Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CONTINUED
CONTINUED
Lee-You: Why are you following me? What do you want? AH! You are from the
temple. Have you nothing better to do?
Young KCC: I was instructed to follow you.
Lee-You: Come now. You can think of a better story than that.
Young KCC: It is the truth, Lee-You. I am doing what Master Poe told me to do.
Lee-You: So wise a man, said to follow me. Why?
Young KCC: He said you could teach me a great knowledge.
Lee-You: (Laughs) But I cannot read or write. What can I teach anyone?
Young KCC: Master Poe said you had found both great wisdom and great happiness.
And if I observed you, I might learn what they are.
Lee-You: (Laughs again) Such a fine joke Master Poe has played on you. Sending
you to tramp on the dusty roads, after an old man, who does the only thing he can do.
He lives every day from its start, to its end, and hopes there may be another to follow.
Young KCC: There must be more?
Lee-You: Nothing more, my son. But if you choose to think there may be more, you
are welcome to follow.
CONTINUED
Lee-You: You are the only helper I have ever had. How long have you been with me
now?
Young KCC: I cannot remember.
Lee-You: You are not paid. The work is hard. Why do you continue?
Young KCC: I have not learned what Master Poe wishes me to learn.
Lee-You: AH. That Master Poe. To play such a cruel game on a good boy. Hey, go
swim in the river. I will not tell.
Young KCC: I am here to learn.
Lee-You: Ahhh. Will it ever be done?
Young KCC: You do not know?
Lee-You: I grow old. Everyday weariness takes a little a more of me. Would you
finish my work?
Poe: Will you, Grasshopper? If needed, would you finish Lee-You’s work?
Young KCC: I hesitate, Master. For it is Lee-You’s work. And only he knows its
purpose.
Poe: Ahhhhh. Then you no longer think him confused?
Young KCC: No Master. I now see the great clarity that instructs his efforts.
Poe: Clarity?! When he treasures what is worthless?
Young KCC: Each piece of porcelain finds a new value in Lee-You’s work (building
a statue).
Poe: You have begun to learn.
Young KCC: But, this is not the great knowledge of which you spoke?
Poe: Take heart. From the accomplishment of Lee-You, the work of many years. One
small piece. Now another, and another, and another.
(Lee-You dies)
Continued
Continued
Kahn: What must we say of a mirror that receives tranquillity, yet reflects a troubled
brow? The mirror I spoke of was you, student Caine.
Young KCC: It is not with myself I am troubled with, Master. But for the sick man
Leu. If he does not accept the loss of his hand, he will die.
Kahn: did not Won-Que, make this clear to him?
Young KCC: Yes, Master, but..
Kahn: Yes?
Young KCC: Shall we not act in spite of the obstinacy of the sick man? When
inaction may destroy him?
Kahn: Is it your feeling that Won-Que is not forceful enough?
Young KCC: I have asked myself that question.
Kahn: Look to the water at your feet. Does not the sage say: "What is more yielding
than water? Yet, back it comes again, wearing down the ridged strength, which cannot
stand to its strength. What is more forceful than quite water?"
Continued
FLASHBACK:
DAYS LATER:
CONTINUED
CONTINUED
Leu: (Back at Leu’s temple) Be still. Stand silent. The air is filled with a multitude of
creatures. Some human, some not. Bind them to yourself, and you will learn the
secrets of life. Creatures of light, burn bright. Creatures of earth, hold true. Creatures
of fire and smoke, incense and perfume, cast away any phantoms of evil intent.
Appear, come forth and serve your master!!
CONTINUED
Young KCC: Master. I have been to the temple of the sorcerer Leu. I followed him
thinking to learn great secrets. I ran away.
Poe: Before you learned his great secrets?
Young KCC: He cursed me. As he cursed the boy who died. Now …I will die! (Poe
holds a candle up to a mirror). Will this lift the curse?
Poe: What do you see in the mirror?
Young KCC: The flame of the candle.
Poe: Is the mirror harmed by the flame?
Young KCC: No, Master. It only reflects it.
Poe: Be like the mirror.
Young KCC: How do I do that?
Poe: Allow no evil to pass through you. Reflect it to its source.
Young KCC: Then shall I be safe.
Poe: Go to sleep, Grasshopper.–KF*
Young KCC: A threat cannot harm, unless you accept it.–KF*
Quote at end of a KF show: That we are possessed by what we would posses; held
in bondage to earth and vested things by the attachments we form for them. Even so
holy a thing as a chalice, so slight a thing as a pebble."(The reference to the pebble is
the one KCC has to extract from the masters hand in order to leave the temple. The
chalice reference is what was stolen by several individuals, during the episode, and
finally retrieved by KCC) –KF*
Young KCC: And what is it to be a man?
Kahn: To be a man is to be one with the universe.
Young KCC: But what is the universe?
Kahn: Rather ask, what is not the universe.
Young KCC: Then it is everywhere?
Kahn: It is in your eye, and in your heart. As a seed of the peach contains the
fragrance of the flower, and the substance of the fruit.
Young KCC: And the bitter pit at its core?
Kahn: Even that.–KF*
KCC: You are a good son.
O-Sky: What is a son, without a father or mother?
KCC: Is not a son the love of a mother and a father, and the life they gave him? A
design of the universe he must fulfill, if he is to be a man.–KF*
Poe: What is it grasshopper?
Young KCC: I have been troubled.
Poe: I have sensed that in you these past days. While your body has been healing,
your spirit has sickened.
