I never knew Lee was a philosopher…

There is a saying that each thought has an energy behind it…so did my thoughts lead me to watch a documentary of, out of all people, Bruce Lee? Read on.

I knew it! So, as I find myself dubiously watching a 2-hour documentary of Bruce Lee (and don’t even ask me how I ended up watching it), quarter way through while the narrator was describing Lee’s six month stint of not being able to do anything physical after severely injuring his back and being practically bed ridden, the following scene made me jump out of my comfortable spot on the sofa to write out some of the things he was saying.

He, himself, a master martial artist became immensely motivated through the teachings and writings of such philosophers as Alan Watts, Buddha, Jiddu Krishnamurti!!! These teachers became his constant companion. Philosophy and spirituality was dominant in Lee’s life, and I had no idea. He majored in Philosophy at University of Washington. I previously had no idea. The above mentioned people are the very same individuals who I have been spending hours reading about and listening to…

Within moments after the above names were mentioned, the film implements an excerpt from a footage of Krishnamurti’s interview in the early 1970s, and I want to quote what was said in the excerpt: “You have to be a light to yourself…(pause)…in a world that is utterly becoming dark”. Proceeding this excerpt, Lee’s wife went on to say that she believes Lee was attracted and drawn to Krishnamurti’s philosophies because they revolved around the notion of self reliance and that when one is searching for the truth, one must look inward…not outward. These philosophies was taken in as new insights for Lee, leading him to a “light bulb” or “aha!” moment for him. In relation to his teachings of the highly specific styles of which he taught Jeet Keen Do, armed with a new outlook and insights, he discarded the notion of “styles” and was more enmeshed with the philosophy of teaching in accordance to an individual’s soul. In an excerpt of an interview of Lee, he states (and I am of course paraphrasing) “Different styles tends to separate man with its separate set of doctrines”. Lee wanted to rid of this way of teaching and thinking to unify his students, the world, despite one’s race, ethnic background, etc.

Lee really, and I mean really stressed the following words, he enunciated each word as if it were his own and he says “to me, to ME, martial arts is ultimately an honest expression of yourself”…so in relation to his life, martial arts was his ultimate expression of himself. For me…I have to somehow further solidify my thoughts to a point where I am able to specifically state what would an “ultimate expression” be for me…because I really do not have a clue right now.

“To express oneself “honestly” and to not lie to oneself, that is, my friend, very hard to do” (Lee)…LOL…no kidding Bruce!

A journey of self discovery…I’m still trying to figure what this entails for me…but maybe instead of constantly questioning myself, I just need to have faith and simply move along without immersing myself with too much thoughts and questions.

Funny site…

http://failblog.org/

Quantum Physics & Consciousness

“Throughout human history, illusions of knowledge, not ignorance, have proven to be the principle obstacles to discovery” (Daniel J. Boorstin)

Oh geez, where do I start. So this particular post is just going to be the precursor to some of the newer ideas, concepts, philosophies, studies, and practices I recently tapped into. There is such a wide array of topics and theories I would like to uncover as I go along.

I swear, I think I have ADHD because as I discover one thing, I’m onto the next.

I’m just gonna dive into this, probably will not make too much sense for the time being, and I’m using myself as a sounding board here.

The approach to the studies and teachings of “consciousness” in Western civilization to date has been very limited, and has not been explored thoroughly (matter of fact, has hardly been tapped into) within the scientific/medical/psychological fields.  It is usually written off as something that is immeasurable, thus, discounting many of the more radical theories that have emerged within the last half century; majority of the scientists/doctors/psychologists ultimately concluding that the study of consciousness is simply too abstract to extrapolate meaningful definitions, concrete observations, predictable findings and/or answers. In other words, the concept of consciousness is considered intangible and, in Western thinking, bears no real relevance to the scientific and medical fields of today.

However, the continued resistance against the emergence of new wave of ideas, theories, concepts, and teachings related to the study of consciousness are starting to curtail as new theorists, physicists, neuroscientists, etc. seem to have finally found their voices within the scientific community and urging to think of consciousness in radically different, new ways (with strong scientific and mathematical evidence emerging, challenging conventional science). This has perhaps stirred up emotions ranging from dismay, confusion, outright refusal to explore new ideas to excitement, academic fervor, extreme stimulation of minds of the newer generation of philosophers, physicists, neuroscientists, etc.

So in exploring this topic, what really ignited this interest for me was the relationship between Buddhism and quantum physics. As of recently, I have only heard of the term “quantum physics”, but honestly had absolutely no idea what it was, had no clue to the nature of this specific mathematical/scientific field…(will try to explain my understanding of quantum physics in later posts and how quantum physic theories of consciousness is eerily reminiscent of Buddhist philosophies).

Originators of quantum physics > Werner Heisenberg, Max Planck, Albert Einstein, etc.

Philosophies of modern physics (quantum physics) > Michio Kaku, Brian Greene, David Bohm, etc.

B. Alan Wallace > Progressive writer/scholar/interpreter of the Tibetan Buddhism teachings and philosophies

**I’m exhausted, need to get some sleep, will return to this hopefully tomorrow.

So, it’s a little past 9:30 p.m. and it’s Saturday. I’m feeling a little under the weather, had this persistent headache all throughout the day along with intermittent chest palpitations and tightness, and I’m just feeling a bit out of it. My lower body is still sore from Thursday’s intense workout…what the hell, guess I’m a bit out of shape these days. Good news is that I’m not as obsessed with my body, the whole fitness/health regimen as I used to be, nowhere near it. It’s a relief, but I’m trying to find other means to stay motivated in regards to my health and my fitness.

