Being Panda

Originally published: 02/12/2016

For the past 8 hours this keyboard is being used. Now that I have to type this article I am sitting dumb folded on the verge of the thought, “What will happen if I press this?” After I realized this document has been sitting on my desktop (where I keep stuff to remind me that I need to get this done) I figured either I press the shift + delete and free these many bytes for some useful purpose or get rid of rust from my creative gears.

Moving on from the unnecessary tangent of a story, I directly jump into why I consider Kung Fu Panda to be one of the most philosophical movies I have ever seen. As a side note, it has been a year since I have seen the first one and not yet seen the third part.

The Illusion of Control:

Master Oogway is one of the best characters ever created in the history of.. history!

He indeed is satire personified. Even though he is supposed to be the most knowledgeable one, everyone finds him to be the most confusing part of the movie.

First of all, he didn’t give Tai Lung the Dragon Scroll. If he did, could he have been a good "person", or whatever kind of cat he was? Similarly, if he did not announce that Tai Lung will break away from the prison, the bird’s feather which released him would have not reached the prison.

He tells you to let go the illusion of control: If you remember the scene, Shifu says, “But I can control when the fruit will fall” – followed by a peach falling on his head. NO, little buddy. Let go of the illusion of control. He is known as “Master” Oogway for a reason.

“One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.” 

The Panda:

“You are a panda. What are you gonna do? Sit on me?” A panda was what was needed to defeat Tai Lung - someone who could withstand the nerve attack. A panda whose father made a secret ingredient soup. Why is that important? Next section.

You are all you’ll ever need to be.

The Dragon Scroll & Wuxi Finger Hold:

There is no secret. Po was the dragon warrior because he could figure out the dragon scroll and no one else.

Obviously things are not this crystal clear in our lives. But you can see stuff like this always happens if you just observe! And believe. There are no accidents.