Young KCC: It is because I have done nothing about the murder of my parents.
Poe: And what do you propose to do?
Young KCC: Find General Chung, kill him!!
Poe: You a boy, not yet a man. Against the ruthless warlord and his soldiers.
Young KCC: If I can find him alone, it could be done.
Poe: And being done, what do you derive?
Young KCC: Satisfaction.
Poe: Huh…(pause, he blows out one of many lit candles). Is there now more or less
light in this chamber?
Young KCC: There is less.
Poe: Is it not more important that you find yourself, than a killer of men? Would your
parents not wish you to go forward to life and light? Rather than backwards to death
and darkness?
Young KCC: How do I find myself and the light?
Poe: By taking the path that leads to the truth.
Young KCC: Will you help me walk the path?
Poe: I can only point the way, Grasshopper. You must walk the path yourself.–KF*
Poe: What is in your heart Grasshopper!?
KCC: That is the man who killed my mother and my father!
Poe: Revenge is a double edged sword. It cuts both ways. Either Jung Sue just will
kill you or you will destroy yourself. A rather suicide of your spirit. Grasshopper, the
wheel of life has turned inexorably, by the infinite stars. So it is, the truth will not be
cheated. Consider General Jung. Reduced to stealing some few bags of rice. Is not the
wheel crushing him? Is it not his path which he treads with his own feet, leading to an
eternal grave?–KF*
KCC: Is the spirit of a man sustained by food [or drugs, alcohol, etc], or warmed
by outer garments?–KF*
Poe: Your final test. The urn of the two symbols. The dragon and the tiger. When
you can walk in this corridor, the path to the outer world, and can push the urn aside
with your forearms, you will bear its markings with you for the rest of your life.
KCC: Hundreds of pounds of burning coal and iron. How can I, Master? Having only
the strength of a man, and the weaknesses.
Poe: It is because you are a man that you can do this, Grasshopper.
KCC: I do not understand.
Poe: As the softest clay, in time, becomes the hardest brick. A fragile leaf - a
diamond. As a stream of fiery ore freezes into unbending iron. So too may a man
ascend to himself.
KCC: How?
Poe: By slowly forging the Chi within yourself. The bond between the finite and the
infinite. The inner essence of your spirit and the limitless power of the universe.
KCC: How can I do this?
Poe: You will have found your strength and the source of your survival. You will be
free.–KF*
KCC: Master, I am troubled.
Kahn: Why?
KCC: My parents are long dead. General Jung is tumbled from his arrogance and
power. Yet within me anger boils as water in a heated pot.
Kahn: Observe the day lily. Each morning, with the warmth of the sun it opens in
lovely blossom. Each night it closes.
KCC: I do not understand. What has a flower have to do with my anger?
Kahn: Once your anger warmed you, and like the flower you opened to it. That is long
past. It is night.
KCC: Am I then to do nothing, feel nothing, be still?
Kahn: Still water is like glass. It is the perfect level. A carpenter can use it. The heart
of a wise man is tranquil and still. Thus, it’s the mirror of heaven and earth. The glass
of everything. Be like still water. You look into it, and see yourself.–KF*
KCC: If I worry, will the future change?–KF*
Man: What is this place?
KCC: It is a temple.
Man: A temple? How did I get here?
KCC: I saw you struggling in the river.
Man: You pulled me out?!
KCC: You were drowning.
Man: As I wanted to. Never before had the courage.
KCC: Cannot courage give you joy to live?
Man: Tell me the joy of an empty stomach.
LATER
Man: Do you want your blanket back?! It is not mine. I do not deserve it.
KCC: You may keep the blanket.
Man: It is little enough. Too little. Where will I go, how will I eat?
KCC: You are welcome to stay.
Man: No! I cannot fill my belly on your thin soup, and your thinner
pieties(philosophies)!!
KCC: We can give only what we have.
Man: I want what was in my hand, when you took it from me.
LATER
CONTINUED
CONTINUED
Young KCC: (He observes the boy take a fruit, he then walks over to the tree when
the boy leaves)
Kahn: Admiring my tree Kwai-Chang?
Young KCC: Yes, Master. What is my duty to the law?
Kahn: You must assist the law. To serve justice.
Young KCC: I have seen a law broken. Would I serve justice if I let it go unpunished?
Kahn: What is the purpose of the law?
Young KCC: Discipline.
Kahn: And who is served by this discipline?
Young KCC: Each one who obeys the law.
Kahn: Then to break a law of self-discipline denies justice only to oneself.
Young KCC: Is it the same of all laws
Kahn: Consider. If you break, do you deny justice only to yourself?
CONTINUED
CONTINUED
CONTINUED
Poe: Grasshopper?
Young KCC: Yes, Master?
Poe: It is I, or a dream?
Young KCC: It is you Master, as it truly was last night.
Poe: I will accept your judgment.
Young KCC: After you left, I remembered more of the dream. And of the strange
beast, that was so frightened.
Poe: Yes?!
Young KCC: He tried to speak to me. He tried again and again. But he was unable.
Then he turned and was gone.
Poe: Did he simply disappear?
Young KCC: No. He passed through a red door.
Poe: Is it your wish to enter? (They stand in front of a room with a red door)
Young KCC: Yes. I will then know what the gentle beast was trying so hard to say.
Poe: Let’s see. I’ll follow you (They enter).
Young KCC: It is only an empty chamber. Has it no purpose?
