Book Summary - Be Water, My Friend - The True Teachings of Bruce Lee
Author: Shannon Lee
Many know Bruce Lee as Martial Artists and a film maker. His films had a great impact and even now attracts many young fans 48 years after his death. I was surprised, why this person even after death deny to die from the memories of the people. Why his personality is just so attractive even today though he is like from grandfather generation.
I started to research and found that he was a practicing philosopher rarely known to people. He expressed his philosophy through martial arts and films. This made him to become one of the most impactful personality of 19th century. I thought his philosophy is most relevant today and sharing the summary will benefit the readers since we all are now a days talking about mindfulness, meditation, health and success in personal and professional life.
Now summary (Introduction):
Empty your mind.
Be formless, shapeless, like water.
You put water into a cup; it becomes the cup.
You put water into a teapot; it becomes the teapot.
You put it into a bottle; it becomes the bottle.
Now water can flow or it can crash!
Be water, my friend.
Bruce Lee's core philosophy was of self- actualization. Self actualization is being yourself by recognizing your true potential and not duplicating any other personality who inspires you. First being honest with your own soul. Bruce Lee cultivated every aspect of himself. He spent hours perfecting whatever he did. He worked not only sculpting his body but at shaping his mind, educating himself, evolving his practices, developing his potential. Even little things like having beautiful handwriting, writing and speaking grammatically well.
His idea of being like water is to attempt to embody the qualities of fluidity and naturalness in one's life. water can adjust its shape to any container, it can be soft or strong, it is simply and naturally always itself and it finds a way to keep moving and flowing. Bruce Lee said "The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination." Like water finds its way "people have to grow through skillful frustrations, otherwise they have no incentive to develop their own means and ways of coping with the word"
To be continued ...........................
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