The Cult Of Bruce.

 

Although I've been watching his movies since I was in high school I've never been a member of the Cult of Bruce.  I must admit that I do admire what Bruce Lee accomplished in his short life.  I have a great respect for anyone who puts that much work into a thing.  Artists of all genre who have spent lifetimes creating and recreating themselves, who reach that pinacol of greatness deserve the respect and sometimes the honor that they have attained through their hard word and diligence.   That does not include a cult following that walks the fine edge of just another modern day religion. 

Bruce Lee, born Lee Jun Fan, 1940 in San Francisco California, was a Chinese American actor and martial artist.  He was attributed for the introduction of Chinese Kung Fu to the United States which changed the  Chinese Martial Arts and Culture influencing the pop culture of that time.  Bruce still holds several records in the Guinness Book: he is the only human to ever break a 45 Kg (99.3 Lbs) bag with a side kick, he produced 1600 pounds of force by swinging nunchacku, a linked pair of sticks with either a chain or strap, he could punch 9 times in a second, and his one inch punch could force a 75 Kg (165 Lbs) man 5 to 7 meters, (20 to 23 feet) away from him.  These are just a few of the 7 world records he holds.  Considering his physical stature at 5ft8 and 141 Lbs at his heaviest, the above records are an incredible almost mythical event.  And here in lies the rub.

Bruce Lee has taken on Legendary statues.  His accomplishments have launched him into the realms of modern mythology.  He now meets and exceeds the parameters that one would expect of a demigod.  Because of Bruce's feats of strength and prowess, if we re-wrote the beginning of his story just a bit, and it wouldn't take much, we could create a story that would be about the son of some Grecian, Roman, or Chinese god.  We could turn Bruce into an incarnation of the Monkey God from ancient Chinese mythology, and that is how he is treated by the modern Martial Arts Community.  He is Legend. 

There are several self appointed great ones who have taken on the job of deciding if Bruce Lee could defeat this guy or that guy, this actor or that actor, this Fighter or that Fighter, in personal combat.  Many of these self appointed great ones have opinions swaying from one to the other, this side or that, the winner and the loser.  All this supposition and opinionated bickery is absolute BS, and means nada.

Today's competitive martial artist be they a forms man, a push hands guy, a fighter, or just plain ole Saturday afternoon at the Karate tournament for kids, is decades more advanced, especially in The United States, than we were in the 50's, 60's and 70's.  Human beings are bigger, stronger, have more physical potential, and yes on a whole we are a tad smarter due to our technologies.  Today's average Martial Arts instructor has much more hands on experience than we have ever had, and we have a greater range of instructional flavor due to the internet.  So, who's to say?  I do not spend time speculating on the possible performance of a guy who's been dead since 1973.   

Lee Jun Fan died of  cerebral edema after a series of seizures and migraine headaches after given a painkiller that contained an equagesic which is a combination of aspirin and  meprobamate a tranquilizer.  He went to sleep and did not wake up.  He was 32 years old.  This all happened upon the completion of the filming of his movie, "Enter The Dragon."  

It is apparent that Bruce Lee did in fact not survive all the physical stress he put himself through and that he suffered long term injury due to the way he trained.  Tragic.

So, to all the Self appointed great ones, I say, "I don't care one way or the other."  If Bruce would have survived he'd be 83 years old now and stand tall amongst the worlds Grand Masters.  Speculating on any other battles and skirmishes is a waste of time and energy.  Remember him for what he did and get your head out of your...

I've been watching Bruce Lee since I was a teenager.  I am not a member of the Cult of Bruce.  I refuse to speculate about the prominence of a dead man.

Peace and Balance,

John 

The Messenger

 

Suppose your father was a great king.  He rules over what the people consider the known world.  These people, his people worship him as king and love him because he is a good king, a just king.  For generations he rules in this way and the people follow him.  When his people step out of line he sends his missionaries with messages to put them on the right track, to bring them back to the fold.  Suppose that as time passes the people begin trading with other's from a far off unknown place.  With these people come ideas from another king, whom his people love as much as you love your king.  Your world grows larger.

Now suppose that there is a dis-contention  between the two kings.  They don't agree on every detail of the trade or the way to govern and teach their people, their children.  There is great expense spent and wrought to balance the differences between the two kings.  Eventually there is an agreement, a balance in political ideals is made and both sets of children and citizens live together in harmony.  All is good.

Again, suppose a third more aggressive king arrives from even farther away.  This time the two good kings can not find a balance between them and the new king, and he declares war on the mixed country.  This war is a battle between two opposing ideals.  One of acceptance and mutual love, and one of disharmony and anarchy.  What if this war goes on for generations and some of your people are beginning to sway to the anarchial side of their own natures, they are embracing the darkness.   

The two good kings have a child each.  One has a daughter, the other a son.  They have been betrothed since child hood and indeed have learned to love one another.  Because of this war both good kings send a messenger to the people, the children of their country.   First the daughter is sent and eventually disappears into the darkness on the horizon, then the son is sent.  He has a two fold job, to find his wife whom was sent first, and to bring a message to his father's children.  