Poe: Let us call it, the chamber of the answer. Tell me what you see?
Young KCC: Only a red door (The room is empty).
Poe: Does it lie before you?
Young KCC: Yea.
Poe: Ahhh. Then that is where your answer must be waiting. Behind the red door
(Poe closed the door they just walked through).
Young KCC: But I…But I am behind it.
Poe: Are you?
CONTINUED
Poe: Do not fear. She will be taken care of. She is about to bring forth a new life (A
woman is in labor).
Young KCC: I know, Master. I heard her baby cry.
Poe: That is…most unusual.
Young KCC: Do I deceive myself? Could such a thing truly happen?
Poe: It was you who heard. Life calls to life.
Young KCC: A baby, not yet born, calls to me. I do not understand.
Poe: Nor do I. But how beautiful.
CONTINUED
Poe: Grasshopper?
Young KCC: Yes, Master?
Poe: You sit very still.
Young KCC: I listen for the cry of new life.
Poe: Soon. The woman’s time approaches swiftly
Young KCC: The life she will bring forth will live.
Poe: That is our wish.
Young KCC: I know it master.
Poe: Yes, you do. Strange. A thing of wonderment. You and this infant, not yet born.
You are as candle and flame. Separate, and not separate.
Young KCC: There must be others bound together in this fashion?
Poe: I would not disagree.
Young KCC: Perhaps then, there are couplings beyond couplings?
Poe: I would not disagree.
Young KCC: Do you think, could it be that all men are bound together, and all
things?
Poe: There is not reason to believe so. Nor reason not to believe so.
Young KCC: How can we learn the answer?
Poe: That is simple. Do not seek it.–KF*
KCC: You once told me my present is rooted in my past.
Poe: And it is through those roots we draw our nourishment and strength.
KCC: Do not the roots then also, form the future?
Poe: Uprooted, can the tree flourish and bear fruit? Without the fruit, what may bear
the seeds of future generations? And thus, fulfill the ordained cycle of eternity.
KCC: Then my future is rooted in my past. And half my roots are across the sea, in
America. How will I find my place?
Poe: Time and your Tao (Dow) will tell you that, Grasshopper.–KF*
Kahn: Had you good cause to risk this danger? (Older KCC and older monk
fought/sparred unsupervised)
KCC: My purpose was to prove my agility, and my courage.
Kahn: I had hoped such qualities were already yours.
KCC: I sought to test them.
Kahn: For yourself, or them (younger monks observed the match)? It is better to see
yourself truly, then care about how others see you.
KCC: If I look truly, will I see truly?–KF*
Kahn: A picture of the world we live in. Now you will tear your papers, thus.
When you are finished, you will reassemble the pieces in their proper place (They are
tearing up a map of the world).
Young KCC: Master Kahn? I have finished, Master.
Kahn: So swiftly? It is correct. In all respects. How did you do it, my son?
Young KCC: It was not difficult, Master. On the other side was a picture of a man. I
put the man together, and the world was remade at the same time.
Kahn: The man. The world. The wholeness of each, seems related.
Young KCC: And all men, added together. Do they not make up the world we live
in?–KF*
(CUT OFF ON TAPE)
Young KCC: ROAR!!!!
Kahn: Happy New Year, honorable demon.
Young KCC: Why do you not tremble before me?
Kahn: Is the disciple Caine then so fearful?
Young KCC: How did you know?
Kahn: Your Chi is not that of a demon, Kwai Chang. Only a mask. Thus while you
appear to be a demon, your inner energies betray who you really are.
Young KCC: I suppose the trouble is I don’t really want to be a demon.
Kahn: You have hit on a profound truth. Can you not tell me what it is?
Young KCC: I must first decide who and what I want to be.
Kahn: And then? In order to achieve that ideal?
Young KCC: I must become one with it.
Kahn: Posses and be possessed by it. Until you are what you will to be, and not
merely a mask. Attempting to deceive yourself and others.–KF*
Poe: You are the new student. Come closer.
Young KCC: You cannot see.
Poe: You think I cannot see.
Young KCC: Of all things, to live in darkness must be the worst.
Poe: Fear is the only darkness. Take your broom and strike me with it. Do as I tell
you, STRIKE! (Misses). Again. (Misses again, and is disarmed). Here, catch. (Poe
laughs). Never assume because a man has no eyes he cannot see. Close your eyes.
What do you hear?
Young KCC: I hear the water. I hear the birds.
Poe: Do you hear your own heart beat.
Young KCC: No.
Poe: Do you hear the grasshopper, which is at your feet.
Young KCC: Old man, how is it that you hear these things?
Poe: Young man, how is it that you do not?–KF*
Poe: You have learned discipline and acquired many new abilities. However,
never forget that a priests life is a simple one. And must remain free of ambition.
KCC: Have you no ambition, Master Poe?
Poe: Only one. Five years hence. It is my wish to make a pilgrimage to the forbidden
city. It is a place where even priests receive no special status. There in the temple of
heaven, will be a festival. A full moon of May. It will be the thirteenth day, of the
fifth month, of the year of the dog.
KCC: That is not such a great ambition.
Poe: Who among us is without flaw!–KF*
Kahn: You must prepare yourself, for what lies ahead in your chosen role as
priest. The nature of wind and fire and ice. The frailty of the human condition in
hunger, thirst, and fatigue. The predatory instincts of living things. The greed and the
finality buried in the hearts of men. You must be prepared to survive through all of
this. These graceful movements you now perform, along with the rigors of all those
disciplines, which your masters impose upon you, will help you to develop the inner
strength - that which we call Chi. And when you come to meet your greatest test. Your
highest challenges. When you call upon your Chi, it will not desert you.–KF*
Poe: What do you look for beyond the sea, Grasshopper?