Recently, I had to deal with a loss of a relationship. It took a few weeks to come to grips with it but, fortunately, it wasn’t a hard breakup. It was actually seamless compared to previous breakups, it really was. It’s funny, almost enlightening…in life, everything has the potential to be fleeting. The enlightening moment came to me in a stream of affirming thoughts (it’s kind of hard to explain). I came to realize, fully, that love is NOT conspicuous, it is not confusing, abstract nor is it anything that would incite any negative emotions. So as hard as it is for me to confess, to admit and to acknowledge…the last few relationships I was involved in, love was not there. I’m referring to genuine, unconditional love at its very essence…crazy, but it just never existed…except with one individual. What a weird conclusion this was for me to come to.

I realized that when one loves somebody, there are absolutely no expectations, limitations, preconceived notions, hopes, dreams, future agendas, etc…there is only love. To be able to wrap my head around this was a struggle, it was challenging.

I have a friend, a friend who is not only very dear to me, but I love him. He loves me. What does this all mean? Nothing. We love each other and that is all that matters because it is the “truth”. It’s actually hard to explain. It goes beyond any conventional norms and boundaries. I find myself thinking beyond that. To have no expectations, to not be obsessed with some imaginary concepts and ideals, to break away from the limitations of one’s conditioning…this, in itself, is freeing. To love somebody…what does this encompass, what does this lead to, what does this mean? For me, it means that it doesn’t matter if you receive that love in return, it doesn’t matter what he or she does…and once you reach that place, that, for me, is true love.

An outline for the next few postings to come…

REITERATION from previous postings; Note to Self > Intro to “neuroplasticity” to come

• Cognitive science in Buddhism
• Understanding Buddhism philosophies and all of its intricacies
• Lewis Lancaster, Pema Chodron, Venerable Robina Courtin, Matthieu Ricard, Jiddu Krishnamurti
• The essence of Buddhism centers around the “mind” and that detachment from the mind is the key
• We have this mind, consciousness > not created by anybody > Buddhist asserts that our entire spectrum of consciousness (inner being) is its own entity (not created by a creator) > nobody gave us our mind, we own our own mind > what is in my mind is mine, therefore, I am responsible for it (R. Courtin)
• Neuroplasticity > Buddhism has grasped, explored, and integrated this concept over two millennia ago > Western societies are now just beginning to understand this concept and few has embraced it > Must get back to this topic in the near future (note to self)
• We’re not stuck with what we’re born with (this is in relation to neuroplasticity) > sounds like common sense, but I want to explore why majority of the people I know refuses to change and/or is at least resistent to authentic change, even if it were to mean betterment and enrichment of one’s life (I’ve pondered on this conundrum quite a bit) > Being more observative and introspective yielded somewhat surprising and disturbing conclusions for me
• Buddhist ideas > empowering > do not deny the negative emotions, get intimate with them > if I cannot locate the problem, I will never be able to find the solution > basic common sense but, yet again, this seems to be ironically a concept that most people evade in order to maintain within their comfort zone, to sustain the egoic state of mind
• Every living being necessarily possesses the ability and the potential to be free from suffering > deceptively simple in the Western culture > however, we live in a culture that breeds, maintains, sustains, thrives on suffering (frequently romanticized); Western culture embraces the notion that suffering is necessary in order to thrive in society > Buddhism challenges this notion (will get back to the specifics on later postings)
• We have inherent positive qualities (harmonious feeling, spacious, relaxed) > In Buddhism, it clearly states that our natural state of being is, in essence, perfect > our minds, at its core, is pure > the positive states of our consciousness is the original basis for humans, therefore, our neurosis goes against the pure state of our minds, thus causing us to suffer, riddling our own lives with negativity
• Be your own analyst, knowing yourself intimately and precisely > we need to know our own mind > concentration techniques > in the materialist world, we hardly are tapped into them > practical techniques (i.e. meditation) are vital (R. Courtin)
• Definition of happiness > very simple, it’s not something we need to search for, we think in external terms (this is not practical , it’s primordial) > it’s what you get when you give up the neurosis > in that sense, it’s inside > to the extent in which we are not caught up in neurosis, is the extent in which we are happy > be your own therapist, know your own mind (R. Courtin)
• We are a “work in progress” > learn to focus our mind > the cognitive therapy comes into play > we can learn to hear the millions of voices in our head > we can learn to be more precise, to distinguish between the neurotics voices and positive voices
• We can mold our minds into any shape we like > a cliché? > empowering for me
• Sense of connectedness > when that is cut, neurosis steps in (the neurotic “I”), we revert back to the negative state of mind > I can learn to deconstruct the neurotic voices and slowly, with practice and patience, to cognitively change myself (reiteration)
• Important to change your way of interpreting external things and circumstances > they are not what causes us suffering, it’s our interpretation of them, our neurotic attitudes attached to them
• In our minds, we have, out of habit and neurosis, outright assume that bad things shouldn’t happen > our neurotic mind desperately assume and believe this, but obviously, this is not possible > simple reality is that everything/everybody changes, bad and good things are part of life > it is our overdependence on our neurotic attachment to loved ones and things that causes us suffering