Now, Suppose He is accepted by some of the people and not by a majority.  Now suppose he is able to share the message with some of his chosen citizens, but has not found his wife.  As things go, politics always has a martyr.  The people torture and eventually kill the messenger because of his message.  She found him at the very end.  Now suppose...

Who is this story about?

Peace and Balance,

John 

The Wandering Immortal Ones.

 In just about every culture there is a story about a wandering immortal.  This individual because of past impulsive behavior has been cursed by the Creator to wander the Earth until a Great pinocle has been achieved.  In Northern Chinese lore this immortal is the ever present Master Wu.  His full name is Sun Wu Kong, the Monkey King. The youngest brother of the nine immortals of creation.   Master Wu is the immortal brother that was laid to rest, drunk on sacramental wine, dreaming of the creation of Man kind.  We are his dream.  He is our creator and protector.

The Wandering Jew is a story about the individual who was cursed by God to wander the world until Christ returns.  It is presumably the individual that would not give Jesus a rest and Jesus told him he would wander until his return.  This story has many faces, but are all very similar.  Some of the names are different, but that is purely conjecture. 

Indian lore from Bengali, and Deli tells of a Yogi that travels the world spreading his science and teaching to breath properly.  This Yogi's name is Patanjali, the current incarnation of the God Brahma who has come here in many forms and incarnations.  Patanjali is the immortal physical presence of Brahma's Karma or action creating Dharma or global reaction.  As the story goes if you sit and stare into either your own eyes or the eyes of another you will eventually see the eyes of Patanjali, Brahma staring back at you.  

The Cherokee have stories of the Nunne'Hi, a race of immortals that live everywhere and nowhere.  These are super human beings that live side by side with the Yunwi Tsunsdi, the little people.  The Nunne'Hi are responsible for keeping the Yunwi Tsunsdi in check. They are very much like the fairy folk of Ireland and can be extremely mischievous.  

Amongst the Lakota there are stories of Heyoka, backwards warriors that resemble sacred clowns and teachers.  In the midst of these gifted people there exists an immortal that travels from village to village, clan to clan sharing medicine and magic with all who will learn.  Often in forms that terrify or delight  intended students.  Heyoka is also the mythological name for the son of Spider woman. 

There are stories about Thor son of Odin traveling from place to place every couple of generations to hid his lack of aging.  His stories have even penetrated some of the lore of the Northeastern United States.  There are tales of a giant red hared immortal from the sea.  

Every culture has a tale or story about the existence of an immortal being that was either cursed to live until a large change time or apocalyptic event, or was brought here by other than natural means.  These stories are very old and have been sifting themselves through our cultures ever since man kind has been telling stories.  Wading into the waters of the unknown is the only way to decipher the reality verses the myth.  This is the fun of the search.  For those who choose to seek, if you find a real immortal good luck, they probably don't want to be found.  

Peace and Balance,

John 

The Time Honored Gift of Grandpa.

 In the seventies there was a television commercial that ended with the statement, "The mind is a terrible thing to waste."  

To be honest I can't remember what the rest of the commercial was about in the first place.  It was that iconic statement that stuck to the inner recesses of my mind.  Apparently I'm not the only old fool that remembers that statement and doesn't remember the rest of the commercial.  It has evolved from, "The mind is a terrible thing to waste", to, "The mind is a Terrible Thing."   

Remove the last two words from the line and the meaning changes substantially.  Indeed, The Mind is a Terrible Thing.  It can be exploited, or it can be a tool for evil, and likewise good, but then it wouldn't be so Terrible.  Let's just keep it simple, shall we?

Some of the youth of America have minds that are at different stages of malleable.  That is, they either have huge imaginations, or they are easily manipulated and can be convinced of things that aren't exactly so.  For instance I am a grandfather.  I know, the prospect of having me as a grand dad has sent our daughter and her husband over the proverbial threshold of sanity, because my grandkids hang on every word I say.  And I tell you, I can be a stinker.  

The art of creating stories and lies to send down the generational path to the grandkids is the time honored Duty of every Grandfather in the world.  Grandfather's unite and stand tall because we have finely reached that respected age in our lives when we are the purveyors and holders of the "Truth" of the ages, and like all truths, the stories must be told. 

One if the first and possibly one of the most honorable stories to pass down to the grandkids is the story of the "Snipe Hunt."  The Snipe Hunt story consists of the mythical Snipe and place to send the grandkids.  Preferably a forested area, a large field, maybe with a stream or a pond, a place you know hours of time can be spent hunting the Snipe.  The proper time for hunting the Snipe is just as the sun goes down.  At that time  it is hard enough to see, but light enough to get a good story started.  Fueled by all sorts of lies and myth, the Snipe Hunt is a very convenient way to get the grandkids out in the elements, enjoying something other than the tap, tap, tapping of pocket phones and or game counsels.  The idea is to send them on the "Snipe Hunt" until they have captured one.  That usually takes them up until supper when they are called back in.  Dejected because of the inability to find a Snipe.  Feeding them, bathing them, and sending them to bed is the next stage in the game.  I, the grandfather, have succeeded in my babysitting task.  