KCC: That part of me which I know little of. The past out of which I was born
Poe: Then someday you must seek it.
KCC: But is it good to seek the past, Master Poe? Does it not rob the present?
Poe: If a man dwells on the past, then he robs the present. But if a man ignores the
past, he may rob the future. The seeds of destiny are nurtured by the roots of our
past.–KF*
Young KCC: Master, can these things be real? (KCC watched a prestidigitator
conjure up a tree out of nowhere, and then make it disappear, leaving behind fruit on
the floor)
Poe: Did you not see them with your own eyes?
Young KCC: Is it not possible the Lama put them into our minds, to make us believe
they were there?
Poe: We are taught that all things are possible.–KF*
Kahn: It is often said, that to be effective one must act with forthrightness and
great force. But what is to be gained from such a course? If the end one (won ?) is
embarked upon, is a righteous action. It flows the way of the Tao (Dao). Forces are in
motion, to which we cannot add, from which we cannot subtract. If our path is right,
there is only one course to follow. The correct action is to do nothing. And all will be
done.–KF*
Young KCC: Do such things exist?
Kahn: Do wars, famine, disease, and death exist? Do lust, greed, and hate exist?
Young KCC: They do, but how? Where do they come from?
Kahn: They are man’s creations. Brought to being by the dark side of their nature.–
KF*
CONTINUED
Young KCC: How can man rid himself of such terrible things?
Kahn: Each man, must start with himself, within himself, by slowly forging his Chi.
The inner essence of his spirit, and the limitless power of the universe. Only thus, can
you conquer the power… and the presence of evil.–KF*
Kahn: Communication between self and self; between self and others, may take
many forms. Dreams are a language which we may learn to interpret. Our deeper self,
talking to our self. The needs, the sensations, the flights of fancy of others, imprinting
on our own. Take heed, not to disregard these communications. But rather listen. And
hear what they have to say.–KF*
Poe: A lady of peace and serenity. The man who carved it felt that, and carved it
into the bone.
Young KCC: It belonged to the man who saved my fathers life.
Poe: And may perhaps, one day, permit you to pay the debt your father owed to this
man.
Young KCC: How is that possible? When both he and my father are dead.
Poe: But your father had a son, who lives. And this man, too, might have a son. Or
perhaps a grandson. As a son inherits his fathers goods, so he inherits his debts.
Young KCC: And may pay in turn, to his son?
Poe: If such a one exists. And accepts the payment. This may be the token which
identifies it.
Young KCC: How?
Poe: It is the talisman by which you will recognize each other.
CONTINUED
Young KCC: We spoke of debt, to the man who saved my fathers life.
Poe: Ah, yes Grasshopper.
Young KCC: Must I indeed pay this debt?
Poe: Did your father acknowledge it?
Young KCC: Yes, Master.
Poe: And uh…do you acknowledge it?
Young KCC: Yes, Master.
Poe: Then if circumstances permit you, seek out the man who can receive payment, or
if he seeks you out, you must pay.
Young KCC: How can payment be made for the loss of life?
Poe: He must tell you.
Young KCC: And if he asks too much?
Poe: What is too much? This man gave everything he had, unasked. In turn, his heir
may demand from you anything he wishes, short of your own life.
Young KCC: And I must pay it?
Poe: Are you, or will you be a man of honor?–KF*
Poe: We pay tribute to our beloved Nun-Chi. The sage says: A man is born gentle
and weak. At his death, he is hard and cold. Green plants are tender and filled with
sap. At their death, they are withered and dry. Therefore the stiff and unbending is the
disciple of death. The gentle and unyielding is the disciple of life. May our gentle and
lovely Non-Chi be consecrated to life, even in her death. And may she find eternal
peace.–KF*
Young KCC: I stare at you and speak.. You stare back and say nothing.
Poe: A piece of cloth upon a wall. Truly Grasshopper, do you expect a reply.
Young KCC: I realize the tapestry cannot speak, Master.
Poe: Then who is it that you address? Yourself?
Young KCC: Yes.
Poe: And are you able to answer the question, the tapestry cannot?
Young KCC: No, Master.
Poe: Is it not because the tapestry is mute, so are we, so long as we are held immobile
by the lightly woven threads of fear.?
Young KCC: What must I do, Master?
Poe: You will know that once you have sought out your demon, and confront him.
Only then will you come face-to-face with the thing you fear. That which you gave
the shape of, this demon.–KF
Continued
Poe: (speaking in the background) It is a time when the body is at its weakest. And
the mind, seeking to protect itself, looks for something beyond itself. It creates in its
fear, a figure that exacts a more terrible price.–KF*
Continued
Continued
(NOTE: The plea of a frightened boy cannot change the will of destiny).
Poe: For at the right time, all may be reached.–KF*
Poe: The sage says: "Return good with good. Return evil with justice.–KF*
Poe: Still troubled, Grasshopper?
Young KCC: Sometimes, Master. It seems as if a wall lies between myself and others.
A wall through which I may see, but may not touch.
Poe: You feel the fault within you?
Young KCC: I do not know where the fault lies. But I feel apart.
Poe: In your conversation with this other, more is left unsaid than is said?
Young KCC: It is so.
