Deconstructing Mastery
The Legacy of the Dragon, Bruce Lee himself. He gave us much more than kick-ass movies; A recipe of life.
Most of the progress I have had in my life, physically and mentally , I would owe a huge part of that success to the profound and paradigm shifting teachings of Bruce Lee.
The teachings and philosophies studied and shared by Bruce Lee have stood the test of time, and his teachings go way beyond the Martial Arts domain.
Certain majority of crowds only look at Martial Arts as a mode of fighting, blood and violence, but Bruce Lee was one of the first, who spread the medium of martial arts and kung fu, as a medium of self discovery.
Yes, in the beginning, there was no bound to my own skepticism when I first heard of this idea, but it started sinking in slowly as I began practicing martial arts in 2011.
You cannot just put on some gloves and start pounding fists on a bag and call yourself a martial artist. You need to lay key stress on things like form, technique and flow. It might sound insane and philosophical. But unless you calm down your nerves and think about the most fundamental theories placed by philosophical giants like Bruce Lee himself, you will be eaten away by the lesser important distractions in life.
There is a very good article on brainpickings.com about Bruce Lee’s philosophical side.
Bruce Lee had the habit of writing down every observation and every important thought he had down into a small notebook.
Every handwritten thought he’s ever had, is today more worth than gold to us, if we decide to apply it. He was a Martial Artist before he was ever an actor. And believe it or not, Martial Arts and philosophy go hand in hand.
Martial artists are not shown to be tough because martial arts is a serious discipline. That is just an erronous adaptation done by media.
Martial arts is more of an act of exploring rather than exploiting. Its more liberating rather than constricting. The “Heil Hitler” format of martial arts classes seen today in most places confines students into what I call, an “intellectual cookie mould”. You teach a student one thing, one form, just as the others, and then at the end of the day, student leaves with a certificate and a closed mind (Does this sound familiar?). Martial arts and most other things are learned better when you evaluate your techniques on your own. You learn from your peers and you practice with them. You learn how to stretch yourself from end to end by growing, and not by brute force from your master.
Here is a list of some of Bruce Lee’s unbreakable philosophies you could use in your own life.
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, It often serves simply as something to aim at.”
Now Bruce Lee has been a staunch believer in the philosophy of focusing on the journey rather than the goal, or the prize, because according to most wise men, the journey itself is the prize, if you love what you do. A goal is only a bar you are setting for yourself, to make sure you are progressing. Books like Mastery by George Leonard focus on the same thing. The path of the master holds no grand prize in the end. Because the master finds the prize in waking up every day and practicing the same task over and over, and improving, because he loves doing it.
“Showing off, is a fools idea of glory”
“If you’ve got it, don’t be afraid to flaunt it”.
Is a very straightforward thing to say. Showing something off to your peers is something we do involuntarily, and it makes us feel good. whether its your bicep or your new car, Showing off our short successes and riches is valid in today’s culture ( Truth Bomb Coming up ) because we think that our act of showing off will change the perception of your peers towards you,and that gives us a dopamine hit (happiness). What ends up happening is you become popular amongst your peers as “the show off”.
No one would create a huge facebook post if they lose money in stocks, or if they fail in class. Although it has been proved scientifically that telling people about your failures can actually help you feel better and rectify those mistakes. While Showing off your riches brings us the illusion of short termed happiness. Funny how the world works.
Its true that seeking appreciation for your success is also important, but don’t go looking for it. And try rubbing your success into someones face, if you’re looking for resentment for a change.
“Obey the principles without being bound by them.”
Its easy to say one must question authority and break the rules. I used to feel the same way. I was radical in my actions and didn’t care about the consequences. But one day I met Pralhad Kakkar, the king of advertising, who gave me one piece of advice. He said, “You can only break the rules, when you know what they are.”
Which translates to: Only resentment towards the system will get you nowhere. If you don’t like what’s going on, absorb it, and find a new way out. New systems are born on the foundations set by old ones. Mistakes made by older systems can create new systems. You can have your opinions and prejudices. If you’re at war against something or someone, you must understand that that thing or that someone has come so far based on what he/she has learned. You must comprehend their ways, and if you feel they are entirely wrong, you must improve on them.
I have met people who are complete A-Holes in my life. I dissed them for a while and avoided them, But once I realized that even this A-Hole can teach me what NOT to do in life. So instead of resenting his behaviour, i learned from it, adapted those changes, and applied them in my own behavior.
Tolerance is the key.
“It’s not the daily increase but the daily decrease.Hack away the inessential.”
In a world full distractions,it is very tough to buckle down and focus. In the “Good old days”, there were limited options, so once you’d picked something, it was very unlikely that you would deviate from it. But today, the millennial #FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) philosophy, brings each individual’s attention towards a spectrum of ideas, goals, momentary pleasures and desires, one misses out on the big picture, or keeps changing his goals altogether. Everyday there are kids and teenagers out there picking careers and vocations on the basis of how glamorous and cool they are, rather than the intellectual joy it gives them. This shallow outlook on life makes these kids more susceptible to a million distractions,and unwanted thoughts. Stripping away the unussential could mean different things to different people. You just need to find out what it means for you. Perhaps its a friend that’s bringing you down, a job that is sucking the life out of you, or just a thought about your ex girlfriend thats driving you nuts.
There are a million quotes out there that Bruce Lee has documented. You cannot imagine the depth to which these quotes drive one’s thinking, and how much these simple thoughts are taken for granted. There are lots of Bruce Lee quotes you could analyse yourself, and you too, could be the Dragon, in your own unique way, by embracing these core philosophies.
