Three swordsmen sat down at a table in a crowded Japanese
inn and began to make loud comments about their neighbor, hoping to goad him
into a duel. The master seemed to take no notice of them, but when their
remarks became ruder and more pointed; he raised his chopsticks and, in quick
snips, effortlessly caught four flies’ wings. As he slowly laid down the
chopsticks, the three swordsmen hurriedly left the room.
The
story illustrates a great difference between eastern and western thinking. The
average westerner would be intrigued by someone’s ability to catch flies with
chopsticks, and would probably say that has nothing to do with how good he is
in combat. But the eastern person would realize that a man who has attained such
complete mastery of an art reveals his presence of mind in every action. The
state of wholeness and imperturbability demonstrated by the master indicated
his mastery of self.
And
so it is with martial arts. To the westerner the finger jabs, the side kicks,
and the back fist, etc, are tools of destruction and violence which is, indeed,
one of their functions. But the eastern person believes that the primary function of
such tools is revealed when they are self-distracted and destroy greed, fear,
anger and folly.
Manipulative
skill is not eastern person's goal. He is aiming his kicks and blows at himself and
when successful, may even succeed in knocking himself out. After years of
training, he hopes to achieve that vital loosening and equability of all powers,
which is what the three swordsmen saw in the master.
In
every day life the mind is capable of moving from one thought or object to
another – “being” mind instead of “having” mind. However, when face to face
with an opponent in a deadly contest, the mind tends to stick and loses it
mobility. Stick ability or stoppage is a problem that haunts every martial
artist.
Kwan
– in (avalokitesvara), the goddess of mercy is sometimes represented with one
thousand arms, each holding a different instrument. If her mind stops (999) will
be of no use whatever, it is only because of her mind not stopping with the use
of one arm, but moving from one instrument to another, that all her arms prove
useful with the utmost degree of efficiency. Thus the figure is meant to
demonstrate that, when the ultimate truth is realized even as many as one
thousand arms on one body may each be service able in one way or another.
“Purposelessness”,
“empty – mindedness” or “no art” are frequent terms used in the orient to
denote the ultimate achievement of a martial artist. According to Zen, the
spirit is by nature formless and no “objects” are to be harbored in it. When
anything is harbored there, psychic energy is drawn toward it, and when psychic
energy loses its balance, its native activity becomes cramped and it no longer
flows with the stream, where the energy is tipped, there is too much of it in
one direction and a shortage of it in another direction. Where there is too
much energy, it overflows and cannot be controlled. In either case, it is unable
to cope with ever – changing situations. But when there prevails a state of
“purposelessness” (which is also a stage of fluidity or mindlessness) , the
spirit harbors nothing in it, nor is it tipped in one direction; it transcends both subject and object; it
responds empty – mindlessly to whatever is happening.
True mastery transcends any particular art. It
stems from mastery of oneself – the ability, developed through self –
discipline, to be calm, fully aware, and completely in tune with oneself and the
surroundings. Then, and only then, can a person know himself.
---- Bruce Lee