Poe: Who can know himself well enough to hear all. The sage says "Shape clay into a
vessel, cut doors and windows for a room. It is the spaces within which make it
useful. So we must listen for the spaces between us. We must hear the silences.–KF*
KCC: Master, how can we find our way when all paths seem dark?
Poe: The way runs true through the darkness. Through shadow. Neither is cause for
despair. The sage has said: "The 5 colors blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear.
The five flavors dull the taste. Therefore, the wiseman is guided by what he feels, not
by what he sees." When our senses are confused and overpowered, our deeper
feelings may yet keep us on the way.–KF*
KCC: Master. I am puzzled.
Poe: That is the beginning of wisdom.
KCC: I have seen you laugh, and I have seen you cry.
Poe: And you do not?
KCC: We are taught discipline.
Poe: The purpose of discipline is to live more fully. Not less.
KCC: But how shall I know if my sorrow is only the echo of self pity; or my laughter
the preening of my own happiness?
Poe: The bird sings in the forest. Does it seek to be admired for its song? Let tears
come, when your heart tells you of its sadness. Let joy come unasked, unplanned.–
KF*
Poe: It is written: "Shape clay into a vessel, it is the space within that gives it
value. Place doors and windows in a house. It is the opening that brings light within.
Set spokes within a wheel. It is the emptiness of the hub that makes them useful."
Therefore, be the space at the center. Be nothing. And you will have everything to
give to others.–KF*
KCC: (He is shooting a bow and arrow at a target, in the black of the night). I do
not do archery for killing.
Man: What do you use it as?
KCC: A form of meditation.
Man: Meditation? What do you think about?
KCC: I think of nothing. But to be one with the target.
Man: You think I’m going to believe that? How can you see what you are shootin at
in the dark?
KCC: Watch my eyes (He turns his eyes away before he shoots, and hits the target).
Man: How’d you do that?
KCC: I do not do it. It is not done.
Man: What do you mean ‘It’s not done?’
KCC: It is only experienced. It happens.
Man: Happens?
KCC: The pole (target), the arrow, the bow are one. Not many things. Not different
things. One.
Man: Well, I see it. But I sure don’t understand it.
KCC: That is good.
Man: Why is it good?
KCC: It remains a puzzle. When you cease to strive to understand, then you will
know without understanding.–KF*
Man: How come you know so much about bows and horses?
KCC: The horse lives. I live. We share this with all nature. We are one.
Man: You know, you’re different from just about anyone I’ve ever met.
KCC: That is good, I hope.
Man: Don’t you ever get lonesome, just drifting around? No place to belong to.
KCC: I belong to myself.
Man: Yeah. Me too. Most the time I wish I didn’t, though.
KCC: You are young.
Man: Guess I’ll always be lonesome. Did you really mean what you said about not
being afraid of death?
KCC: Yes.
Man: Do you think you can teach me how not to be afraid of it?
KCC: It is too soon. It is not something one man may teach another.
Man: Yeah. I think I know what you mean by not being able to teach me that. It’s like
a man has to teach it to himself, sort of.
KCC: It is rare to ask your questions. It is more rare to listen to the answers.–KF*
Man: Back there at the creek. Were you meditating again?
KCC: I was clearing my mind of impurities and disturbances.
Man: Well, how does that work?
KCC: It lets me see the nature of things, as they really are.
Man: Is that what keeps you from getting mad?
KCC: It is how I can encounter life’s many faces, with some sense of peace.–KF*
KCC: Each moment that passes changes you. You do not and cannot posses even
yourself. How can you hope to posses anyone else?"–KF*
Poe: It is written in the Tao Tae Ching: "Under heaven, all can see beauty as
beauty, only because there is ugliness. All can know good as good, only because there
is evil. Therefore, having and not having a rise together, difficult and easy
compliment each other. High and low rest upon each other. Front and back follow one
another. Be like the sun, and what is within you will warm the earth."–KF*
KCC: What greater power is there, Master?
Poe: Those who surrender themselves find inner strength.
KCC: Will this protect me more than my arms and legs?
Poe: When the heart knows no danger, no danger exists. When the soul becomes the
warrior, all fear melts. As the snowflake that falls upon your hand.–KF*
Young KCC: (a monkey has caught its hand in a jar, while trying to retrieve an
apple in that jar. But he cannot take his hand out with the apple in his hand) I do not
want to harm him, only to play.
Kahn: He thinks you are as others, and would have him for your supper.
Young KCC: I could never do that!! That is a foolish monkey. The gardens are full of
fruit, yet he chooses to hold onto the one in the jar.
Kahn: I am pleased you are wiser than the monkey
Young KCC: I am much wiser, Master.
Kahn: I would hope you remain so, and will know when to let go of those things
which do not serve you, but force you to serve them.–KF*
KCC: Master, how does one find the strength within oneself?
Poe: By being one with all that is without himself.
KCC: Yet, these sometimes contend?
Poe: When fire meets ice, which prevails?
KCC: Ice.
Poe: Yet in dying, does not the ice, becoming water, also die?
KCC: For the fire dies.
Poe: That prevails which refuses to know the power of the other. Where fear is, does
not danger also live? And where fear is not does not danger also die? Where the tiger
and the man are two, Grasshopper, he may die. Yet, where the tiger and the man are
one, there is no fear, there is no danger. For what creature, one with all nature, will
attack itself?–KF*
Poe: In the pond there are some lotuses which stand above the water. And though
their roots feed, they themselves are untouched by it. Some others have only risen to
the waters level. And others are still underwater (They are talking about how to treat
people).
