The Wise Die Before Death

The Wise Die Before Death

“The wise man dies before death; he breaks all his connections, separating himself from all identities.  He knows he is neither the body nor the mind; both these will die.  He knows he is not the ego, which is also sure to die.  It is destructible; it is a small form that has appeared like a wave.  No matter how beautiful the wave may be, no matter how high it may rise and boast of touching the skies, the very next moment it begins to drop into oblivion.  In youth all waves boast of touching the skies.  Ask the same people in their old age!”

“In youth the wave is at its peak; therefore youth is foolish.  The West put its faith in youth and suffered, and that suffering is increasing by leaps and bounds.  The Orient never trusted youth or gave it a place of importance, for it would be like giving importance to foolishness.  Youth is the peak of the wave, the longest shadow.  In the length of the shadow you see all kinds of dreams.  What doesn’t each of us dream of becoming?  The East has venerated old age, for then the shadow contracts to almost nothing, and if old age does not awaken you and make you aware of the ego, then when will you awaken?  If you awaken in young age, your life is filled with glory.  If you do not awaken even in old age you are the greatest of fools.  In youth your not awakening can be forgiven; not so in old age.” – Osho “The True Name” pg. 474-475

Tupac and Bruce Lee represent the youth, still full of much ego.  Buddha, Lao-tzu, and Osho represent old age, an ego that they have mastered control over, they are full of wisdom. Buddha, Lao-tzu, and Osho are the sages, the Zen Masters.  Tupac and Bruce Lee were on the path towards becoming Masters, but yet to fully mature before their lives were taken away early.  If you have been inspired by Tupac or Bruce Lee, notice that their expression is incomplete.  When you follow the teachings of great sages, they will give you the full picture.  Yes during your youth you will be full of ego but as you age and become wise, the ego will start to calm down and your expression will be clear and pure.  During your youth, your vision is blurred, your expression is corrupted, there is spirituality mixed in with ego, and that energy can be very dangerous. 

It is like a half truth, Osho would say that a half truth is much more dangerous than a full lie.  Your charismatic strong ego mixed in with spirituality can be responsible for a lot of misguidance in this world.  2pac can inspire millions to smoke weed, drink alcohol, go to jail, use profanity, shoot at cops, and incite violent behavior through aggressive music.  Bruce Lee can inspire millions to forget all about the beauty of choreographed forms, tradition, culture, and respect to elders.  Bruce Lee can inspire millions to become irresponsible rebels who have yet to mature.  Bruce Lee can inspire millions to only care about what actually works in fighting rather than taking the time to deeply understand the meaning behind the non-violent peaceful and graceful expression of the Martial Arts expressed by many Martial Artists from China. 

The artistic expressions of 2pac and Bruce Lee are dangerous expressions.  Their expressions contain half-truths.  The real truth is expressed by Zen Masters, by great sages.  If you truly wish to head towards truth, you cannot stop at 2pac and Bruce Lee, you must go beyond them and study the real sages, such as Buddha, Lao-tzu, and Osho. 

Your Own Experience

Your Own Experience

“Are you sure that the one whose words you are taking in, whose knowledge you are imbibing, is authentic?  You have no way to find out.  You have no criterion to judge the true from the false.  The only real test is when you have your own experience, but then you have no further need to listen to anyone else.” – Osho “The True Name” – pg. 467

With your own experience, you will know what is true and what is false.  I connect so much with Osho’s teachings because his teachings are truths that I have realized within and it’s the same with Bruce Lee.  They have laid the groundwork of sharing their teachings.  Bruce was the first and probably last Asian American to break into Hollywood as a respectable actor, there is no need to do it again, simply promote his teachings, his books, his movies.  Osho had worked for many years and have built a great following, he has thousands of hours of lectures and hundreds of books published, I simply need to promote his work.  I can create my own, but to build a following the way Osho and Bruce had built a following is an enormous task at hand, if it cannot be done, then simply promote the teachings of those who have already built the foundation. 

When a sage is living, people tend to not listen.  After they pass away, then they listen.  That is why it is beneficial to refer to the teachings of sages that have already passed.  Buddha, Osho, Lao-tzu, Bruce Lee. You will not need to listen to anyone when you know, but when you know and you wish to share to others, others tend to only want to listen to those who have passed, that is why quoting the works of those who have passed serves to be very beneficial towards the growth of humanity. 

Books I Recommend

Books I Recommend from Beginners to Advanced Spiritual Development

 1)  “The Artist of Life” Bruce Lee

2)    “The Power of Now” Eckhart Tolle
3)    “The Art of Loving” Erich Fromm
4)    “Tao the Watercourse Way” Alan Watts
5)    “The Taoist Classics Volume 1” Thomas Cleary
6)    “The Book of Life” J.Krishnamurti
7)    “Tao of Pooh” Benjamin Hoff
8)    “Tao Te Ching” Lao-Tzu
9)    “The Spiritual Path: Buddha Zen Tao Tantra” Osho

Real Martial Artists vs. Fighters

“One Bruce Lee is better than 10,000 DisGracies.” – Sifu Freddie Lee

Real Martial Artists cannot be mass produced, you’ll be lucky to encounter one real Martial Artist for ever 10,000 people you meet.

Creation is Not Always Good

Creation is Not Always Good

Creation is not always good.  Giving birth to Adolf Hitler is not good.  You may be a good person but if you teach others to be bad, you are no longer a good person.  They say there is no such thing as bad students; there are only bad teachers.  It is up to you whether or not to create a child; nobody can force you to create a child.  Now if you decide to create a child and you do not raise this child right, you are contributing negativity to this world.  If you are not going to raise the child right, you are better off not creating a child to begin with. 

Now this doesn’t just go with creating children.  I see this truth can be applied to teaching in general.  In particular to teaching something that requires great responsibility.  Teaching somebody the alphabet is one thing.  Teaching somebody how to be responsible with a firearm is another.  Teaching someone how to become fit is one thing.  Teaching someone how to be proficient in self-defense or Martial Arts is another.  A bodybuilder with an over inflated ego is one thing.  A fighter with an over inflated ego is another. 

There can be a group of people who are humble and shy.  And because of your teachings, you have trained these same people to be arrogant bullies.  By doing this, you have not contributed goodness to this world; you have made this society worse.  There can be a group of people who stay home to play video games all day.  And because of your teachings, you have taught these same people to go out to the streets and commit crimes.  By doing this, you have not contributed goodness to this world; you have made this society worse. 

Sometimes it is best not to teach, your teachings can make this world worse than it already is.  When the society is mentally sick, when the society is obsessed with violence, sometimes it is better to have fewer guns out in the market.  When the society is mentally unstable and spiritually lost, the way of Martial Arts may be best to be kept private.  The Way of the Martial Arts will be misunderstood, abused, and exploited.  The Way of the Martial Arts may be best to be transformed to Yoga or Tai Chi for the masses.  Yoga and Tai Chi can be a benefit to the masses but the Way of the Martial Arts is never for the masses, it is for the selected few responsible and mature individuals who have the right spiritual readiness for the training.