The Shaolin masters and Kwai Chang Caine

My first encounter with any kind of Guru or spiritual teachings were when I was a kid. I had been raised without any type of spirituality at all. Then came the initiation into the secrets of the east...Kung Fu. The T.V Show.

I remember being blown away by the vibe and wisdom of the Kung Fu masters as they instructed Kwai Chang Caine. Master Po and Master Kan were really my very first encounter with any form of spiritual or philosophical teaching. Even though the wisdom of the Shaolin masters on that show was written by screenwriters, the vibe and potency of the show and it's teachings was something I felt very strongly at that time to be something very magical.

In Hinduism there is the teaching that there is ultimately only one Guru or spiritual master. The Universe itself is the One Guru, for all, it manifests in countless forms and through countless people. The Taoist masters teach that everything has it's beginning and end and everything in between within the Tao. These concepts below are the same idea, being expressed by the Universe itself. Be Here Now, the Universe all around you, within and without, is trying to awaken us to it's presence. As we look beyond the forms, the Oneness of it all, reveals it's truth to us.

So here are some of the words from the Masters of the Shaolin temple from Kung Fu.

Young Caine: You cannot see.
Master Po: You think I cannot see?
Young Caine: Of all things, to live in darkness must be worst.
Master Po: Fear is the only darkness.


Master Po: [after easily defeating the boy in combat] Ha ha, never assume because a man has no eyes he cannot see. Close your eyes. What do you hear?
Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.
Master Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
Young Caine: No.
Master Po: Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet?
Young Caine: [looking down and seeing the insect] Old man, how is it that you hear these things?
Master Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?


Master Kan: Quickly as you can, snatch the pebble from my hand.
[Young Caine tries to do so and fails]
Master Kan: When you can take the pebble from my hand, it will be time for you to leave.


Master Kan: Avoid, rather than check. Check, rather than hurt. Hurt, rather than maim. Maim, rather than kill. For all life is precious, nor can any be replaced.


Caine: Is it good to seek the past, Master Po? Does it not rob the present?
Master Po: 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 our destiny are nurtured by the roots of our past.


Caine: May I ask, Master, when I leave the temple, what will be expected of me?
Master Po: To walk the roads of the land and use what you have learned for the needs and benefits of the people.
Caine: Will I always know when to act and when to stand off?
Master Po: That which you do not know, the doing will quickly teach you.


Young Caine: As we stand with two roads before us, how shall we know whether the right road or the left road will lead us to our destiny?
Master Po: You spoke of chance, Grasshopper, as if such a thing were certain to exist. In the matter you speak of, Destiny, there is no such thing as chance for whichever way we choose, right or left, it must lead to an end. And that end is our destiny.


Master Kan: When you leave these walls, you will come upon the many pillars of violence.
Caine: May not a man, one with nature, seeing such pillars - avoid them? Master Kan: Other men stumble in the way. They go in idle-less search for peace.
Caine: Must I then tumble down these pillars?
Master Kan: Seek always peace. Wear no paths for the footsteps of others, unless the soul is endangered. We are all linked by our souls. To endanger one, endangers all.
Caine: And if thus endangered?
Master Kan: In such times, the soul must be the warrior.


Master Kan: What the eye sees disappears with a blink, or a wandering puff of breath. Where there was light, the eye denied sees nothing (he blows out a candle).
Caine: My eye is denied (Kahn leads KCC to another room with a candle in it). Master Kan: That is what the eye sees. What the souls sees cannot be denied.
Caine: Will not the soul, too, be denied when death blinks its eye?
Master Kan: No. The soul sees always.
Caine: Yet the body dies.
Master Kan: Does the sun die?
Caine: It does not shine at night.
Master Kan: It shines, somewhere, you do not see it.


Young Caine: He betrayed us, yet we feed and cloth him.
Master Kan: And you disapprove?
Young Caine: It is said he swore an oath, as one of us, never to reveal our secrets. It is said that when he left us, he taught farmers to be soldiers. And led them to their deaths in foolish rebellion.
Master Kan: I am aware of his unsavory adventures. I know also his hunger and cold.
Young Caine: But, master. Will not food and new clothing strengthen him to go out and cause more suffering?
Master Kan: It may. But when he leaves us in the morning, will the earth fall away from under his feet? Will the sun, shining on all else, withhold light and warmth from him? Will water turn to mud when he stops to drink? If sun, and earth, and water refrain from judgment, who am I to withhold a blanket and a bowl of rice.