KCC: Shall I seek to measure these differences, that I may treat them differently, each
according to his growth?
Poe: Examine the flowers. Is not the flower, in each position, yet a flower?
KCC: Shall I then treat each man the same?
Poe: As far a possible, without surrender. Be on good terms with all.
KCC: Yet the flower beneath the water knows not the sun. Other men, not knowing
me will find me…hard to understand.
Poe: Accept the ways of others. Respect first, your own.–KF*
Poe: The scissors cut the paper. The paper covers the rock. The rock crushes the
scissors.
KCC: Is not playing a child’s game a waste of time?
Poe: In games children teach. Sometimes more than books. Come, instruct an old man
and yourself. Look beyond the game, as you look beyond the surface of the pool to
see its depth.
KCC: Each in turn conquers the other. There is no stronger, or weaker.
Poe: This is the harmony of nature, and not a waste of time. I have three treasures
which I hold and keep. The first is mercy. For from mercy comes courage. The second
is frugality. From which comes generosity to others. The third is humility. For from it
comes leadership.
KCC: Strange treasures. How shall I keep them?
Poe: Keep them in your deeds, Grasshopper.–KF*
KCC: How may I walk a peaceful path, when the world is seldom peaceful?
Poe: Peace lies not in the world, Grasshopper. But in the man who walks the path.
KCC: But in my path may be men not filled with peace.
Poe: Then seek another path.
KCC: And if at each turn, appear those who would be violent, and do not love peace.
Poe: To reach perfection, a man must develop equally compassion and wisdom.
KCC: But, Master. How do I not contend with a man that would contend with me?
Poe: In a heart that is one with nature, though the body contends, there is no
violence. And in the heart that in not one with nature, though the body be at rest,
there is always violence. Be therefore, like the brow of a boat - it cleaves the water,
yet it leaves in its wake, water unbroken.–KF*
(KCC stumbled down some stairs, while he had his eyes covered).
Poe: Did you not think to look where you were going?
Young KCC: I placed the sash over my eyes. I chose not to see.
Poe: Do you prefer darkness to light?
Young KCC: I wanted to know darkness.
Poe: Why?
Young KCC: I wanted to be like you. It is nothing to place one foot in front of the
other. But to walk without seeing is most special.
Poe: I never thought it special, only unavoidable. Is it not better to enjoy the gift of
light that adheres, than to seek a darkness you are spared?–KF*
Poe: To know is to be.–KF*
KCC: When a man finds his way, heaven’s gentle.–Kung Fu
KCC: Like the jackal who mocks his prey, you use fear to intimidate. The
weakness of the jackal is his arrogance, and arrogance is the downfall of anyone who
subverts the truth.–From 1st Kung Fu: The Legend Continues (KF:TLC). *
Priest: You find the trappings of our faith (Christianity)curious.
KCC: There is wisdom in all traditions, every ritual.
Priest: Some, but not all. Exorcism is an empty ritual. It has no place in the modern
church.
KCC: And yet your superiors prescribe it.–KF:TLC*
KCC: You have the weakness to defend your injury with killing. Have you not the
strength to forgive?–KF:TLC*
Ancient: Too fast!
Man: Speed is essential.
Ancient: You must use your martial arts abilities and training and put all of your
senses on to the activity [sport, etc]. Slow it down, so you may control it.–KF:TLC*
Colors blind; Sound deafens; Beauty beguiles; the enemy of stillness is desire.
Eliminate desire, and the truth will become clear.–KF:TLC*
Seek tranquillity, and you will lose it. Understand [that] it dwells within you. That
is to embrace.–KF:TLC*
KCC: When the spirit is in control, the body obeys. Look at your demons
(alcohol, drugs, etc). They are formless. Listen to your fears, they are soundless.
When this moment occurs, your hands will no longer betray you.–KCC*
KCC: When there is a right path and a wrong path, choosing neither or hiding
behind a cloak of neutrality is the same thing as choosing the wrong path.
Peter: Why?
KCC: Because the right path will never be explored.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Even enemies do not deserve to be attacked from behind, and their goods
taken away from them. There will be killing if there are not heroes.
Man: Do I look like a hero to you?
KCC: Heroism is simply a matter of facing the truth. One action can put everything in
the proper place.–KF:TLC*
Man: So you’re a priest huh?
KCC: I am.
Man: Are you going to lead me from the path of darkness?
KCC: Only a man who understands he does not see the light, will step away from his
chosen path.
Man: What, then embrace the light?
KCC: Accept it.
Man: Well, I think you should accept that this is your last day on earth. You and your
son.
KCC: That is the only way to live every day.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Truth is clarity in darkness. Fear and mistrust cloud honor and reason.
Sometimes to achieve enlightenment, one must embrace adversity.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Anything is possible if you can perceive the way.–KF:TLC*
KCC: None of us will ever be the man we were. We can only be what we will
become.–KF :TLC*
KCC: Anticipating the length of a journey, doubles its length.–KF: TLC*
KCC: You are firmly rooted in the Tao. All the forces of the earth may pull at
you, but you will remain at rest.
Son: This is a tug-of-war. How can you win if you don’t try?
