project and was doing fine on my own, but something about the project intrigued me, because it touched on aspects of life I don’t usually address. Plus, Doug is a respected writer-editor friend of mine and it seemed like fun. It was.
Q. Most of your “Peaceful Warrior” books focus on practical, everyday ways to live in the present, face our fears, and so on. In Bridge Between Worlds, you step into another realm of the mysterious and miraculous. What led to this shift?
DM: Well, one tag line for my work is “Head in the clouds, feet on the ground.” Since most of my work is about keeping our feet on the ground, I thought it might be nice to put my head in the clouds. But in a larger sense, The Bridge Between Worlds connects heaven and earth — thus, the title.
Q. Is there any way of really knowing whether these stories, such as the story about the “flying friar,” are completely true and factual?
DM: Some stories were easier to research than others, and even based on direct interviews with people we knew personally, who were in no way “new age light children” but rather, rounded, realistic people who had some extraordinary experiences. Now, for some of the historical stories, such as the amazing one about the “flying friar,” St. Joseph of Copertino, there are literally more than a thousand pages of documented reports by one Pope and members of royalty and other respected members of the community. But now, we weren’t there. Personally, I take an open-minded stance, but did my best to bring a sort of journalistic skepticism rather than a believer’s stance toward any particular story. But we did as much research as possible without spending years in ancient library stacks.
Q. Do you personally believe in the power of prayer or positive thinking?
DM: I can’t name the particular study of a large population of cardiac patients, but as far as I’ve seen, there is no hard evidence that praying for someone else’s healing has any particular power — although I think spending time in prayer or contemplation is probably good for the person doing it, and that sending “good vibes” or blessings in someone else’s direction seems a kind and sweet gesture. Regarding positive thinking, however, I’m less of a fan, since it doesn’t seem realistic to try to eliminate negative thoughts that arise as a product of, say, driving in busy traffic — nor do we have a spam filter in our heads. Let’s just say I believe in positive action — in kind and constructive behavior.
Q. Do you have any comments that might help to reconcile the worlds of science and faith?
DM: Sure. You think I’ll be in line for a Nobel Prize if I’m able to accomplish that? Seriously, we don’t need to reconcile the worlds of science and faith, since they have their own distinct domains, each worthy of respect. However, since our topic and my book title is Bridge Between Worlds, I will address these arenas. I’m a big fan of theory, hypothesis, testing and experimentation, replication and validation. The scientific method and double-blind, controlled experiment pulled us out of the dark ages of superstition.
Science is the religion of the left-brain, applying reason, computation, measurement, testing, evidence, logic and analysis. Faith is the church of the right brain, applying intuitive insight, imagination, inspiration, and contemplative, meditative, “heart-centered” qualities. Scientists and mystics are both seeking to know the laws of the universe; they just use different methods of inquiry. Miracles of the past are the science of today; and miracles of today may be explained by the science of tomorrow. But not everything needs to be explained by science. Sometimes it’s a joy to look up into a starry sky and contemplate the ultimate mystery of our existence.
Q. Do you personally know anyone still living whose story you tell in Bridge Between Worlds?
DM: One example would be my wife’s dear friend, and mine, Carol Benjamin, whose story in the book, titled “Remember the Music,” is moving and powerful. I have no doubt that what Carol reports was a genuine part of her experience. The fact that he had a complete liver transplant and is doing well about twenty five years later is itself a kind of miracle. The visitations and spiritual reality she encountered when she was at her lowest point demonstrates that bridge that can open between worlds when a soul is most in need.
Q. Which is your favorite story in the book?
DM: That’s like asking a parent which of their children is the favorite! Even if I were to relate one story as my singular favorite, which I can’t, other readers would likely pick other favorite stories. I’d rather leave it to readers to find their favorites in this varied mix of extraordinary experiences that changed lives.
Q. You have a great variety of stories involving men and women, ancient and modern times, from the iconic to everyday people from different cultures. Where did you find these stories and on what basis did you select them?
DM: Doug reads widely and had already researched and written about fifteen stories before he asked if I’d like to collaborate with him. I came up with others from credible non-fiction books I had read, such as the story of Mildred Newman, also known as “Peace Pilgrim,” and the book The Spiritual Journeys of Joseph Greenstein (also known as “The Mighty Atom”) written by Ed Spielman, who as a dear friend of Joe’s — who happened to be one of the strongest men who had ever lived. Anyway, don’t get me started on these! There were also historical accounts of Edgar Cayce, “the sleeping prophet,” and the touching story of Buckminister Fuller, and other accounts from different religious and cultural traditions, which we cross-referenced to get our facts straight. Even when these facts or reports couldn’t be empirically proven, they were based on credible witnesses, who sometimes numbered in the hundreds or even thousands.
Q. This book previously came out under the title Divine Interventions — what’s the story of its rebirth as Bridge Between Worlds and how did you come up with the title?
DM: Doug is more closely aligned to religion and prayer than I am, so he came up with the original title, which was fine with me. But for this new and revised edition, we agreed that it didn’t need to be presented in a religious context, requiring faith or belief. The title and theme of a Bridge Between Worlds address the phenomena reported when the conventional and transcendental, the rational and mysteries, meet, and some personal miracles that can occur when they do. I’m actually more involved with an enthusiastic about this new edition than I was about the original. We’ve kept only the strongest stories.
Q. What are your personal beliefs about God, miracles, and the supernatural?
DM: To answer as simply as I can, I’m a Deist — that is, I can’t look up at a starry sky or contemplate the wonders of this world, this universe, without a clear sense of some force or intelligence at work. That doesn’t mean I believe that some God-force actively intervenes in football games to answer the prayers of one team over another! Maybe it was all set in motion billions or trillions of years ago in some Big Bang, with all the laws, the mystery and mechanics, intact — and we’re here sorting it out, doing our best to discover and to live within those laws, today. As I hinted at in an earlier response, as Doug wrote in Bridge Between Worlds, “maybe the supernatural is quite natural after all.” We just haven’t figured everything out yet. And as you’ve probably heard, Einstein said we can either live as if everything is a miracle, or that nothing is.
Q. Do you think there are supernatural or other-worldly powers operating in human affairs?
DM: I’d have to respond with an “I-don’t-know” to that question. If there is some divine force operating in human affairs, I can’t begin to fathom why some are healed and others are not. I’m personally content to live in a world of randomness, where we do our best, but sometimes bad things happen to good people.
Q. Have you ever had an experience or encounter with something you felt was paranormal or supernatural?
DM: Oh, I have a few ghostly stories, but they are best told over a campfire or on All Hallows Eve! In the meantime, Doug and I have, to the best of our abilities, shared some pretty amazing encounters and transformations in Bridge Between Worlds.
