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Buddha: Desire and Frustration

By srmoody May 23, 2022 4 Comments

Here we have a statement of the Four Truths, which are not four principles, but merely one principle, with four statements asserted about it. The principle: desire for what will not be attained ends in frustration; therefore, to avoid frustration, avoid desiring what will not be attained. The four statements: (1) Unhappiness consists in frustration (dissatisfaction, anxiety). (2) It originates in desiring what will not be attained. (3) It ceases when one ceases to desire what will not be attained. (4) The method is to seek the middle way between wanting things to be more than they are or less than they are with respect to the way that they are.  If this be Gotama’s doctrine, surely we are all followers of Gotoma, assenting to the truth of his principle, even if, unhappily, we fail to practice it to perfection.”
The Philosophy of the Buddha

So – basically – want what you have.  Don’t desire what you cannot have.  If you are injured, accept it.  If you might die, accept it.

Awareness in fighting is about acceptance.  Accepting what is allows us to not “gild the lily” but to be open to what is actually happening.  If we are always resisting reality (“It’s not so bad!” or “This sucks!” or “I don’t believe it”) then we are in the habit of deceiving ourselves and this colors over into fighting.  How do we enter a fight calmly and just respond to what happens (not what we imagine to be happening, colored by fear and anxiety).

In Buddhism, they talk of clinging to an outcome.  This is clinging.  How do we not concern ourselves with the outcome of the fight but stay in the moment and respond to what is happening now, without anxiety over what might happen (injury, death)?

In discussions of Zen in the context of sword fighting, they talk of being on the razor’s edge, or the edge of the sword.  Death is on either side and the warrior has equanimity.  To die is simply to return to the “all.”  Can we find that place, on the edge of the sword, and stay there, all the time?

In Band of Brothers, the HBO show about World War II and the paratroopers who jumped behind enemy lines at D-Day, there is one Lieutenant who amazes all the troops with his bravery.  He doesn’t seem to fear death.  At one point, there is an enemy machine gun set up by a farmhouse controlling a field of fire they need to cross.  Everyone is pinned down, under cover.  The Lieutenant jogs across the field of fire like he’s jogging down a suburban street in peacetime and flanks the machine gun.  Later, a soldier name Blythe confesses to the officer how afraid he is and how this is debilitating him.

“Blythe,” the Lieutenant  says,”the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you’re already dead.”

 

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Filed Under: Zen/Taoism Tagged With: Zen and Taoism

Sound Boxing is Directed by the Waist

By srmoody April 25, 2022 Leave a Comment

Excerpts from Chinese Boxing by Robert W. Smith.

“The waist is the foundation of all bodily movement … To fight with arms or legs independently of the waist is the mark of the perpetual beginner.”

“Sound boxing is rooted in the feet, sprouts in the legs, is directed by the waist, and functions through the fingers.”

“In Tai Chi, according to Cheng Man Ch’ing, ‘mastery’ comes by ‘quiet minding’ and ‘investing in loss.’ And with time.”

“To achieve success, you must relax everything.”

Cheng Man Ch’ing said, when an outsider scoffed: “One must be kind to blind men.”


Robert W. Smith (December 27, 1926 – July 1, 2011) was an American martial artist and writer, most noted for his prodigious output of books and articles about the Asian martial arts and their masters. Smith’s writing was an important factor in the spread of Asian martial arts such as judo, karate, and taijiquan into the postwar United States.

Filed Under: Inspiration

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Hi. I'm Steve, a professional researcher. I've studied Chinese martial arts for over 20 years. During that time, I've learned from some of the best teachers in the world (including Greg LeBlanc, Gary Lam, and Bernard Langan). Plus, I've done hundreds of hours of research into fight science. This website contains the best of what I've learned. Contact: steve@snakevscrane.com

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