Master Kan: The mind, the body and the spirit are one. When the body expresses the desires of the mind and spirit then the body is in tune with nature, the act is pure and there is no shame.
Young Caine: And what is love?
Master Kan: Love is harmony, even in discord.
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Master Kan: Discover harmony within you, that you will bring no discord to others.
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Master Po: There is a strength in us that can shatter an invincible object with a hand which comes from a strong and disciplined body. There is another strength that allows us to feel the pain of others and give comfort where comfort is needed. This comes from a compassionate heart. True strength must combine both for that is in harmony with the duality of our nature.
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Master Po: Bind yourself to nothing. Seek harmony with all. Then you will be truly free.
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Caine: To know nature is to put oneself in perfect harmony with the universe. Heaven and earth are one. So must we seek a discipline of mind and body within ourselves.
Master Kan: In the Shaolin temple there are three kinds of men: students, disciples and masters. Development of the mind can be achieved only when the body has been disciplined. To accomplish this, the ancients have taught us to imitate God's creatures.... From the crane we learn grace and self-control. The snake teaches us suppleness and rhythmic endurance. The praying mantis teaches us speed and patience. And from the tiger we learn tenacity and power. And from the dragon we learn to ride the wind. All creatures, the low and the high, are one with nature. If we have the wisdom to learn, all may teach us their virtues. Between the fragile beauty of the praying mantis and the fire and passion of the winged dragon, there is no discord. Between the supple silence of the snake and the eagle's claws, there is only harmony. As no two elements of nature are in conflict so when we perceive the ways of nature, we remove conflict within ourselves and discover a harmony of body and mind in accord with the flow of the universe. It may take half a lifetime to master one system.
ReplyDeleteCaine: Your face is more beautiful than the sky.
Master Kan: If while building a house, a carpenter strikes a nail and it proves faulty by bending, does the carpenter lose faith in all nails and stop building his house?
ReplyDeleteCaine: A worker is known by his tools: a shovel for a man who digs; an ax for a woodsman. A gun is not a tool for peace.
Master Po: Peace lies not in the world...but in the man who walks the path.
Master Kan: Those who speak convincingly of peace cannot go armed. 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 ax or a sword.
Caine: Do you not find. . . peace only within you?
Caine: It is not so hard to sleep if you have peace and are not afraid.
Master Kan: Here in the peace and serenity of our temple, we seem.
Master Kan: The mind, the body and the spirit are one. When the body expresses the desires of the mind and spirit then the body is in tune with nature, the act is pure and there is no shame.
Young Caine: And what is love?
Master Kan: Love is harmony, even in discord.
Caine: But if I shall love others, how can I be sure that they in return will love me?
Master Po: Do you seek love or barter?
Caine: . . . if I love others and they do not love me, I shall feel great pain.
Master Po: That is what you risk. . . . Great pain or great joy.
Master Po: To know love be like a running brook which deaf, yet sings its melody for others to hear. Feel the pain of too much tenderness. Wake at dawn with winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving. Empty yourself and yet be filled. An old man tells you this is how to know love.
Caine: Master, our bodies are prey to many needs: hunger, thirst, the need for love.
Master Kan: In one lifetime a man knows many pleasures: a mother's smile in waking hours, a young woman's intimate, searing touch, and the laughter of grandchildren in the twilight years. To deny these in ourselves is to deny that which makes us one with nature.
Caine: Should we then seek to satisfy these needs?
Master Kan: Only acknowledge them and satisfaction will follow. To suppress a truth is to give it force beyond endurance.
Master Kan: He is the strongest and the weakest...To be violent is to be weak. Violence has no mind. Is it not wiser to seek a man's love than to desire his swift defeat?
Caine: I have a path. I seek not to change it but to follow it.
ReplyDeleteCaine: I seek only to become a cup. Empty of myself. Filled with oneness.
Caine: If I worry, will the future change?
Caine: I cannot change what has already been.
Caine: The plea of a frightened boy cannot change the will of destiny
Caine: I wish to spare everyone heartbreak and tragedy.
Caine: You wish to be one with the earth. And you are.
Caine: I wish to live only as a man.
Caine: There is nothing I wish.
Master Kan: Are we not equally important and not important. I am old, you are young. I am wrinkled, you are smooth. Do these things change the nature we share? Look beyond the surface. See what is real in yourself and others.
Master Kan: The mind, the body and the spirit are one. When the body expresses the desires of the mind and spirit then the body is in tune with nature, the act is pure and there is no shame.
Young Caine: And what is love?
Master Kan: Love is harmony, even in discord.
when you smile within you
ReplyDeletepeace is there
when you find harmony within you
love is there
when your body expresses your desires
you are in tune with nature
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when you smile
I am in peace
when you find harmony
I feel love
when your body is next to me
I am with nature