#25 The Art of Dying

When Bruce Lee spoke about the Art of Dying, he did not mean dying in the literal sense, but as a metaphor for letting go of the past and things that limit you, so you can be a fluid human in the present moment. “Like everyone else, you want to learn the way to win, but never to learn the way to lose. To accept defeat, to learn to die, is to be liberated from it. Once you accept this you are free to flow and to harmonize. Fluidity is the way to an empty mind. You must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying.” Bruce was constantly practicing this idea of dying because to him it meant returning to beginners mind and neutrality. He even had an art piece tombstone created which stated, “In memory of a once fluid man crammed and distorted by the classical mess.” This was a physical reminder to let go of anything that keeps you rigid or limits growth. “To understand and live now, there must be a dying to everything of yesterday, die continually to every newly gained experience be in a state in choiceless awareness of what is.” Dying in this instance is more about living in the moment, and being able to continue to be the student and learn. “Drop and dissolve inner blockage, a conditioned mind is never a free mind. Wipe away and dissolve all its experience and be born afresh.” “We live in clichés in patterned behavior, we play the same role over and over again. To raise our potential is to live and review every second refreshed.” “People try to hold on to sameness, this holding on prevents growth.” “To desire is an attachment. to desire not to desire is also an attachment. To be unattached then means to be free at once from both statements. In other words it is to be simultaneously both yes and no, which is intellectually absurd.” “If when you’re being knocked down, you can stop and say ‘Why am I being knocked down?’ then if you can examine that in that way then there’s hope for your growth.” Take Action: Practice being in the present moment and letting go. Where are you being rigid in your life? Where can you bend more? Where do you have a firm attachment to an idea or position? If you can identify the attachment and create a little bit of space between you and the attachment then you are on your way to freeing yourself from that attachment. If you’d like to share how you’re doing with this action item you can email us at hello@brucelee.com or on social @BruceLee #BruceLeePodcast. #AAHA (Awesome Asians and Hapas) This week our #AAHA is Ang Lee, Tawainese born director, screenwriter, and producer, known for many iconic films like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Life of Pi, Hulk, and Brokeback Mountain. Ang brings both East and West to his films, exploring the fantastic and the dramatic. He has two Oscars, both for Best Achievement in Directing, a testament to his incredible storytelling and cinematic talent. He’s always pushing the boundaries of film technology—but only in service to the story and emotional experience of the film. Ang Lee completely devotes himself to his work and only works on one project at a time. He’s also a longtime Bruce Lee fan. Thank you Ang for your incredible artistry, we think you’re awesome! #BruceLeeMoment This week’s #BruceLeeMoment is from Daniel from Australia, below is an excerpt, read the full moment in our show notes on our website: “I remembered the ‘Don’t think, Feel’ statement again, but it was not ironically until I heard about the Bruce Lee podcast. I was concentrating on listening to the intro to the podcast when I realised I had applied this philosophy unknowingly for the longest time and had actually became ‘water’ myself, adapting it to mean that even though your hurt with a loss, to stop and think about the life you had together and remember the love that came from that is what's important!” Share your #AAHA and #BruceLeeMoment recommendations with us via social media @BruceLee or email us at hello@brucelee.com