Son Goku Statue

Hi there. A reader requested an update on The Dao of Dragon Ball book’s progress, so here it is.

Most of the book is done in rough draft form. However, new information keeps appearing, new rabbit holes to go down, and I feel like it’s all essential to the book’s content.

For example, right now I’m studying the world’s largest martial arts tournament that took place in China in 2004. I’m reading about the history of Qi Gong and how it exploded in popularity. And I’m learning more about the VHS fansubbers of Dragon Ball in America. There’s tons of stuff.

I’m also completely editing the “… To the World” chapter. It’s currently 48 pages, so I’m going to break it down into smaller chapters with more focused content so that readers have an easier time understanding the global history and overall story of Dragon Ball in the world today.

Then I will continue editing the rest of the Dragon Ball book, which includes finishing the final martial arts chapter on Divine Combat. It’s tough because I’m basically trying to explain how the supernormal abilities depicted in Dragon Ball are actually possible without falling into pseudo-science. Meanwhile, it has to tell a story at the same time.

I work on the book everyday and am making steady progress.

Here I’ll quote the Venerable Master, Lao Tzu. I saw this on a Facebook fan’s page (be sure to friend me on Facebook, by the way!):

The soft overcomes the hard.

The slow overcomes the fast.

Let your workings remain a mystery.

Just show people the results.

-Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Hopefully the results will speak for themselves.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Dragon Ball Book Progress Update 3

SSJ4 Gohan

I recently started reading a book called The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time Management, by Hyrum Smith.  So far it has been very engaging and informative.

I’m only on the 4th chapter, but I’ve already learned (or re-learned) some of the reasons why I procrastinate on my writing for the DBZ book, or any of my other various projects.

The essential point I’ve understood is that if I don’t prioritize my life according to my own intrinsic values, and live according to those values in everything I do, that I’ll never make progress on my projects or find satisfaction in my work.  In a larger scope…  I won’t find happiness in life.  So determining what my core values are is really important.

To that end I spent some time looking within and came up with a list of core values, a law or principle I wish to live by and live up to, including what each value means to me:

• Truthfulness: The embodiment of honesty, to be true, do true actions, be upright, youthful, noble and open, to seek the truth and become a true man, my real self.
• Compassion: The embodiment of kindness, to be compassionate and merciful, genuinely aware of others in mind, speech, and body, to think of how to ease the suffering of others and take active steps toward that direction.
• Forbearance: The embodiment of forbearance, to be tolerant and enduring, to walk the middle road of temperance, be disciplined, focused, and centered in both passive and active states of life.

1. Ideals: To strive toward a higher ideal and become that which I believe is better.  To continually defeat my current self so that a greater and more true self can be revealed, to be broad minded while still attending to details, and to endure the hardships of a fool while becoming a sage.
2. Integrity: Once an ideal or standard has been met, to maintain that standard in the face of all adversity, temptations or conflicts.
3. Accomplishment: A sense of triumph, satisfaction and contentedness with life and work, grateful for the valleys that accompany the hills.  An inner harmony that is expressed outwardly and subsequently reflected back, to bask in the warmth and glow of my own existence and self-worth yet without any sense of ego.
4. Spirituality: To practice and embody my spiritual beliefs in an open, kind and respectful way.
5. Health: To maintain my state of health, be fit and free of illness.
6. Financial Independence: To be free of debt, with sources of primary and secondary income, both active and passive, using generated funds to further worthwhile endeavors within the guidelines of my other values.

What do you think?  I kept it concise and simple so as to create a constitution of my life.

The items in this list are ranked according to their priority in relation to one another.

The top 3, Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance are the highest ideals and are equal in priority and value, and I can’t just live up to one without living up to the other.

Truth contains Truth, Compassion and Forbearance.  Compassion contains Truth, Compassion and Forbearance, and Forbearance contains Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance.  To the best of my ability I have to embody all three simultaneously.

The other values are important to me as well but are numbered in order of their priority and sequence of action.  For example, I believe that financial independence is something I need to achieve and maintain, but not at the expense of my integrity or health.