Caine: Master, our bodies are pray to many needs. Hunger, trust, the need for love.
Master Kan: In one lifetime a man knows may pleasures. A mothers smile in waking hours. A young woman’s searing intimate 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: Shall we 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: What do you feel? (Kahn is watching Young KCC, and he is watching a young girl perform a dance. And she smiles at KCC).
Young Caine: Nothing.
Master Kan: What do you feel?!
Young Caine: Uncomfortable.
Master Kan: The mind, the body, the spirit are one. When the body expresses the desires of the mind and the spirit, then the body is in tune with nature. The act is pure. And there is no shame.
Young Caine: What is love?
Master Kan: Love is harmony, even in discord.


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. This is Shun. Master of the White Crane system. 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. Life sustains life. And all living creatures need nourishment. Yet, with wisdom, the body learns to sustain in ways that all may live...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.


Master Kan: Look at the world you live in, and this pool of fish. There are 12 fish, 12 worlds.
Young Caine: But only one pool.
Master Kan: Many. The one you see, the one I see, and the world of each [fish]. The world you live in is mysterious, exciting, unknown. And mine is older, familiar and calm. You will never know my world, or I yours.
Young Caine: Never?
Master Kan: Can you see with my eyes? Think with my brain?
Young Caine: But master, you are one with the universe. So am I.
Master Kan: We are one. Yet we are not the same. Ten million living things have as many different worlds. Do not see yourself as the center of the universe: Wise and good and beautiful. Seek rather wisdom, goodness, and beauty. That you may honor them everywhere.


Young Caine: What is the value of truth, master?
Master Kan: It binds one to the reality of oneself.
Young Caine: This is hard for me to understand.
Master Kan: So is the truth - hard to understand. Accept/except that which cannot be spoken.
Young Caine: But, should I not always speak the truth? No matter what the consequence?
Master Kan: Recognize that all words are part false, and part truth. Limited by our imperfect understanding. But strive always for honesty, within yourself.


Young Caine: And what is it to be a man?
Master Kan: To be a man is to be one with the universe.
Young Caine: But what is the universe?
Master Kan: Rather ask, what is not the universe.
Young Caine: Then it is everywhere?
Master Kan: 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 Caine: And the bitter pit at its core?
Master Kan: Even that.

 

Hey,thanks for all the quotes.I enjoyed reading them.Kung Fu was one of my favorite shows of the time and got me interested in Zen,Taoism,Budhism,Hinduism and other religions and philosophies.I think it helped me develop some good moral beliefs and positive outlooks on life.
~peace

 

Me too. That show probabaly had a bigger impact on me than anything on the tube (lets hope).


Wish they were still playing the reruns.

 

Velly good glasshopper.

 

there is a shao lin (buddhist) temple in china...
it is supposedly where the first martial art of china was developed...



a monk was meditating overlooking the monastery garden...
and while sitting in his lotus posture, striving for full enlightenment, his attention was drawn to the plight of a chipmunk, which was trying to get out of plain sight & back into his safe burrow, but --- was too far away from the entrance, and was being attacked by a shrike...
everytime he would race for the hole, the bird would dive on the rodent & drive him back away from the safety of home...
the chipmunk would see the bird dive, & at the last second would deflect the bird's beak from impaling him...
after hours of this, the shrike flew far, far up into the sky, and dived full-tilt at the chipmunk...
and when his doom seemed certain, the chipmunk slid aside & the shrike dashed his brains out on the ground, and the chipmunk returned to his burrow, weary but alive...
and the watching, meditating monk, at that moment, achieved enlightenment...
and the way of winning by yielding (tai chi) was born...

 

Thank you for the quotes, I loved them. I loved the last story as well.

 

Great Thread!!
Check out the link on my sig. . .

 

my favorite Kung-fu flick is drunken master, with a young jackie chan in it. the drunken master rocks.

 

Oh my god, wow. You got all that from a TV show. I do remember liking it as a child myself, I was more into Chinese culture back then, now, I am focused more on African and Polynesian cultures

Namaste, Blessings

Francine