~ Great Skill – Useless Mind
~
After having won every archery contest,
the local champion went to visit a nearby Zen
master.
“I am the best of all”, he said to the master.
“I
didn’t study meditation; never sought help from the monks;
and succeeded in becoming
the finest archer in the whole region.
I heard that, for a time, you were the
best archer in the land.
So, I ask you, “was it necessary to become a monk in
order to learn to shoot?”
“No”,
replied the Zen master.
But the champion was not satisfied.
'And so, he placed
an arrow in his bow, fired it and hit a cherry tree that was very far away.
Smiling, he said, “I doubt you could do that.
You might have saved your time and devoted yourself
to only practicing technique
instead of leading such an austere life of meditation.”
Without looking the least bit perturbed, the master
went inside and fetched his bow.
He then began walking towards a nearby mountain.
On the way, there was a deep gorge,
which could only be crossed by an old bridge
made of rotting rope,
which was on the verge of collapsing.
The Zen master walked
without pause to the middle of the bridge,
placed an arrow in his bow, then
aimed at a tree on the far side of the precipice,
and effortlessly hit the
target.
“Now it is your turn”, he kindly told the young
man, as he returned to firm ground.
Terrified as he gazed down at the chasm below his
feet,
the young man apprehensively walked out to the same
spot and fired.
His arrow, however, veered off widely and missed
the mark.
When the young man returned to the edge, the master
concluded,
“That is why the discipline of meditation was
worthwhile.”
“You may have great technical
skill in the instrument you choose for your livelihood,
but it is useless skill
if you cannot command the mind that uses it.”
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