The Tao of Kung Fu #21 - "We only know good because of evil"

Learn more about this philosophy here.....

This is another clip from "The Hoots" episode, from the 1970's TV series "Kung Fu". Caine (David Carradine) is disheartened over the hostility he has witnessed in the marketplace. Like most of us, Caine wishes for a world that only knows harmony. Yet Master Po (Keye Luke) explains we can only know peace and harmony because of the existence of conflict and discord. He then recites the words of ancient Taoist master, Lao Tzu:

"In the Universe 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 arise together.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
High and low rest upon each other;
Front and back follow one another."

This verse comes from the observations of Nature made in the Taoist sacred text, the Tao Te Ching. The ancient Taoists noticed that everything in Nature has an equal and opposite aspect. They also noticed that mankind could only ever know and experience something by also knowing its opposite aspect. Needless to say this interaction of opposite forces, is what is being symbolized by the well-known Taoist motif, the yin-yang.

The ancient Chinese masters understood we could only know something if it was contrasted by its opposite. Naturally, we can only see text if the background is a contrasting colour. We are only able to define the warmth of summer if we have experienced the chill of winter. We can only see something as beautiful because of the unattractiveness of something else. We can only know something is big because we know of something smaller to serve as a comparison. We can only know something as benevolent when we have knowledge of evil. In the same way, we can only know peace and harmony because we have experienced conflict and dispute.

Therefore we can not experience anything positive without also having experienced its negative counterpart. How could we know joy without ever experiencing sadness? How could we define success if we had never failed? How could we know we were awake if we had never been asleep? How could we appreciate the value of life if it did not always end in death?

After careful consideration we will soon see that our usual ideas of utopia are really a wish for a long boring existence without variety or surprises. It would be like eating the same food for every meal; having the same weather everyday; or never encountering anything unfamiliar. As Master Po states so elegantly in this video, "Would you make the whole world a temple?"

If you have any comments about this description or have a different interpretation of this video; please post a comment. I would particularly like to hear from you if you are also a keen student of the Eastern philosophies or have detailed knowledge of the Shaolin.

To learn more about the Tao Te Ching, the importance of contrasts, the yin-yang principle or the Taoist philosophy, please visit my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/TaoFAQ

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Tao
• TaoTeChing
• YinYang
• Contrasts
• Taoism
• Grasshopper
• DavidCarradine
• MasterPo
• KeyeLuke
• Shaolin
• 1970's
• TV

[tigerstrenght]

hey great uploads yingyangnature just wondering were can i get this dvd from...

thank you brother keep them coming!!

[yinyangnature]

@tigerstrenght The DVDs were released a few years ago. I recently saw them available to buy at JB Hi Fi. However you can watch most episodes of Kung Fu on the YouTube channel called "girlfromrio".

[ji9mpopin]

is that qia joh kane? also do not fallow others paths your is a road to travel .

[yinyangnature]

@ji9mpopin.

It's from the book of the ancient Chinese Taoist sage Lao Tzu. It's commonly called "Tao Te Ching".

[ldonhawk]

Please, keep uploading these. These are spiritual treasures. Thank you.

[warrior350es]

I really like these, keep uploading them.

[SamFreedom]

The workd is a container but not a temple. It started off as a sludge pit. Would you call your science kit a temple, or a laboratory? Or would you think that anything is just whatever you want to call it?

[Augalv]

@TurquoiseLamp Your comments make a lot of sense. Thanks

All the best

[TurquoiseLamp]

@Augalv Having said that, I can understand the wish to end the suffering which arises from the crimes you mention. I guess I'm saying that the world already is a temple, it's just that we don't treat it as such. Kind wishes, :-)

[TurquoiseLamp]

@Augalv I was brought up in a Buddhist temple. It's a beautiful place, but not exempt from negativity.Many people who came to seek refuge from the world outside brought their own negative views with them. There were still fights, nasty gossip, incidents of crime in the monastery. It doesn't matter if the world is a temple or remains as it is. A prison may contain enlightened people and a temple may contain criminals. The concept of 'place' is irrelevant, our minds create our experience.

[Augalv]

I wish this world was a temple rather a place where murder, rape, torture, child abuse, corruption is abundant.

[Augalv]

@amazenboy Deep, and enlightening.

[MrHkvideo18]

This is wonderful

[TroutButter]

@FireWhisp Yet, evil and good are just labels we give to something based on our experience. What one thinks is good others may not, and what one thinks is evil others may not. Thus, it does not make sense to me that something can be purely good or purely evil since these two are not constants.

[TroutButter]

@missinformationage LOL! Ah yes, Beavis and Butthead were more wise than many first thought.

Long live The Great Cornholio!