Breaking the Chains
Page 27
Bruce Lee had no knowledge or understanding of the visual experience that led to Jesus being called the Messiah, Christ, or anointed one. When Jesus related his experience to his followers he said he saw a spirit like a dove. The Jewish authorities had no idea of what Jesus was talking about. However, the spirit like a dove has been depicted in non-Jewish religious traditions that go back to a time before Abraham left Ur. Perhaps the best artistic depictions of the spirit like a dove occur in Egyptian tradition.
To understand what Jesus saw it is only necessary to look at Pharaoh's headdress. It contains two emblems: the uraeus hung over a white-winged white circle. Remove the uraeus and what is left is a depiction of the spirit Jesus saw immediately after his baptism by John the Baptist. What Jesus saw descending was a flying white-winged white circle (an abstract form that could only have been produced by an intelligent source).
In Egyptian tradition this emblem is associated with the sun god, and as already mentioned, humankind's first religion featured circles. The religion of Jesus flows from his vision of that spirit like a dove and is evidently related to the solar religions of ancient Egypt and prehistoric Europe. Unlike the religion of Paul the religion of Jesus rests upon a foundation that can be traced back to the religion of the first modern humans to appear in Europe.
Attempts by some writers to present Bruce Lee as a Buddha and his martial arts as a vehicle for spiritual progress are regrettable. Bruce was not very knowledgeable about religions or belief systems. He may have read books on religion and philosophy, his notes and papers may reflect a search for knowledge that could be used to progress his personal liberation, and he may have left behind writings that his students and fans value, but Bruce has not left his followers a pathway to spiritual achievement or illumination. No claims should be made of a spiritual dimension for the arts of Bruce Lee. By claiming a spiritual dimension for JKD his followers mislead the public.
Bruce was an actor not a religious. He considered his first real role was in the movie 'The Beginning of a Boy'. Bruce was six years old at that time. By the time he reached eighteen he had been in 20 movies. That any kid can throw a kick now, Dan Inosanto (Bruce Lee's most influential student) puts down to Bruce Lee movies. Bruce would place techniques into four groups: no good, good, good for stage, and good for movies. According to Mr Inosanto, Bruce was 'constantly exploring the cinematic effects of various movements.' Bruce Lee's real achievements were in the movie business. In today's action movies and television action soaps every hero and villain is a martial arts expert. Vampires, demons, witches, and mythological characters like Hercules now know martial arts. Computer generated heroes and baddies use martial arts to defeat each other in various computer games. Martial arts based action movies and computer games are now big business. That this is the case is in no small part due to the influence of Bruce. His influence changed the action movie forever and did much to shape the direction computer games took over the last twenty or so years. No doubt his influence will continue to be felt in these areas for some time yet.
Should anyone want to follow in the footsteps of Bruce they will need to go into show business and not into the nearest Buddhist or Taoist monastery. Most of his fans know Bruce was a child actor in Hong Kong. His commitment to acting was such that he often had to miss his Ving Tsun lessons with Sifu Yip Man. Consequently, he arrived in America with only a partial understanding of that system. Nevertheless, Bruce drew heavily upon the Ving Tsun system to create a movie martial art that looked stunning on the big screen. That is not to say Bruce could not fight in real life. However, he did not become famous for fighting or for starting a religion. Bruce became famous for his acting. His most influential role being in Enter the Dragon. After that movie it seemed the youth of the world wanted to fight like Bruce. Unfortunately, Bruce died before completing his second Hollywood-backed movie. At one and the same time the movie going public celebrated the achievement of Bruce and mourned his death. Bruce was hard working and ambitious. Had he lived it is almost certain he would have made many more fine and exciting action movies.
Bruce died in 1973. Since that time he and his martial arts have been heavily marketed. There are two main factions involved with selling the Bruce Lee product. Dan Inosanto heads one faction and Linda Lee Cadwell heads the other.
Next Page >>