“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” ― Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee is one of the most well-known martial artists of our time.
I grew up watching his movies and it was not long before I came across his wonderful book Tao of Jeet Kune do.
Needless to say that that the book was greatly inspiring to me. In this post, I share with you the most favorite life tips from Bruce Lee and nuggets of wisdom from his book.
“If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” ― Bruce Lee
Let us get started!
1. The Art of Effortless Living
“If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. Moving, be like water. Still, be like a mirror. Respond like an echo.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
One of the big lessons that I learned from Bruce is the power of being flexible and formless. If your life is rigid and non-changing, and you desire to change, ask what is making you so rigid.
Why are you holding on to beliefs and habits that do not serve you? Much like water that assumes the form of the vessel that it gets poured into, we are best served in life when we adapt and change to the changing times.
“The wheel revolves when it is not too tightly attached to the axle. When the mind is tied up, it feels inhibited in every move it makes and nothing is accomplished with spontaneity. Its work will be of poor quality or it may never be finished at all.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
We waste a lot of time and energy being rigid with things in our life and fidgeting and distracting our way to the next goal. When you are still, be still and move like the flow of water.
If you are soft and supple physically, mentally, and emotionally, you will fare much better with the setbacks of life.
“Nothingness cannot be defined; the softest thing cannot be snapped.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
2. On Flow
“I’m moving and not moving at all. I’m like the moon underneath the waves that ever go on rolling and rocking. It is not, I am doing this, but rather, an inner realization that ‘this is happening through me,’ or ‘it is doing this for me.’ The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action.”- Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
I love this description of flow from Bruce. I have found out over the years that excessive thinking and rumination is the downfall of effortless action. In psychology literature, flow is also described in similar terms.
See what Csikszentmihalyi has to say about flow:
“The mystique of rock climbing is climbing; you get to the top of a rock glad it’s over but really wish it would go on forever. The justification of climbing is climbing, like the justification of poetry is writing; you don’t conquer anything except things in yourself…. The act of writing justifies poetry. Climbing is the same: recognizing that you are a flow. The purpose of the flow is to keep on flowing, not looking for a peak or utopia but staying in the flow. It is not a moving up but a continuous flowing; you move up to keep the flow going. There is no possible reason for climbing except the climbing itself; it is a self-communication.”― Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow
I agree with Bruce. Give up on analyzing every movement and allow practice and muscle memory to act through you.
You may begin to see your hesitation melt. Instead of acting on something consciously, you transform into the witness of the action.
And you do this without unnecessary judgment and labels. We become the moment and we become one with the action.
“The point is the doing of them rather than the accomplishments. There is no actor but the action; there is no experiencer but the experience.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
3. Drop off Excess Judgment and Comparison
“To see a thing uncolored by one’s own personal preferences and desires is to see it in its own pristine simplicity.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
I believe that this is a wonderful nugget from Bruce that we should incorporate in our lives. Needless to say that we all have our personal preferences and desires.
But often, the preferences that reflect deep mindset and beliefs become counter-productive or outmoded in your life. When you allow the self to see from a new perspective, you may just get amazed at the difference.
Instead of contention or cognitive dissonance, you feel a sense of relief and understanding.
You feel like you have seen the sun rise a million times and each time it can still take your breath away. It can still capture some part of your attention and your imagination.
This is what the Zen masters call the awakened beginners mind. It is a life free of habitual and conditioned metaphorical sleepwalking.
Try to drop off the comparisons and judgments for a minute to see things as they are. Imagine things uncolored by your prior perceptions and discover something new.
“It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials. – Bruce Lee
4. The Art of Letting Go
“Do not run away; let go. Do not seek, for it will come when least expected.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
A lot of times when you face setbacks, your immediate reaction is fight or flight which is the classic psychology response. We feel hijacked by the rolling of events and we want to flee.
But the approach by Bruce which is also echoed in ancient Zen and Taoist teachings is to let go.
Give up the struggle, and take mindful action and allow things to happen. We may want to control things but often the resistance we offer when things do not go our way is immense. This comes in the way of the resolution of the situation.
Remember that letting go is not the same as giving up.
“Give up thinking as though not giving up. Observe techniques as though not observing.”– Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
So you may find a different approach suggested by Bruce to be valuable. He says to be like water, to flow like water and take the form of object it is poured in.
This does not mean that you can push water around but without much resistance, it adapts to what is best required in the situation.
When you understand, learn, and grow from setbacks and allow yourself to let it go, you become fluid. You approach life from a nimble and flexible point of view like Bruce suggests.
What are you holding on to that you may benefit by allowing yourself to let go?
“Don’t get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup; You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle; You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” ― Bruce Lee
5. On Art and Creativity
“Artistic skill, therefore, does not mean artistic perfection. It remains rather a continuing medium or reflection of some step-in psychic development, the perfection of which is not to be found in shape and form, but must radiate from the human soul.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
Wow! The great martial artist and his views on art resonate with me.
Ask yourself if you are perfectionistic in your artistic goals and desires to the point that you feel paralyzed. This happens to me sometimes even to this day in my artistic pursuits.
I feel paralyzed and want to produce the best work.
But I have to remind myself that skill and perfection should not be confused.
“Don’t fear failure. — Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”― Bruce Lee, Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee’s Wisdom for Daily Living
If you want to improve your artistic skills, you have something to work with.
If you want artistic perfection to an unrealistic level, you may feel paralyzed. And hence the best artist realizes the humility of continued work and action. They do not allow perfect ideals of art to get between them and their work.
Allow art to radiate from your inner soul and being instead of reaching out to an outer ideal like Bruce suggests.