To keep the story in play, in the morning when the grandkids wake, they see the stuffed creature sitting on the mantel to prove without a doubt that a Snipe does in fact exist.  Usually this creature is an exotic animal that would not be normally living in the local environment.  My granddad would use a stuffed and mounted, Red Crested Road Runner."  A fairly rare bird in the first place.  That was our Snipe.  My grandfather was the Snipe Master.

So reader, if you are a Grandfather or will be a Grandfather in the future, remember your time honored responsibility.  That ever important task of passing down tales of Greatness, stories if the Grand Knights of Goo, the forever Realities of our Time and Space, remember that our stories, or lies create the best of the next generation and should be handled with the respect and care of time earned Wisdom.

Peace and Balance,

John

There Be Giants.

 Hidden in the deep recesses of the History of The World are stories of Giants occupying various areas of our planet. the Earth.  In our past we would have called these beings gods.  We would have bestowed great grandeur upon them and treated them like kings and queens.  We would have feared them for obvious reasons, they're frigging big and scary. 

That was then, this is now.  There are "Scientists" using modern technologies as archeological tools to uncover and re-discover lost hidden treasures all over the world.  In the United States along the Mississippi delta there was a generation of Native Americans that have been commonly called the, "Mound Builders."  These mounds, of which there are thousands, were used partially for ceremonial burial cites.  Using sonar, radar, and lidar, from deep within many of these cites there are indications of buried  "Giants."  

There have been stories from times gone by, from virtually every culture.  And universally these beings were feared.  Zecharia Sitchin, in his book, "Anunnaki Chronicles," refers to these beings as the possible depositors of humanity, left here and experimented with, to use as convenient slaves to mine for gold.  After mining most of the gold from hidden areas of the Earth they left, and left humanity behind.  The Anunnaki that stayed became man kinds gods, our kings, to be feared and served.  And we buried them with reverence in the bottom of a sacred mound when dying.  That was long enough ago that the human race has forgotten them, and let them pass into mythology.  

The Christian Bible refers to beings that are the progeny of the Son's of God, and the Daughters of Man.  These beings are called the Nephilim.  The Nephilim were creatures of great power.  The powers of angels and the mortality of man.  In the Bible, God sent the rains for 40 days in order to wash the Nephilim from the planet.  That mankind had been corrupted and he needed to start over.  After saving Hoah and his family from the Great Flood,  God wiped, supposedly the Nephilim from the planet.  Could God have missed a few?

So, within the mounds of the Mississippi delta, possibly hidden in the darker regions of the Pyramids of Egypt, into the Steppes and Terraces of the Maya, world wide, we are finding rather large skeletal remains that defy explanation.  Are they Anunnaki, Nephilim, or just some real big scary dudes?  We may never know.  Oh yeah, there is the promise of their return.

Peace and Balance,

John

Our Mad Stories

 Rothegar called Grendal to him from his Hubris.  Rothegar had forgotten the old ways and was partying it up at the expense of his people.  Yet he refused to accept the Christ as a representation of the one God. He was worshiping the Earth mother in ways she was not proud of.  

The Earth Mother sent her message in the guise of the beast Grendal.  The son of Chaos, and his Mother was the only creature Grendal was afraid of.  From the bowels of the Earth rose a dark Dragon that appeared as half human half beast, with breath so fowl all would die before it, and eyes so dark that all light would be sucked out of existence by them.  This was Grendal's mother, the Beast of the Earth Mother. 

Beowulf, or Bov,i' as he was classically called, was a hero from a neighboring land north of Rothegar's kingdom.  Bov,i's people were a warrior race that traveled in search of great adventure and personal conquest.  The son of a King, Bov,i' was given the gift of a present mind and powerful body by the gods of order.  

We have Grendal who was created from chaos, and Bov,i' who represented order facing off at the end of the epic poem, "Beowulf" which Bov,i' and Grendal both made their presences known to the world longer ago than written memory.  It is the product of a verbal tail passed down from generation to generation from a time we have long forgotten.  

Many of our classical stories have made their ways into our collective unconscious in the same manner as verbal tales from times that we have forgotten.  These stories include, but are not limited to, the Arthurian tales, Merlin and his epic story, don Quixote Dela Mancha, and strange as it may sound, the several versions of the Holy Bible, Hebron version, Christian version, and Islamic version.  Kinda makes you wonder doesn't it.  

There is a prevailing similarity to each of these stories, they all start with a woman.  The main character of each story had a dubious flirtation with and often marriage to the female counterpart of that story.  Making a holistic completeness, In Ro, Yin Yang, Earth Sky, Male Female, the wholeness of being. 

Magdalena had Jesus, Freia had Beowulf, Dulciana had Don Quixote, Salama had Mohamoud. Guinevere had Arthur, and Nimuea had Merlin.  The downfall of all people.  Human kind and their collective madness.

Peace and Balance,

John