David Carradine: Death of a Shaolin Priest

David Carradine, a remarkable actor, died this past week by hanging himself in his Bangkok hotel room.  What a sad end for an actor whose role as a Shaolin Priest in the TV series Kung-Fu so inspired me in the 1970's.

I remember the first episode so well.  It was March of 1972, and that very day the Chinese girl that I was in love with told me that our love affair was over and that there would be no reconciliation.  Heartbroken, I turned on the TV and saw the first episode -- of a half Chinese boy who became a Shaolin Monk and learned, not only the art of self-defense, but many great spiritual truths as well.  Seeing the first episode, I wished that I might be like that Shaolin Monk, living with a calm soul and freed from the pain and bitterness of my failed romance.

As a young man freshly graduated from the monastery, Cane, as Carradine's character was called, killed a Chinese prince in retaliation for his murder of Master Po, Cane's mentor.  Cane then fled to America and the Old West, where he regularly encountered all kinds of low-lifes, putting them in their place with a few deft karate kicks and neck chops.  All the while, however, he was soft spoken and gentle, seeking a peaceful way if one was possible, resorting to force only to protect himself and the innocent.

What impressed me most about the Cane character was his spirituality, the calmness in his soul, his complete lack of the fear of death; how he never offended anyone's religious beliefs but afforded them the benefit of a doubt, knowing somehow that we are all brethren in the soul, all made of the same stuff, both flesh and spirit.

I always think of the Cane character as a sort of role model, even though he was fictional; a spiritual person who allowed the banality and turbulence of human existence to flow around him, as the river flows around a rock, neither consuming evil nor allowing himself to be consumed by it.  He was the tree that bends in a strong wind and so survives.

I will miss David Carradine and the beautiful images of courage, self-mastery and spirituality that his Cane character conveyed so convincingly.