concentration

Concentration

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 . starting 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.

本文通过描述一个年轻而自负的射箭冠军和一位箭术精湛的禅师比赛箭术的故事，告诉我们：拥有自如射箭的心境比拥有高超的箭术更重要。