THE SHOOTING

        THE BOW, THE ARROW, THE TARGET, THE AIM, THE SHOOTING......

         
    I will tell you an old Zen story.
    I wrote 'Old' because alot of Zen stories are quite new, written by Mat Salleh authors.
    Shaolin monks - apart from reading, writing, composing poems and Koans, and meditating, also indulge in a special form of martial arts.
    There was a shaolin monk who had many students. He was adept in several forms of warfare like archery, swordmanship, wrestling, taekwando etc.

    There was a great archer who came all the way to see this Shaolin master. He was a warrior who had specialised in archery.
    He exhibited his skills. He shot an arrow. It hit the bull eye. Then he shot another arrow which split the first arrow.
    "Can you shoot like this?" the warrior asked with contempt and rancour.
    The master did not say anything. He asked the archer to follow him and went into a jungle and then up a mountain. He came to a chasm which was bridged by a log. This log looked very rickety and could have fallen anytime.
    The master went up the log which immediately started shaking violently.
    He stood in the centre and taking the bow put an arrow and with the greatest of ease and concentration took aim and shot his arrow at a distant tree without any qualms.
    The master came back and gave the bow and arrow to the warrior and asked him to go to the centre of the log and shoot at the same tree.
    The warrior went up the log which started shaking violently.
    The archer got jittery. Then standing on the centre of the log, he chanced to look down. He saw the deep chasm. Suddenly he felt dizzy. He started shaking violently and the log shook violently. He slipped and fell onto the log. And hugging it started to shout for help.
    The master came up to the centre of the log, picked up the warrior, put him on his shoulder and walked calmly back.
   
    The master said, "All your skill lies only in your bow and arrows. You rule the bow. But you dont rule the mind that takes aim and shoots the arrow. Your mind is not under your control.
    The bow, arrow, the target, the aim, the shooting.... everything is from the mind.
    You control your mind and rule over it!"

Regards

JayBee