A few people didn’t get the joke in yesterday’s post. Obviously, the writer goofed and the SGI in the story is Silicon Graphics International. I thought it was funny, but then I have a warped sense of humor. The photo was doctored too, just in case anyone thinks Daisaku Ikeda really spends his spare time working on computers.
There are no sacred cows in my world. I posted a link a few weeks ago to an article about the Dalai Lama barhopping, for whatever that is worth.
Moving along:
Have you seen the new The Karate Kid? From what I understand, it takes place mainly in China, which makes me think they should have named it The Kung-fu Kid.
Here is a nod to Pat Morita who starred in the original film. If you are under a certain age, it’s likely that you only know Morita from Happy Days and the Karate Kid series. However, if you are over a certain age, you might remember that Morita was also a very hip stand-up comic. In fact, when he was starting out and playing in places like the hungry i in San Francisco, he called himself “The Hip Nip.” He was a member of the Groundlings, too.
I loved to listen to Pat Morita speak in his real voice because no one could talk better jive/hipster/beatnik talk better than he could. At Rafu Shimpo, Los Angeles Japanese Daily news, Überproducer Jerry Weintraub Remembers Pat Morita.
Now Bruce Lee probably did more to popularize martial arts than anyone else to this time, or certainly, martial arts movies, and he also helped popularize the saying about the finger pointing to the moon when he used it in Enter the Dragon. Bruce Lee was a student of both Buddhism and Taoism. Krishnamurti was another major influence. Below is an article Lee wrote to explain the principles of Jeet Kune Do, his non-classical martial arts system. I think it offers guidelines that are applicable to any “Do” or way:
Liberate Yourself from Classical Karate
by Bruce Lee
I am the first to admit that any attempt to crystalize Jeet Kune Do into a written article is no easy task. Perhaps to avoid making a ‘thing’ out of a ‘process’. I have not until now personally written an article on JKD. Indeed, it is difficult to explain what Jeet Kune Do is, although it may be easier to explain what it is not.
Let me begin with a Zen story. The story might be familiar to some, but I repeat it for it’s appropriateness. Look upon this story as a means of limbering up one’s senses, one’s attitude and one’s mind to make them pliable and receptive. You need that to understand this article, otherwise you might as well forget reading any further.
A learned man once went to a Zen teacher to inquire about Zen. As the Zen teacher explained, the learned man would frequently interrupt him with remarks like, “Oh, yes, we have that too….” and so on.
Finally the Zen teacher stopped talking and began to serve tea to the learned man. He poured the cup full, and then kept pouring until the cup overflowed.
“Enough!” the learned man once more interrupted. “No more can go into the cup!”
“Indeed, I see,” answered the Zen teacher. “If you do not first empty the cup, how can you taste my cup of tea?”
I hope my comrades in the martial arts will read the following paragraphs with open-mindedness leaving all the burdens of preconceived opinions and conclusions behind. This act, by the way, has in itself liberating power. After all, the usefulness of the cup is in it’s emptiness.
Make this article relate to yourself, because though it is on JKD, it is primarily concerned with the blossoming of a martial artist—not a “Chinese” martial artist, a “Japanese” martial artist, etc. A martial artist is a human being first. Just as nationalities have nothing to do with one’s humanity, so they have nothing to do with martial arts. Leave your protective shell of isolation and relate ‘directly’ to what is being said. Return to your senses by ceasing all the intervening intellectual mumbo jumbo. Remember that life is a constant process of relating. Remember too, that I seek neither your approval nor to influence you towards my way of thinking. I will be more than satisfied if, as a result of this article, you begin to investigate everything for yourself and cease to uncritically accept prescribed formulas that dictate “this is this” and “that is that” . . .
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In the early days of my Buddhist practice, I was often told to have faith like flowing water. Faith in Buddhism is testing, understanding, and then practicing the teachings.
