Like in the old fairy tales, where usually a prince in a shining armour faces a dragon to achieve his goals, whether it is treasure or to save a beautiful princess. The real dragon, according to Joseph Campbell, is yourself. It is your own doubt and fear that is what really a stopping factor. And that is symbolised and represented by a fierce, fire breathing dragon, most of the time unseen and hiding in a dark cave.
Like how Darth Vader is Luke’s dragon. And that is shown when in his dream he managed to defeat Vader and it is his face in the helmet. Yet majority of the fans has been led to ask the physical mechanism of Vader’s suit instead and got lost in the symbolism.
That might be the meaning of that Bruce Lee’s saying about do not just look at the finger pointing at the moon or you will miss the full glory of it.
In my recent discovery on Bruce Lee’s life, it is closely related to film, the three-act sctructure, symbolism and ultimately, spirituality.
In the 50 episode The Legend of Bruce Lee on Netflix, his first appearance was of him stepping down a spiral staircase, symbolising a birth of a man and a start of a story. Near the end of the series, they recreated the shooting of the film ‘Game of Death’ where he climb the stairs in a pagoda to face his dragon, which is the giant Kareem Abdul Jabbaar. In one shot, there was a close-up showing his reptilian eyes.
After beating his ‘dragon’, Bruce Lee character walked slowly down the staircase. I see it as a symbol of his physical bodily death. Yet after his real death in 1973, his stature grew tenfold into that of a god. Together with the posthumous release of ’Enter The Dragon’ he has acquired screen immortality, youth and energy. Which is also reflected in what Joseph Campbell said about the Chinese dragon’s symbolism, which is of power, energy and immortality.
It is all written encrypted in a form of metaphor in almost all culture so that only those who ‘see’ will transcend.
Joseph Campbell said, "...that would be what I would call a mistaken reading of the symbol. That’s reading it in terms of prose instead of in terms of poetry. That’s reading a metaphor in terms of the denotation, instead of in terms of the connotation. It is a purely literary problem."
And Bruce Lee said, "Don't think. Feel. It's like a finger pointing away to the moon. Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all of the heavenly glory!"
Finally, the Koran is a 'petunjuk' (guidance). Look at the ‘finger’ too long and sing about it, and they wonder why they are still what they are. It is what is within which eventually changes the without. Like that saying says, ‘To change the world, one need to first change ourselves.’ Defeat your own ‘dragons’.
Naga Melayu? Forever lost in Tasik Chini. Majority of them busy idol worshipping their politicians.
Happy Chinese Lunar New Year.
Even though they are not real, I still wish I had a dragon😔
Great quote there "To change the world..."
Thank you for dropping by!