Bruce Lee was only 32 years old when he died. But he accomplished many things within his short span of life. He was a successful martial arts fighter, film star and Kung-fu teacher. He was listed by Time magazine among the 100 most important people of the 20th century. His blockbuster film ‘Enter The Dragon’ was a great hit when it was released in Hyderabad and it ran to a full house for many weeks at the Sangeet theatre in Secunderabad.
But it is not widely known that Bruce Lee was greatly influenced by the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti, a philosopher, author and educationist who was born in Madanapalle in Andhra Pradesh. The latter’s teachings about becoming self-reliant and mentally strong influenced Bruce Lee immensely and helped the famous fighter to recover from a very serious injury to reach greater heights than before.
Bruce Lee’s wife Linda Lee said in a videotaped interview some years ago that while recovering from an injury, her husband began to research extensively into philosophy.
In the interview which is available on YouTube, she said that Bruce was told to lie in his bed for six months because of a career threatening injury that he received while doing weight lifting. But since he had a very active and inquisitive nature, he could not stay still and utilised his time to read books on many subjects such as martial arts, psychology and philosophy.
Spent time reading books
Books about Lord Buddha, Alan Watts, Carl Rogers and Jiddu Krishnamurti became his constant companions. According to his wife, most of all it was the teachings of Jiddu Krishnamurti that impressed him.
Linda Lee said that the aspect of Krishnamurti’s philosophy that most attracted her husband was the emphasis that Krishnamurti laid on being confident, bold and independent in thought. The philosopher from Andhra Pradesh taught that if you are seeking strength you must look inside yourself rather than seek it from outside. These ideas struck an immediate chord in the mind and soul of Bruce Lee and he began to develop himself along those lines.
Own martial arts philosophy
Following this, Bruce Lee himself began to write about the ideas and philosophy that lay behind martial arts. His enlightened understanding of the relationship between the human mind and body helped Bruce Lee to develop mental power and recover from his injury to get back to top physical condition.
He began to believe that there is no help better than self help. Thanks to his new found confidence, he became an even better fighter than he was before the injury. When he was injured, his doctors had expressed doubts whether he would be able to fight again. But the ideas contained in Krishnamurti’s books helped Bruce Lee to develop his mental strength to reach the top as a martial arts fighter.
Who was Jiddu Krishnamurti ?
But who was Jiddu Krishnamurti, the unassuming man from Madanapalle whose ideas influenced one of the most flamboyant Kung-fu fighters of our times ?
Jiddu Krishnamurti’s father Jiddu Narayanaiah was an employee of the pre-independence British administration. During his growing up years Krishnamurti travelled throughout the world and met many spiritual leaders. Later he developed his own ideology. He then founded five schools in India, one in England and one in California. One of his schools is the Rishi Valley school that is located in Chittoor district and is recognised as one of the best schools in India.
Krishnamurti passed away in 1986 in California where he was staying at the time. But even today his devoted followers spread his message and run the schools that he had founded, along the concepts that he had upheld and propagated.
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