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."
