Friday, March 21, 2014

Be like water...

Came across this on le internet, which seemed applicable: 

Sifu Yip Man came to Bruce and said, "Lee, preserve yourself by following the natural bends of things and don't interfere. Remember never to assert yourself: never be in frontal opposition to any problem, but control it by swinging with it."

Sifu Yip Man told Bruce to go home for a week and think about his words. Bruce spent many hours in meditation and practice, with nothing coming of it. Finally, Bruce decided to go sailing in a junk (boat). Bruce would have a great epiphany. "On the sea, I thought of all my past training and got mad at myself and punched the water. Right then at that moment, a thought suddenly struck me. Wasn't this water the essence of gung fu? I struck it, but it did not suffer hurt. I then tried to grasp a handful of it but it was impossible. This water, the softest substance, could fit into any container. Although it seemed weak, it could penetrate the hardest substance. That was it! I wanted to be like the nature of water.

"Therefore, in order to control myself I must accept myself by going with, and not against, my nature. I lay on the boat and felt that I had untied with Tao; I had become one with nature."Bruce lay back in the boat and let it drift of its own accord. He was, at that moment, at peace with himself and his environment.

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