What do you guys think of these values?  What are your personal values?  Do you have any personal values that you would add to this list or feel are missing?

Perhaps you’ll spend some time looking within and create a list of your own personal values to live by.  If you do, that’s awesome!  Please share it by leaving a comment below.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

A List of 9 Personal Values I will Live By

Goku Faces Towards the Light

I recently received a question from a visitor to the main Dao of Dragonball Book site.  He asked “What of Falun Dafa is similar to Dragon Ball?”  This post reveals the relationship between personal cultivation, Goku, and Falun Dafa.

As visitors to the site may know, Dragonball is what actually led me into the martial arts.  I started with Shaolin Gong Fu, progressed into Tai Qi, and then Qi Gong, and eventually Falun Dafa.

As I practice Falun Dafa I am able to gain a higher understanding of the three universal principles of Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance.  Looking through these three principles at Dragonball, and Goku especially, I see a lot to relate to in my own life.

If you look at Goku through this lense, for example, you can see all three principles.

He is a completely True person, and he is very honest and genuine.  His mind is simple and straightforward and he does what he feels is right.

Goku is a very Compassionate person even when he fights his opponents, because he does not fight to win… He fights so that he does not lose.  The only reason he fights at all is to protect those who cannot protect themselves, and to simultaneously raise his level and improve himself.  Training and sparring allow both himself and his training partner to improve, and he places more of the emphasis on his partner, so that in time he will also rise up.  He thinks of others first and is so sensitive and broad minded that he can fight for the salvation of the entire universe and all sentient beings.

He is also a very Forbearing and tolerant person who can go through the most extreme examples of pain and suffering and come out the other side a savior, and he always gives his opponents more chances to redeem themselves.  This tolerance to allow their redemption even while enduring blows is what turns TenShinHan, Piccolo, Vegeta, Majin Buu, and others, into his allies.  He looks past the character flaws and directly into their hearts, and gives them time to turn around and walk an upright path.

Throughout Goku’s life he always takes the road of personal cultivation.  During this process he struggles with his inherent Saiya-jin emotion, compassionate human upbringing, balances his personal aspirations with responsibilities, and fights against external interference.

At each stage of his journey he faces greater and more challenging opponents and trials, and each one causes him to look inward and rise up to meet the challenge.  Goku is able to quickly and consistently improve because he is always looking inward at how to better himself in response to the higher standards suddenly placed on him.

On the other hand, Vegeta is always looking outward.  He constantly strives to defeat Goku, his rival.

When Vegeta pushed harder and harder to attain Super Saiya-jin, in a jealous and competitive response to Goku’s progress, it is noteworthy that no matter what he did he was not able to reach that level.  It is only while on the asteroid, facing life and death, alone, that he gave up his attachment to this pursuit and finally focused inward.  When Vegeta let go, enlightenment followed.  The void within was filled with something greater.  He lost the attachment, and he gained first level enlightenment.

Falun Dafa is a complete cultivation system that helps practitioners focus on looking inward, let go of attachments, correct incorrect notions, and eliminate karma.  Practitioners do so in the midst of society and do not shy away from conflict.  It is an extremely quick way to improve one’s character because it focuses directly on the mind.

As I walked the path of cultivation and watched Dragonball at the same time, I could not help but notice the similarities, and that is where the idea for The Dao of Dragonball originated.

The difference of course is that Falun Dafa is a cultivation system to be practiced by real people, and Dragonball is a cartoon show.  Dragonball cannot be used as true spiritual guidance, only perhaps for reflection upon your own path.  It’s simply that Falun Dafa was so powerful in helping me better understand the show.

Falun Dafa also helps a person better understand East Asian culture, which allowed me to see Goku’s beginning as Son WuKong, and his alterations from an Indian deity, to Buddhist hero, to Japanese pop culture icon.  Furthermore it is a grand awareness of all spiritual cultivation paths, including those of the West.

The Dao of Dragonball is a vehicle for explaning higher level principles and the meaning of life, and it does so through the medium of Dragonball, a pop cultural phenomenon that millions can relate to.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

How Does Dragonball Relate to Falun Dafa?