The Mountain Path
- Socrates sends Dan out to sit on a stone behind the station until he has something of value to tell him. Dan heads for the rock, sits there and meditates, and returns with an insight that isn't profound enough for the old man. This cycle repeats a few times until a memory of losing his focus in the gym sparks Dan to think:
- There are no ordinary moments. All are special.
- The old man approves of this insight, and we're on our way to the next event in the story.
- In the next phase of his training, it's actually Joy working with Dan, not Socrates. Joy leads the youth in running for miles and miles in the hills.
- More training. Socrates tells Dan he needs to develop loose, flexible muscles, like Oscar, the gas station cat. Dan follows the old man's guidance in massaging his own muscles, surprised to find himself, an athlete, learning so much more about his body.
- The next day, Joy makes Dan run more and more in the hills. In the rain and everything else. This book makes us feel guilty for not exercising enough. But Dan succeeds in our place, thankfully.
- He tells Joy this amount of running probably isn't healthy with his still-healing leg. She agrees, pointing out that this most recent run was intended as a test of his spirit.
- Back at the gas station, Socrates starts playing catch with Dan using daggers. The mentor uses it as an opportunity to talk about satori, the state of full, free attention resting in the present moment. Many feel it during performances, but the task, Socrates says, is to feel it all the time.
- Socrates teaches Dan some aikido, and Joy leads him on more runs. The youth finds his gymnastics abilities improving as a result of all this extra training.
- One day, in the middle of a run, Socrates suddenly stops and sits down. Uh oh, a hint of some weakness in the guru. Joy takes over the training for him.
- But soon enough, Socrates is back in action, and this time he's teaching Dan in, of all things, gymnastics. He tells Dan that he, Socrates, will be coming to the school gym. Dan invents an excuse for his coach and teammates about how his eccentric grandfather who fancies himself a coach wants to visit. So for the next few days, Socrates is in the gym, telling Dan to meditate his actions by paying just as much attention to non-performance moments, such as taping his wrists, as performance ones.
- Susie hears Dan is back in the gym. She brings two friends, Michelle and Linda the redhead, to watch. Pretty soon Dan is ogling Linda and hoping to see her again.
- Socrates tells Dan to dedicate his training to life, not to the purpose of winning competitions. He says people can control their efforts, not outcomes, though, he admits, it isn't realistic to not care about outcomes at all.
- Dan begins dating Linda, even though he doesn't have much time due to all his training. He misses Joy, but she's always mysteriously disappearing.
- Dan's gymnastics team gets closer and closer to the 1968 National Collegiate Championships. On the final night, Dan's energy inspires his teammates. He is the last man to perform. With all the spirit and focus he's developed from his gas station training, he peacefully performs an amazing routine, scoring a 9.85. His team becomes the champions.
- On the flight home, however, Dan feels numb, at a dead-end. All this achievement has not brought him happiness; the gymnastics has only been an illusion. He still cannot find happiness.