KCC: In war, as in life, there is a wrong way and a right way to compete. Avoid
danger and greed. Embrace concentration and awareness. And when it becomes
inevitable - let go.–KF:TLC*
KCC: The first moment that you feel the displacement of air (an attack
forthcoming) you must strike out, without hesitation. But, you must feel the stillness
of the air first. In stillness you can see the flight of the bird, and the opening of an eye.
Peter: I was cheating (he opened his closed eyes, to intercept an attack).
KCC: I know. Why would you compromise your honor for such a small thing?
Peter: I wanted to do it right.
KCC: A man who has no skills can be taught, a man who has no honor has nothing.
You must guard your honor. It is the most precious possession that you will ever
have. The one thing that cannot be taken away from you (forcibly).
Peter: I’m sorry.
KCC: No need to be sorry, we have both learned a valuable lesson.–KF:TLC*
KCC: All true actions in life are simple.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Avoidance, that is the first lesson in self-defense.–KF:TLC*
KCC: All battles are battles of the spirit.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Fear is your ally. It makes your heart beat faster. It makes your responses
quicker. Your movements sure. Sometimes fighting on will destroy you. Remember
you must yield to succeed.–KF:TLC*
KCC: When your opponent is strong, make him weak. If he is determined, make
him pause. If you yield, you will succeed.–KF:TLC*
KCC: No one can turn your own family against you. Only you, by yourself, can
do that.–KF:TLC*
KCC: When you physically abuse someone, perhaps you see in that victim, all
that you have lost in yourself (i.e.- They are always there for you). The negative
impact of society has not seeped in or taken over. It has always been there. No one
can do anything about it. It is in the bone. Peace, walking side-by-side with rage. All
the violence and all the evil that you find in yourself, I have in me. Perhaps more
strongly. We are all men.
Man: How do you deal with it?
KCC: You cannot suppress it, it is too powerful to drive out, and you must not ignore
it. Embrace it! That is what binds us together. Knowing that it is in us all, enables us
to understand each other, and it allows us to forgive one another and ourselves. To try
is all any of us can do.–KF:TLC*
KCC: If a man sees a wrong and does nothing, how can he then still call himself a
man.–KF:TLC*
KCC: I gave him nothing that he did not already have.–KF:TLC*
KCC: A battle avoided cannot be lost.–KC:TLC*
Ancient: The wheel that is time, moves on. When the moment of departure again
occurs, another said journey begins.–KF:TLC*
The religious must be willing to ride the dragon until the sun sleeps.–Unknown,
KC:TLC*
KCC: What do you see?
Peter: The fire.
KCC: And within the fire?
Peter: The color of the flame and sparks floating up to the sky, the wood being
consumed into nothingness.
KCC: The joining - do you not see that as well?
Peter: No. I see nothing coming together.
KCC: That is the pretense, not the truth. The fire is a marriage between the air, wood,
and flame. Between them they become something which neither is, and yet each are.
Peter: I do not see that.
KCC: No. You see the pretense. As you go through life, you will find many things
that seem obvious, then you will remember the fire. Everything is not what it pretends
to be. That is the lesson of the fire.
Peter: How will I know when something is not what it pretends to be?
KCC: Ask. But every once in a while, you will find that the pretense may be the
truth.–KF:TLC*
Peter: What is the truth?
KCC: The truth?
Peter: You say that all our training is really a search for the truth.
KCC: Yes. Yet the truth of the Tao cannot be known or touched or described.
Peter: But then how will I know when I have found the truth? How do we even know
that it exists?
KCC: On a summer day, do you not feel the warmth of the sun upon your skin?
Peter: Yes.
KCC: Then is it necessary to look at the sun, in order to know that it is shining?
Peter: I couldn’t anyway. It is to bright to look at for more than a second.
KCC: Then is it not better to be content with the sun’s warmth, then to be blinded by
its light? What we seek cannot be gazed upon. Look too hard for the truth and you
would be blinded by the truth as well.
Peter: Then how will I find the truth?
KCC: Be patient and it will find you–KF:TLC*
KCC: To look into darkness is clarity. You must use the source of your own inner
light to illuminate what cannot be seen.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Truth is blinding. It illuminates the darkness. It eclipses stealth. It reveals
the lies that appear to us as reality.–KF:TLC*
KCC: I have many fears. Small, fragmented, tiny terrors can be examined. Can be
held in the hand, broken. Only when all fears come together, will they become
overwhelming.–KF:TLC*
KCC: (You have paranoia) Enemies are old friends. When you embrace your
fears, they are diminished.–KF:TLC*
Man: What did you say about harmony? It is a path we all share. Even the most
chaotic mind seeks it out, and finds a way to make peace with the world.
KCC: We all do that.
Man: Well, we are all a little bit crazy.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Wealth leads to power. Power often corrupts. You must not place your faith
in rare things. The riches you search for are within your heart. Listen to your heart and
you will find your goals.–KF:TLC*
Ancient: The heavens unfold, and man’s destiny is revealed.
KCC: This is not destiny. It is the random walk of a policeman’s life. Unplanned and
unprovoked.
Ancient: You blame yourself for this (His son lies in a coma).
KCC: Yes. If only I have been there.
Ancient: Then this could also have been your destiny. Each of us must cast our own
shadow. We learn nothing if we are prevented from facing the demons sent to
challenge us to know.
KCC: What does he learn from this?
Ancient: That is not for us to know. My friend, you must accept that you cannot
always protect your son.–KF:TLC*
Peter: Why do we meditate?
KCC: For many reasons.
Peter: For instance?
KCC: To prepare our bodies and minds to accept.
Peter: To accept what?
