yes, grasshopper

during my recovery, i sat still by watching episodes of the 1973 TV series
kung fu with david carradine.

i loved watching reruns of that series growing up, well before i had read anything about buddhism. something struck me about it, and my dad would tease me about my interest in the show sometimes calling me ‘grasshopper’ just like the zen masters would call the young kwai chang in the show.

seeing the series now, after i’ve studied so much in retreat, is like discovering a shining gem in my youth. the show is surprisingly accurate philosophically. and even the way carradine portrays the wandering monk lost in the old west is consistent with my experience of buddhist monastics. though i don’t know any ass kicking shaolin monks personally. i mean his demeanor and evenness.

i captured some of the quotes from his teachers, to see how they measured up to my buddhist philosophic studies. Click “more” to see some of them.

from the episode “chains”, first aired march 15th, 1973

see the way of life as a stream, a man floats and his way is smooth. the same man turning to swim upstream exhausts himself. to be one with the universe, each must find his true path and follow it.

the cob web is made of silk so fine, a puff of wind destroys it. yet to the spider, it is a secure haven.

when a man finds his way, heaven is gentle.

in reference to a mentally challenged child at the temple, who a small
goat naturally approaches:

“caine: master, the silent one. he is not one of us but here he remains.

master po: the river seeks its own level. it will not fight the rock; it flows around it. the rock becomes a refuge in the river.

caine: but here he is understood, what if he were outside?

master po: is there an outside? who understands the silent one more than a sparrow or a kid [goat]. though nature has clouded his mind and silenced his tongue and twisted his body, it gave a magic to his hands. this the creatures know. is it not a gift more precious than fame, or beauty, or the riches of a king?”

this quote I thought particularly relevant to how people and nations deal with violence today

caine: if a man hurts me, and i punish him. perhaps he will not hurt another.

master kan: and if you do nothing?

caine: he will believe he may do as he wishes

master kan: perhaps, or perhaps he will learn that some men will receive injury and return kindness.

from the episode “alethea”, first aired march 22nd, 1973 featuring a very, very young jodie foster.

The Scroll of Jwong Jo

Long ago, Jwong Jo dreamed that he was a butterfly. He was very joyful as a butterfly. Well pleased with his lot. His aims fulfilled. He knew nothing of Jo, the man. But shortly he awoke and found himself again to be Jwong Jo. And he could not tell whether as Jo he had dreamed he was a butterfly, or whether as a butterfly he had dreamed he was Jo.

caine: Each waking moment, is like a rung on a ladder. Each step we take is built on what has gone before.

caine: Master, we are taught that the most important gift of our natures, is the reaching out to one another.

master po: To say and to listen. To teach what we know truly to those who do not know. To send peaceful thoughts over the bridge of words.

caine: But i am only to speak when spoken to.

master po: Reach out but be wary of what you allow yourself to grasp. Go now, grasshopper, guard above all things the purity of your vision.

from the episode “superstition”, first aired april 5th, 1973

master kan: in time, you will learn to fear only your fear itself.

miner: did you learn [how to fight like that] in china?

caine: yes, and other things more important.

miner: like what?

caine: to celebrate every man’s life in my own.

caine: when a man has nothing, it is then that he is most able to raise himself up.

caine: the power to claim life is not superstition, it is destiny. bow to superstition, and you create a new unhappy destiny.

superstition is like a magnet, it pulls you in the direction of your belief.

from the episode “the stone”, first aired april 12, 1973

recognize that all words are part false, and part true. limited by our imperfect understanding but strive always for honesty within yourself.

what is cowardice, but the body’s wisdom of its weakness. what is bravery, but the body’s wisdom of its strength. the coward and the hero march together within every man. so to call one man coward and another brave merely serves to indicate the possibilities of achieving the opposite.

injustice, cruelty are everywhere. you can fight them here.

to fight injustice anywhere, is to fight it everywhere

as to why the shaolin priests become expert warriors:

those who speak convincingly of peace, must not be weak. so we make every finger a dagger, every arm a spear, and every open hand an axe or sword.

from the episode “the third man”, first aired April 26, 1973

the mountain is beautiful with snow, but after it loses its snow, green grows from underneath. in every loss, there is gain. as in every gain, there is loss.

truth is often hidden like a shadow in darkness

from the episode “the praying mantis kills”, first aired March 29, 1973

(during caine’s archery practice, where he
hits the target without looking)
boy: how did you do that?

caine: i don’t do it. it is not done. it is only experienced. it happens. the [target], the arrow, the bow, all are one. not many things. not different things. one.

boy: i see it but i don’t understand it.

caine: that’s good… it remains a puzzle. when you cease to strive to understand, then you will know without understanding.

caine: master i am troubled, we learn to make powerful the force of our bodies, yet we are taught to reverence all against who we may use such force.

master po: when your life is threatened, or the innocent life of another, you will be prepared to defend them.

caine: being best prepared, better than others, should i not always stand and fight?

master po: ignore the insulting tongue, duck the provoking blow, run from the assault of the strong.

caine: are these not the actions of a coward?

master po: the wild boar runs from the tiger, knowing that each being well armed by nature with deadly strength may kill the other. running, he saves his own life and that of the tiger. this is not cowardice, it is the love of life.

master po: between father and son, there is a bridge which neither time nor death can shatter. each stands on one end needing to cross and meet. the bridge of which i speak, grasshopper, is your love for him.

master po: man, like the animals is meant to live together with others like himself. but the meaning of belonging to such a group is found in silence and the companionship of solitude.

(replying to question if caine will pray with them before a big fight)
caine: do you know the praying mantis? it looks like it’s praying. that’s the position it takes before it kills.

from the episode “the ancient warrior”, first aired may 3rd, 1973

master po: grasshopper, seek first to know your own journeys beginning and end. seek then others journeys of which you are a close part, but in this seeking know patience - wear that travellers cloak which shelters and permits you to endure.

caine: master, what is the best way to meet the loss of one we loved?

master kan: by knowing that when we truly love, it is never lost. it is only after death that the depth of the bond is truly felt and our loved one becomes more a part of us than was possible in life.

our soul does not record time, it merely records growth.

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