The Tao of Kung Fu #8 - "Leave no place for death to enter."

In this clip from the double Emmy episode "An Eye For An Eye", Caine is confronted by a small group of Native Americans. He recalls the teachings of Master Po who recites chapter 50 of the 'Tao Te Ching', written by the ancient Taoist master Lao Tzu.

By having an understanding of his adversaries, Caine is in a position to turn the tables. His Shaolin skills allow him to sneak up on the Native Americans as they sleep. He is now in a position to easily dispatch them, but he instead chooses to sit quietly amongst them. With this action Caine is demonstrating another of Lao Tzu's virtues: 'He who knows how to be aggressive and yet remains patient, becomes a receptacle for all of Nature's lessons'.

This video was taken from the 1970's TV series 'Kung Fu' (Created by Ed Spielman, Herman Miller and Jerry Thorpe). It is essentially an American Western set in the latter half of the 1800's, with an Eastern hero who has neither a gun or a horse. The story follows the adventures of Kwai Chang Caine (David Carradine); a nature loving Shaolin priest who had recently fled China. He speaks softly but is no pushover. He lives humbly yet knows great contentment.

Each episode also takes the viewer back to Caine's childhood in the Shaolin temple. It is here under the instruction of the wonderfully charismatic Master Po (Keye Luke) and the stern yet loving Master Kan (Philip Ahn), young Caine (Radames Pera) learns the harmoniously balanced ways of Tao.

The teachings of the Shaolin was meticulously researched for the Kung Fu series. This makes Kung Fu one of the most authentic interpretations of Philosophical Taoism available in popular culture. I was therefore surprised to see no one else had presented selected scenes from Kung Fu as an introduction to the Taoist philosophy. This is one of about 30 clips I'll be posting here during 2008.

To learn more about Philosophical Taoism, the Tao Te Ching or Lao Tzu, please visit my YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/TaoFAQ

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Tao
• Te
• Ching
• Lao
• Tzu
• Taoist
• Taoism
• Daoism
• Caine
• David
• Carradine
• Kung-Fu
• Shaolin
• Philosophy
• Grasshopper

[chuckfaststrat]

...goodbye, grasshopper...

: (

[karljjr]

what i believe it to be saying is that one who lives a spiritual life can not die. There is no physical body.

[hunglikehuang]

circular logic is circular

[seanwinston88]

Like

[shanewolfe610]

@yinyangnature We should be more like ones before use and use absolutely every part of the animal and put nothing to waste. The industrialization of livestock makes respect for the animal a low priority.

[yinyangnature]

@shanewolfe610 Indeed. Respect is best done by keeping cruelty to absolute minimum. Unfortunately, this is not the case with intensive farming practises. I recently heard there's no such thing as cheap food, someone has to pay for it and it's usually the animals, the environment and ultimately our health.

[shanewolfe610]

@yinyangnature I respect people not wanting to eat or use anything that results from the death of another being because I did it for three years. But I would like to point out that we should also acknowledge that nature provides us with these meals. We should respect it.

[chokkan7]

By the time this was produced, Keye Luke already had quite a body of work in Hollywood behind him, and had doubtless developed many contacts - it's far more likely that he exercised input into what this character would entail, than it was that fate had any hand in the matter. After the producer hosed Bruce Lee over as he did, all the remaining Asian actors held far more clout as a result.

[morningbirdfeeder]

I can't think of an actor to have better played the part of Master Po than Keye Luke. It seems almost as if some people were destined to play certain roles.

[mercian7]

@yinyangnature "a man who knows how to live" well thats the key isn't it. Thank you so much for uploading these clips.

I have always liked the scene where the master says "is it not better to see yourself truly than to care how others see you"

[yinyangnature]

@TroutButter Thanks for your interest! One of the greatest problems in life is 'where to draw the lines'. We all work on the assumption that there are definite boundaries between the various aspects of nature. Yet all the evidence from science & philosophy is there are no distinctions. Any distinction is merely an observation relative to an individual. Therefore, it is up to the individual to decide for themselves where they draw the line between what they will & not will to consume.