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Zen Stories
Concentration
After winning several archery contests, the young and
rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned
for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable
technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull's eye on his first
try, and then split that arrow with his second shot.
"There," he said to the old man, "see if you can
match that!" Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow, but
rather motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain.
Curious about the old fellow's intentions, the champion followed him
high into the mountain until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a
rather flimsy and shaky log. Calmly stepping out onto the middle of
the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge, the old master picked a
far away tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct
hit. "Now it is your turn," he said as he gracefully
stepped back onto the safe ground. Staring with terror into the
seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss, the young man could not
force himself to step out onto the log, no less shoot at a target.
"You have much skill with your bow," the master said,
sensing his challenger's predicament, "but you have little
skill with the mind that lets loose the shot."
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