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Introduction and Special Guest
Laura: Hello, hello, Faithful Explorers. It’s me, Laura, your adventure buddy, and belief explorer. Today’s episode is extra special because I didn’t come alone. I brought a guest explorer with me. Can you introduce yourself to everyone?
What’s your name?
Brooklyn: Brooklyn.
Laura: Can everyone say hi Brooklyn?
Discussing Favorite Episodes
Laura: What’s your favorite episode of Faithfully Explore?!
Brooklyn: Little Scarface.
Laura: And why do you like that episode?
Brooklyn: It teaches us how to be brave.
Laura: And when were you brave?
Brooklyn: Um, when I was killing a spider.
Laura: Honestly, that might be the bravest thing I’ve heard all week.
Exploring Kung Fu Panda
Laura: Today, Brooklyn is helping us explore a movie that teaches bravery, calm, practice, and believing in yourself… Kung Fu Panda.
What country [00:01:00] do you think Kung fu Panda’s from?
Brooklyn: China.
Laura: It’s from China. Good guess.
And guess what? This movie secretly teaches us ideas from real belief systems from China. Even if we don’t realize it while we’re watching Brooklyn, are you ready to help me uncover the hidden wisdom?
Brooklyn: Yeah.
Laura: So Explorers stick around this adventure will be as fun as skadoosh.
Faithfully Explore! Intro: faithfully Explore! is the name. Learning together is our aim. Beliefs around the globe we’ll track, filling up our Belief Backpack.
Laura: What can you remember about the Kung Fu Panda movie?
Brooklyn: That the master was teaching Po to learn how to do, um, kung fu.
Laura: And why was Kung [00:02:00] Fu Panda or Po learning how to do kung fu ?
Brooklyn: To defeat the bad guy.
Laura: Yeah. To defeat the bad guy.
Did you know that there’s real religions that we learn about in Kung Fu Panda without even realizing it?
Brooklyn: No.
Buddhism in Kung Fu Panda
Laura: Let’s start with Buddhism, a religion that began in Asia and teaches people how to find peace inside themselves and be kind.
Have you ever heard of monks who meditate in quiet temples?
Brooklyn: No.
Laura: Buddhism is where a lot of that comes from. It’s about calming your mind and finding inner peace. In Kung Fu Panda there are tiny hints of Buddhism, if you know where to look.
In one scene, Master Shifu is trying to meditate by sitting still and repeating “inner peace… inner peace…” but he gets distracted by noise. It’s funny, but he gets [00:03:00] frustrated when a messenger bird falls out of the sky. But it shows that even a kung fu master has to practice to stay calm. Inner peace isn’t always easy, even for Master Shifu.
Can you think what might make Po feel more confident or more calm?
Brooklyn: Um, sitting down or maybe doing kung fu.
Laura: Oh yeah, I think that’s a great idea.
I think doing kung fu might make him feel calm.
What makes you feel calm?
Brooklyn: Um, when I’m alone.
Laura: What if you can’t be alone and you needed to feel calm? Is there something you could do if, like you were at a busy place?
Brooklyn: I can, um, just, um, um, maybe hide.
Laura: Ooh, hide. What if you’re starting to feel overwhelmed or anxious, do you do something?
Brooklyn: Um, no, not really.
Laura: Do you ever take deep breaths?
Brooklyn: Yeah.
Laura: Do you inhale [00:04:00] flowers blow out the candle?
Brooklyn: Yeah.
Laura: Let’s try that right now. Explorers. Everyone smell the flowers. Big breath in through your nose. And blow out the candles. Again, smell the flowers and blow out the candles.
So what does inner peace mean? For Buddhists it means being calm and happy deep inside, no matter what is happening around you. It’s like when you take a deep breath to relax. Po, our panda hero, has a lot of worries at first. He feels clumsy and not good enough, but as the story goes on, he learns to be confident and calm.
One of my favorite calm moments is when Master Oogway teaches Shifu under the peach tree. Oogway points to the peach seed and says, “No matter what you do [00:05:00] that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.” This idea of letting go and finding peace is very Buddhist and Taoist too, but we’ll get to that. It teaches us sometimes we should stop worrying about things we can’t change. Take a deep breath, do your best, and trust that things will be okay. That’s inner peace!
Taoism in Kung Fu Panda
Laura: Another religion that is in Kung Fu Panda is called Taoism. Have you heard that one?
Brooklyn: No.
Laura: That one means you go with the flow. What do you think go with the flow means?
Brooklyn: Um, I don’t know.
Laura: If you go with the flow, it means you don’t try to fight what’s happening. You just like understand that, oh, this is the way life goes, I’m just gonna let it happen. Can you think of a time in [00:06:00] the movie where a character just went with the flow? Just let things happen.
Brooklyn: Um, Po
Laura: When did Po let things happen or just go with the flow?
Brooklyn: Um, he was, he just, um, fight at the bad guy.
Laura: Ah,
Taoism is an ancient Chinese way of thinking that’s all about living in harmony with nature and going with the flow of life’s energy. The word Tao basically means the way, like, the way of the universe.
Have you ever floated on your back in a pool or run with the wind and felt like you’re effortlessly gliding? That’s the kind of easygoing flow Taoism loves.
Po he Wanted to see the celebration and during the celebration, how does he get into the stadium?
Brooklyn: Um, by a firework chair?
Laura: Yeah. With the firework chair. And the firework chair makes him just land in the [00:07:00] middle of the stadium, in front of Master Oogway. And Master Oogway says “There are no accidents.” What do you think that means?
Brooklyn: That means he doesn’t do anything. He didn’t do anything wrong.
Laura: He didn’t do anything wrong. Good. And then sometimes do things just happen.
Brooklyn: Yeah.
Laura: Yeah, that’s kinda like what we were talking about with going with the flow. Sometimes we just have to see, Ooh, that’s crazy. That’s what happened. But we’re just gonna go with the flow.
Oogway goes with the flow. He trusts that the universe brought the Dragon Warrior to them in its own way. He even gives Po a chance saying the universe pointed him out. Imagine seeing the good in what looks like an accident. That’s Taoist thinking right there.
There’s a great training scene that shows Taoism in action.
Do you remember who was training Po?
Brooklyn: [00:08:00] Um, master. The master, but I forgot his name.
Laura: I think it’s Master Shifu. Does that sound right? Yeah.
Brooklyn: Yeah, that’s Master Shifu.
Laura: Okay. So he was trying to train him and nothing worked. He tried all these things to get Po to learn Kung Fu. What finally worked?
Brooklyn: Um, um, when they were fighting over food.
Laura: Yeah, because what motivates Po?
Brooklyn: Um, what’s motivate mean?
Laura: Me?
Oh, that’s a great question. Motivate is what makes you want to do something.
Brooklyn: Um,
Laura: what made him want to learn kung fu?
Brooklyn: Um, to defeat the bad guy?.
Laura: Oh, he did wanna defeat the bad guy, but when he just wanted to defeat the bad guy, he wasn’t doing good in training. When did he start doing good in training?
Brooklyn: When they were fighting over food.
Laura: When they started motivating him with food or started showing [00:09:00] him food, remember in the cupboard, he climbed up to get the cookies and then was doing splits.
Brooklyn: Mm-hmm.
Laura: Suddenly Po can leap and dodge effortlessly without even thinking. Because he’s just enjoying the food chase. He’s doing kung fu naturally in his style, which includes juggling dumplings. Po stops forcing himself to be like Tigress or Crane, and instead flows with what he loves, food and fun, to become strong.
That’s Taoism finding the easy, natural way to succeed. Instead of a hard forced way. Go with the flow like water around a rock, and you might find things work out better.
Let’s not forget yin and yang. A Taoism symbol of balance, a circle half white, half black, with little [00:10:00] dots.
Do you know what a yin and yang is? Have you seen that? Heard that?
Brooklyn: Yeah. It’s on Ladybug.
Laura: It is on Miraculous Ladybug. What do you think that might mean?
Brooklyn: To stick together.
Laura: Yeah. It also means that there’s opposites and that the opposites sometimes work together to make things better. Can you decide what would be opposite in a yin yang symbol ?
Brooklyn: Um, the white and the black.
Laura: Yeah, those would be opposite colors.
Who would be the opposite of Po in the movie, do you think?
Brooklyn: Um, um, Shifu, Master Shifu
Laura: Ooh. Why do you think he’s opposite?
Brooklyn: Because he’s a different animal and he’s not black and white.
Laura: Oh, that’s a good choice.
I was also thinking Tai Long, the guy that was stuck in jail. I thought he was an opposite. Why do you think he’s opposite of Poe?
Brooklyn: Um, because he’s stronger and he’s mean and Po [00:11:00] nice.
Laura: Ooh, that’s a great example.
They’re total opposites. Po is soft, goofy, and full of light. Tai Lung is hard, angry, and filled with dark anger. In a way, they’re like yin and yang. In the end, the light, Po, balances and defeats the darkness, Tai Lung, restoring peace. It shows that good can overcome evil when in balance. Po doesn’t beat Tai Lung with pure brute strength. He uses creativity, humor, and a clear heart. That balance of strength and heart wins the day.
Do you remember what was on the dragon scroll when Poe finally gotta see it?
Brooklyn: Um,
the dragon thing, um, I don’t know
Laura: when he opened it [00:12:00] up, he just saw his reflection. It was kind of like a mirror. Do you remember that?
Brooklyn: Yeah.
Laura: And he said there’s no secret ingredient, and he learned that there was no secret ingredient in his dad’s secret ingredient soup. What do you think that means?
Brooklyn: Um, there’s, there’s nothing to make it.
Laura: Yeah. And if there’s no secret ingredient for, uh, fighting and for being a better person, what does that one mean? Why did he see himself in the scroll?
Brooklyn: Um, because it was blank.
Laura: It was blank. Do you think that he was supposed to learn something by seeing himself in the scroll?
Brooklyn: Um, that his dad didn’t actually have a secret ingredient.
Laura: Yeah. And in real life the secret ingredient was him. What that means is you just have to believe in yourself and then you can do tricky things. Do you think you could learn that from Kung Fu [00:13:00] Panda?
Brooklyn: Yes.
Laura: Po realizes he doesn’t need a magic secret to be worthy. He just needs to believe in himself. This is like a Taoist idea of finding power within your own nature and a Buddhist idea of looking inside yourself for strength.
All right, before we move on, how about we get our bodies moving with a Kung Fu Panda style movement? Everybody up on your feet?
It’s Game Time!
Laura: It’s game time.
Laura: We’re going to play a quick game of Panda Says it’s like Simon Says, but with Po as our panda guide.
Ready? Panda says, stand with your feet apart and knees bent like a strong kung fu warrior. Panda [00:14:00] says, take a deep breath in and a breath out. Stay calm, like Master Oogway. Panda says, reach your arms up high like you’re stretching to tickle the clouds now. Panda says, sway your arms gently side to side, like a flowing river. Now jump up and do a cool trick.
Did you jump? Like Brooklyn? Uh oh. I didn’t say Panda says on that one. If you jumped, that’s okay. It was a tricky one.
Let’s try one more combo. Panda says, hop on one foot. Panda says, switch to the other. Panda says, spin around slowly, like a swirling leaf. Then freeze like a statue. I caught you again.
Brooklyn: No.
Laura: Panda didn’t say freeze. [00:15:00] You’re quick. I bet some of you caught that like Brooklyn. Great job following along everyone, give yourself a round of applause. Po says you deserve it.
Now that we’ve moved and shaken out our wiggles, we’re ready to keep exploring with fresh energy like a true Dragon warrior.
Confucianism in Kung Fu Panda
Laura: Our last big tradition is Confucianism. What a word. Let’s say it together. Confucianism. Confucianism. This isn’t exactly a religion like Buddhism or Taoism. It’s more a philosophy or a way of life based on the teachings of a wise teacher named Confucius, who lived in China long, long ago.
Have you heard of that name confucius?
Brooklyn: No.
Laura: One of the main things [00:16:00] Confucius taught us is to respect our teachers and our family.
Hmm. Is that in Kung Fu Panda?
Brooklyn: Yeah.
Laura: Who has to respect teachers and family in Kungfu Panda?
Brooklyn: Maybe Po.
Laura: Mm-hmm.
Confucius taught about morals, basically how to be a good person. In simple words, be respectful to your teachers, parents, and elders; always try to learn and be better; and live peacefully with others.
In Kung Fu Panda, the respect for teachers and tradition is very strong. That’s the Confucian part of the story, shining through. Think about the relationships: Po calls Master Shifu and Master Oogway “Master” to show respect. The Furious Five deeply respect their Master Shifu and the legacy of Kung [00:17:00] Fu. The whole Valley of Peace respects the Jade Palace as a sacred place of wisdom and training. This all comes straight from Confucian values.
Let’s talk about family and duty.
When do you think Po had to respect his family?
Brooklyn: At the Noodle place?
Laura: Yeah. Why does he work at the Noodle Place?
Brooklyn: To sell noodles.
Laura: To sell noodles. Who else works there?
Brooklyn: Um, his dad.
Laura: His dad was called Mr. Ping. What did Mr. Ping want Po to do?
Brooklyn: make noodles?
Laura: Yeah. And do you remember what dream he thought Po had?
Brooklyn: Um, um, noodles
Laura: a noodle dream, right? Why do you think Po lied about having the noodle dream?
Brooklyn: Because he wanted to see the celebration.
Laura: Yeah. And do you think he wanted to make his dad feel sad or mad?
Brooklyn: [00:18:00] Um, no.
Laura: Yeah, his dad probably would’ve been sad if he knew that he didn’t want to keep going with the noodle business. What did Poe wanna do instead?
Brooklyn: He wanted to be the dragon warrior.
Laura: You got it.
Dad wants Po to carry on the family noodle shop. Po, however, has his own dream. He loves his dad and works hard in the shop. But he can’t help what his heart wants. By the end, Po’s dad is proud of him for becoming the Dragon Warrior, even though it’s not the life he originally imagined for Po.
Let’s Cross our Friendship Bridge
Laura: let’s cross our friendship bridge.
Kung Fu Panda mixes all three traditions- Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism. Like ingredients in a delicious noodle soup each [00:19:00] adds a special flavor to the story. Buddhism’s Inner peace, Taoism’s natural flow, Confucianism respect and duty. to, Together they help Po become the best panda he can be. And these ideas aren’t just useful in ancient China or in movies. They’re useful to us today, no matter who we are or where we come from.
It’s like building a Friendship Bridge between cultures. Kung Fu Panda is a bridge in itself. It’s an American made movie about Chinese characters filled with Chinese philosophy that anyone in the world can enjoy and learn from. How awesome is that? Different traditions, shared values. We all can understand being calm, [00:20:00] being ourselves, and being respectful. It connects us across cultures, just like a big Friendship Bridge that we can all walk across.
Lessons from Kung Fu PandaWhat Is In Our Belief Backpack?
Laura: What’s inside our belief backpack this week?
Laura: What could we add to our Belief Backpack or what lesson could we learn from Kung fu Panda?
Um,
Brooklyn: we need to p practice things.
Laura: Ooh. To practice things. And what happens if you practice?
Brooklyn: Um, you get better and better at it.
Laura: You got it. Was there a time when you couldn’t do something and then you had to practice?
Brooklyn: Um, A handstand.
Laura: Yeah. Was a handstand hard at first.
Brooklyn: Mm-hmm.
Laura: And then what made it better?
Brooklyn: Um, practicing.
Laura: Practicing. Now you have a beautiful handstand.
What do you think Master Oogway would say to you if he wanted to give you advice?
Brooklyn: Um,
Laura: that’s the turtle guy. [00:21:00]
Brooklyn: Yeah. But, um, what’s advice mean?
Laura: Advice means something he would tell you that would help you be a better person.
Brooklyn: He might want me to learn to be calm.
Laura: Ooh, I bet he would want you to learn that.
Who’s your favorite character?
Brooklyn: Um, Po.
Laura: Why do you like Po?
Brooklyn: Because, um, he defeated the bad guy..
Laura: Mm. That’s a good reason. He’s kinda like the hero.
Brooklyn: Mm-hmm.
Laura: Do you think Po wants you to learn something,
Brooklyn: um, to practice and also maybe be calm.
Laura: Yes. Those are all good lessons.
You can pull them out whenever you need a little wisdom, whether it’s practicing to get better at something, taking a breath to stay calm, or believing you can do something hard. Kung Fu [00:22:00] Panda shows us that wisdom can come from anywhere. Even a silly belly flopping Panda movie. It connected the wisdom of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism into a story that made us all laugh, gasp, and maybe even cheer. Po’s journey from noodle shop boy to Dragon Warrior teaches us that we can all be heroes in our own lives.
Conclusion and Farewell
Laura: I hope you had fun faithfully exploring Kung Fu Panda’s belief systems. I know me and Brooklyn did. Maybe next time you watch the movie, you’ll spot these moments of wisdom and give a knowing nod.
Brooklyn: Bye explorers. Thanks for listening to us. Until next time, stay curious, stay kind, and keep exploring the wonderful world around you.
Faithfully Explore! Outro: Faithfully Explore! [00:23:00] is about you. Let’s grow kinder together it’s true!