Six Diseases, One Death. One Death, No Disease

by

Written by Bruce Lee, Artist of Life, Edited by Lak Loi

Bruce Lee spoke about ‘The Six Diseases.’

Bruce referred to the six diseases of the mind which will slowly kill you from the inside out (one death) as follows: –

  1. The desire for victory.
  2. The desire to resort to technical cunning.
  3. The desire to display all that has been learned.
  4. The desire to awe the enemy.
  5. The desire to play the passive role.
  6. The desire to get rid of whatever disease one is affected by.

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, positive and negative.  In other words, this is to be simultaneously both yes and no, which is intellectually absurd.  However, not so in Zen.

The undifferentiated centre of a circle that has no circumference: the Jeet Kune Do man should be on the alert to meet the interchangeability of the opposites.  But as soon as his mind stops with either of them, it loses its own fluidity.  A Jeet Kune Do man should keep his mind always in a state of emptiness so that his freedom in action will never be obstructed.

When there is no obstruction of whatever kind the Jeet Kune Do man’s movements are like flashed lightening or like the mirror reflecting images.

The spirit is no doubt the controlling agent of our existence (as to its whereabouts we can never tell), although it is altogether beyond the realm of corporeality.  This invisible seat controls every movement in whatever external situation it may happen to find itself. It is thus extremely mobile, no ‘stopping’ in any place at any moment. 

Preserve the state of spiritual freedom and non-attachment as soon as he assumes the Jeet Kune Do stance.

Buddha famously quoted:

‘The root of suffering is attachment.’

Attachment is ‘desire,’ therefore, if we were to kill desire (one death), then we kill all the six diseases (no disease).

The question is how do you rid of desire?  Bruce alludes:

  1. Keep your mind always in a state of emptiness so that his freedom in action will never be obstructed, and
  2. Preserve the state of spiritual freedom and non-attachment.

There are eight attitudes or paths you must follow to find freedom from suffering, what Buddha called ‘The Eightfold Path.’  These are the right action, karma, and the correct things to do in your life:

  1. Right view. 
  2. Right intention.
  3. Right speech.
  4. Right action.
  5. Right livelihood.
  6. Right effort.
  7. Right mindfulness.
  8. Right concentration.

One death of desire, kills all six diseases, and you’re liberated.

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