Do art and creativity for their own intrinsic power and joy and not because to meet a perfect shape and form.
“Art reaches its greatest peak when devoid of self-consciousness. Freedom discovers man the moment he loses concern over what impression he is making or about to make.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
6. On Jeet Kune Do
“Jeet Kune Do avoids the superficial, penetrates the complex, goes to the heart of the problem and pinpoints the key factors.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
One of the things that you can receive from Bruce’s work is clarity and its role in your life. Often even with the best intention, we make things complex and difficult for ourself and others.
What is the best approach? I learned from Bruce to do great work, we have to identify the core or the heart of the problem.
This often means that you have to make the difficult choice of not spending time and effort on the superficial.
You may have let go of the seemingly complex and important sounding.
Instead, you will need to identify the heart of the issue. You may have to be completely honest with the self when you have to objectively identify weaknesses and problems.
“Jeet Kune Do is the enlightenment. It is a way of life, a movement toward willpower and control, though it ought to be enlightened by intuition.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
I agree that simplicity and taking the simple and the shortest route are often the best solutions.
You may feel an urge or pull to make things unnecessarily complex. But remind yourself that simplicity, focus and going to the core of the issue is often the best approach.
Consider the possibility that the more complex your life has become, the more you are likely to make excuses and procrastinate.
“Jeet Kune Do does not beat around the bush. It does not take winding detours. It follows a straight line to the objective. Simplicity is the shortest distance between two points.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
I learned from Bruce that true freedom can be materialized when we begin to chip away at unnecessary attachments. We have to be willing to release a confined mindset and being partial to our limitations and beliefs.
As we slowly move from the complex to the simple and begin chipping away at these limitations, we realize our true potential and nature. We become what we are capable of becoming which might be different for different people.
“The art of Jeet Kune Do is simply to simplify. It is being oneself; it is reality in its “isness.” Thus, isness is the meaning- having freedom in its primary sense, not limited by attachments, confinements, partialization, complexities.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
7. On Relationships
“Relationship is understanding. It is a process of self-revelation. Relationship is the mirror in which you discover yourself — to be is to be related.”― Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
A relationship that you are can be a true mirror to your inner reflections and ideas. A relationship can be viewed as a stepping stone for better understating of the self. Or it can be dismissed as a source of irritation.
I agree with Bruce that if you want a better understanding of yourself, allow your relationships to reveal more about you. Learn from them and become more aware of the self.
When you get annoyed or stuff comes up for you, ask what it is that you need to become aware of and what can you learn from the experience.
“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
8. Knowledge vs. Knowing
“Knowledge is fixed in time, whereas, knowing is continual. Knowledge comes from a source, from an accumulation, from a conclusion, while knowing is a movement.” Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
I love this idea from Bruce. This fits well with the Japanese idea of Kaizen or continual improvement through active learning.
Knowledge is cool but the real intention of knowledge is not stagnation or superiority.
The real meaning of knowledge is to understand it intuitively and experience it in your life as you put it to action.
“All knowledge leads to self-knowledge.” ― Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
Hence accumulation of knowledge without any movement is only half of the equation. The more important part is the movement or the deep knowing and understanding and finally implementing it.
“The additive process is merely a cultivation of memory which becomes mechanical. Learning is never cumulative; it is a movement of knowing which has no beginning and no end.”- Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.”― Bruce Lee
9. The Art of Martial Arts
“If you want to understand the truth in martial arts, to see any opponent clearly, you must throw away the notion of styles or schools, prejudices, like and dislikes, and so forth. Then, your mind will cease all conflict and come to rest. In this silence, you will see totally and freshly.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
Often, we get very attached to the one style or the one way we do things. We are all creatures of habit and beliefs. There is nothing wrong with that but in order to achieve mastery, we have to throw away the notion of one style and one way.
When you throw away the excessive attachment to polar opposites such as likes and dislikes and stories, you come to a place of objective silence and witnessing.
This is a change of perspective that allows you to see beyond what you have conditioned to believe is the best. You will get the best of all worlds.
10. Observe
“Observe what is with undivided awareness.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
With all the distractions around us increasing exponentially, this tip from Bruce becomes more relevant.
Careful observation and attention to the issue at hand is the challenge of this day and age. Research has shown that we are incapable of processing more than 60 to 100 bits of information at the same time. That is perhaps the reason why we cannot pay attention to two people talking at the same time.
When you observe the problem carefully from different angles, you will see that the solution lies in the correct understanding and processing of key information of the problem.
Are you observing your world with undivided attention, at least some of the time?
“We shall find the truth when we examine the problem. The problem is never apart from the answer. The problem is the answer-understanding the problem dissolves the problem.” – Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
11. On Taking Action
“Action is a high road to self-confidence and esteem. Where it is open, all energies flow toward it. It comes readily to most people and its rewards are tangible. The cultivation of the spirit is elusive and difficult and the tendency toward it is rarely spontaneous, whereas, the opportunities for action are many.” ― Bruce Lee, Tao of Jeet Kune Do
I love the idea that action is the road to confidence and self-esteem. This has been true to me in my own life when I took meaningful action, my confidence levels soared.
“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”― Bruce Lee
But be mindful of the action that you are taking.
Bruce advises us that the cultivation of spirit or non-action and silence is as important as action. Often too much action simply muddles matters more and does not help. Action needs to be relevant and meaningful to make an impact.
“I am not afraid of a person who knows 10000 kicks. But I am afraid of a person who knows one kick but practices it for 10000 times.”― Bruce Lee, Bruce Lee — Wisdom for the Way
I hope you enjoyed reading this post!
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