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."