Bruce Lee's philosophy

PoisonFlowerz

I know Buddhism was a major influence on Bruce Lees philosophy, has Bruce Lee influenced any of you in relation to your life philosophy?

The book The Tao of Jeet Kune Do by him has a load of quotes which have helped me further understand the art of Zen, i.e / transcending karma, death of the ego and attaining mental liberation...

here are some of my favorite quotes from the book...

"The way to transcend karma lies in the proper use of the mind and the will. The one-ness of all life is a truth that can be fully realized only when false notions of a separate self, whose destiny can be considered apart from the whole, are forever annihilated"

"Voidness is that which stands right in the middle between this and that. The void is all-inclusive, having no opposite - there is nothing which excludes or opposes. It is living void, because all forms come out of it and whoever realizes the void is filled with life and power and the love of all beings."

"I'm moving and not moving at all. I'm like the moon underneath the waves that ever go on rolling and rocking. It is not, 'I am doing this,' but rather, an inner realization that 'this is happening through me,' or 'it is doing this for me.' The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action."

"Nirvana is to be consciously unconscious or to be unconsciously conscious. That is its secret. The act is so direct and immediate that intellectualization finds no room to insert itself and cut the act to pieces."

" 'To desire' is an attachment. 'To desire not to desire' is also an attachment. To be unattached then, means to be free at once from both statements, positive and negative. This is simultaneously both 'yes' and 'no,' which is intellectually absurd. However, not so in zen."

Open ended discussion here / comments on the quotes ive written out, if any maybe add bruce lee quotes you like, his relation and possible influence on you philosophy or buddhism in general. LET THERE BE DISCUSSION !

genkaku

I once watched a pretty poorly-constructed movie about the styles of fighting that Bruce Lee learned. One by one he learned each specific discipline, each specific style. And when he got done, he decided to teach his own style ... the style of no style.

This was very useful to me because none of his students could really get a handle on it. Each style might have its strengths and weaknesses, but without delving into one style thoroughly, the result would be failure. For me as someone interested in spiritual endeavor, that translated into, "When it comes to the truth, spiritual endeavor is a lie. Practice hard. Learn to lie perfectly."

Not trying to sell anyone else ... just saying what usefulness I found in my skimpy acquaintance with Bruce Lee's adventures.

David

I've always dug Bruce. When I was a kid I loved martial arts films (still do if they have a good storyline and not just about violence) so I loved Bruce before I even knew anything about his philosophy. Before I really knew anything about Buddhism at all.

It was actually pretty cool because I was making the transition between Taoism and Buddhism at the same time I found out about Bruces philosophy which intermixes the two nicely.

I took some Jeet Kune Do in Toronto and enjoyed it except for the grappling. I was told I was good but it was too stinky.

betaboy

Bruce lee was also a j Krishnamurti fan.

Zero

I know Buddhism was a major influence on Bruce Lees philosophy, has Bruce Lee influenced any of you in relation to your life philosophy?

I used to watch the Green Hornet before I realised there was a Bruce Lee - Kato was instantly my favourite!

Not sure how much of my life philosophy I can attribute to him per se - he is partly responsible for my starting martial arts, for developing a split kick, a fast double tap kick and of course the nunchaku...

As a (remote) teacher, he was influential - he created freestyle - he dared to challenge institutions established far before his time - he was brave enough to create something within himself, live it and share it with the world by way of his living example - he brought people together and actively sought to do so - ultimately his way was the 'art of fighting without fighting'... anyone who met him spoke of his 'drive and determination' - he was committed to his way and generous in sharing that.

zenmyste

Bruce lee was a great inspiration.
He took bits from almost every philosophy and made it his own.

"Absorb what is useful
Reject what is useless.." (One of his favourite quotes)

His 'jeet kune do' was also a style which was abit of everything..

He thought that only having ONE style was 'dated' and useless in the modern day.. (He was ahead of his time)

He didn't dwell on ONE style alone..
Yes, his way of thinking was influenced by Buddhism. But mainly Taoism..

He was also a firm believer in thinking 'you can't rely on others teachings to attain enlightenment. Buddhas enlightenment was 'his' enlightenment, not 'ours'

We must find our own way.

Bruce lee for me, is up there with budda, lao tzu, jesus, as regards the worlds enlightened men!

JohnG

One of the remarkable things of Bruce Lee, was that he did not challenge any one style of the martial arts; he believed that each had a usefulness, for a whole. He had to fight an almost insurmountable prejiduce of teaching outsiders (not of Chinease lineage) his style of martial art which was originally Wing chung. He succedded and broke this barriar, and moved on to create his own style of martial art; which he never truly completed. The one ideal I believe he taught wasn't the idea of the person mastering the style, but the student permitting the style to master them. The art of fighting but no fighting. And it is this idea that I belive is how to study Buddhism. :om: