Restoring Balance in Our Souls As Portrayed in 'Birth of the Dragon'

A while ago, I saw a Bruce Lee movie entitled Birth of the Dragon. It told the story of an encounter of the pre-fame Bruce Lee with a Shaolin monk named Wong Jack Man...  The movie portrayed this encounter between the two kung-fu masters as full of mutual animosity in the beginning. However, it eventually resulted in Bruce Lee learning valuable lessons that he put into practice in his life and teaching soon after his showdown with the Shaolin monk.

Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_of_the_Dragon

What struck me particularly was the character of Wong Jack Man. Earlier in the story, he severely injured a Tai Chi master in a supposedly no-contact martial arts encounter and he attributed that to his ego. After this, he went to San Francisco in order to wash dishes and, in so doing, "restore the balance in his soul."

The message of the movie spoke powerfully to me, particularly because when I saw it, I still feeling burned out after a tough and very hectic school year 2017-18.

‘Restoring balance in one’s soul’ seems like a very Eastern (as opposed to ‘Western’) concept. It is commonly expressed by the yin and yang (陰陽). This is arguably the way by which the East expresses what “wholeness” or “fullness” is all about. It’s curiously different from the way Christianity (or the West) has traditionally expressed “wholeness” as seen in the concepts of “Salvation” and “Redemption.”

Intriguingly, “restoring the balance” seems to be a dominant theme in popular culture. For instance, one of my favorite animated series, the Nickelodeon series Avatar as well as The Legend of Korra also deal with this theme in a major way. There, we learn that the avatar’s primary mission is “to restore balance” to the whole world. However, we also see the avatars having to restore balance first and foremost in their own souls before they can restore the balance in the world at large.

Star Wars also speaks of “restoring balance in the force” between the dark and light sides. Hence, the “chosen one” (presumed to Anakin Skywalker) is the one who will bring balance to the force.

“Restoring our interior balance” is not only an important theme in popular culture. In fact, religious and spiritual masters through the ages have affirmed that it is an important component of spirituality. So, what exactly is “restoring the balance” and how does one go about restoring the balance in one’s soul? This is a burning question that must be answered by each and every one of us.