Kung Fu - my new (old) favorite TV show

Alan and I had always talked about buying the Kung Fu series on DVD so after the tragic death of David Carradine it seemed the appropriate time to do it. We ordered the series from Amazon and received it a couple of days ago.

We started with the Pilot episode and ended up having a Kung Fu marathon yesterday. What an amazing show. I can't believe it lasted three full seasons in the 1970's, being as liberal-minded as it was! We commented that it was decades before its time - even if it was produced today it would still be before its time!!

So many gems in there about how to live simply, humbly and honestly. We kept looking at eachother and saying things like "That is so true". But one thing really stuck out to me and I knew I would have to blog about it. I transcribed it so I could post it here.

It is in an episode titled "Blood Brother", where Caine is looking for a childhood friend who he grew up with at the Shaolin temple. The friend, it turns out, has been beaten to death by a group of bigoted young ruffians after serving as a doctor to many of them for years prior. At the trial of the murderers, Caine reads a letter he found on the body of his murdered friend. The friend had written it to a young woman who he was treating for headaches, knowing her mother had died years before after suffering similar headaches. The letter is as follows:

Honored Miss,

I ask you to excuse greivous faults and errors in me; for to understand this new language, this new land, occupies my time with great effort.

Please be assured that what happened to your revered mother is of her world, not yours. Do not clutch at pain and pain will pass, for I have touched the roots of your suffering and they will wither. In my country we say there is a time for each to die. It is not the death that is so drear, but the fear of death. Fear is the darkness and I wish you to know, gentle lady, that I am not afraid. At the end what remains is not riches, not structures of stone, but remembrances of those few people we have joined spirits with.

Honored lady, I bid you..."


And there the letter ends.

So much wisdom in so few words. I remember watching Kung Fu as a kid and knowing it was pretty deep but not having any idea what any of it meant. It's so great to watch it now, being on my search, so I can appreciate it fully.

We are going to continue the marathon tonight. I can't wait!

Do not clutch at pain and pain will pass...

It is not the death that is so drear, but the fear of death...

Fear is the darkness...

At the end what remains is...remembrances of those people we have joined spirits with.