KCC: Whatever comes.–KF:TLC*
KCC: If you trust yourself, any choice you make will be correct. If you do not
trust yourself, anything you do will be wrong.–KF:TLC*
KCC: To achieve victory, one must get inside the skin of his opponent.–KF:TLC*
KCC: When you learn to understand your own motive, and the motives of your
enemies, then you cannot help but win. If you do not understand [your enemy], so you
will lose.–KF:TLC*
KCC: When your enemy is weak, you must make him strong. To destroy that
enemy, you must first glorify his power.–KF:TLC*
KCC: [One might have] a destiny, not necessarily a destination.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Non-aggression philosophy: The courageous fighter shuns violence. The
skillful soldier avoids anger. A mighty warrior will not fight for petty conquests.–
KF:TLC*
KCC: True insight cannot be gained by specialized knowledge. My victory or
defeat, doctrine or dogma - they can only be achieved by the illumination of one’s
inner self. In other words, it does not matter who wins or loses.–KF:TLC*
KCC: 10 years; 2 times equals 20 years; all the time , thirty years. When one eye
is fixed on the destination you only have one eye to search for the way. Concentrate
on the now.–KF:TLC*
KCC: There is no grace in victory. The one who glorifies it revels in bloodshed,
and they are incapable of ruling the world.–KF:TLC*
KCC: A wise man accomplished his goals without love of glory, without love of
violence.–KF:TLC*
KCC: He who reveres slaughter, will fail in his ambition to rule the world.–
KF:TLC*
KCC: You are frightened and desperate. Embrace hope and it will become a part
of your being. Embrace despair and it will become part of your destiny.–KF:TLC*
(KCC to a man who wants to sell his belongings and travel the world)
KCC: The world will come to a man who is truly wise, and knows his place.–
KF:TLC*
KCC: When we judge others, we judge ourselves. KF:TLC*
KCC: On the surface, all is illusion. Sometimes you must risk all to find the truth
beneath. KF:TLC*
Peter: Something which happened many years ago, hangs on my heart.–KF:TLC*
KCC: We must be careful of what we carry there. There are some pains that the
mind can ignore - but the heart cannot. Those must be embraced and set free.–
KF:TLC*
Peter: The thought that should bring such a [big] smile, should be shared.–
KF:TLC*
Ancient: The child’s character is luminous and innocent. Wild beasts walk away.
Birds of prey will not fly at them.–KF:TLC*
KCC: I will live on through you and your children, and your grandchildren. As
our ancestors lived through us both. We honor the past to ensure the present and the
future. What we are is what has gone before. If our line ends, all that we are will
vanish. Then our journey will truly end. That is your heritage. Yours to watch over
(enter a name) ."–KF:TLC (KCC passes along some books to his son). *
KCC: Fear is your companion, your friend, your ally. If our hands tremble it is
because your body responds to your thoughts. Beware of your enemy - who he is,
where he is. When you become one with him, your hands will cease to tremble. When
you vanquish him. You will no longer be afraid.–KF:TLC*
KCC: Fear will fill your being. It will consume your thoughts, but it can only live
and breath as long as you allow it to. When you can embrace it and make it one with
your hopes and joys. It will cease to have power over you.–KF:TLC*
• Cord: Is that the secret? The monkey tried to circle you, you kept turning?
Blind Man: The way of the monkey is to play the fool. While you laugh at his
antics, he bites you from behind. Unmask his ego and you expose a coward
disguised as a monkey.
Cord: I don’t have any reason to fight monkeys. This lesson has no value.
Blind Man: One is taught in accordance to one’s fitness to learn.–Circle of Iron
(Movie with David Carridine as the Blind Man, and Cord is a warrior in search
of a book of truth)
• Blind Man: You have not told me of your second trial.
Cord: It wasn’t a trial. It was a lesson.
Blind Man: Teach it to me.
Cord: You know it. You seem to know everything.
Blind Man: Each morning when I awake like a scholar at his first class. I prepare a
blank mind for the day, to write upon.
Cord: A year ago I took a vow of chastity. A day ago I broke it. Gladly, because I
realized we are born to love. But what I did then was worse then taking any
foolish vow. I tried to posses what I loved. I didn’t know then that the embrace of
love held too tightly can destroy the one you love.
Blind Man: Cord, each moment that passes changes you. You do not…cannot
posses even yourself. How can you hope to posses anyone or anything else.–
Circle of Iron
• Blind Man: Is not a happy man one who does not fear death. Not only does he not
fear it, his days are filled with joy looking forward to it?–Circle of Iron
• Quotes from "Circle of Iron" from the Blind Man, uttered one after another:
1) Tie two birds together. And though they may have four (4) wings, they cannot
fly.
2) You can’t step on the same piece of water twice.
3) The tadpole loses it strength.
4) The sword cannot cut itself.
5) The path and gateway have no meaning, once the objective is in site.
6) And a horse has no udders, and a cow can’t whinny. And up is down, and
sideways is straight ahead.
Circle of Iron ending: The book he [Cord] sought had page after page of mirrors.
"The seekers fight their way here year after year. Willing, eager to pay the terrible
price to see what is in that book. And when they fling it open in blazing expectation of
finding all the answers to all of life’s questions. And what do they find? Themselves!
There is no book, no enlightenment outside yourself. The seekers who arrived before
are mostly at the temple. But some have gone back into the world. And in all manner
of disguises. They provide the trials such as you have experienced. Some become
teachers."