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."
