Issue nº 80

The bow, the arrow, the target

     We are all archers of divine Will. And so it is absolutely essential that we know what instruments we have at our disposal.

The bow
     The bow is life: all energy emanates from it.
     The arrow will be shot one day.
     The target is far away.
     But your life will always be with you, and you have to know how to take proper care of it.
     It needs periods of inactivity – a bow that is always ready, in a state of tension, loses its potency. So, accept rest to recover your firmness: in this way, when you stretch the string, your strength will be intact.
     The bow has no conscience: it is a prolongation of the archer’s hand and desire. It serves to kill or to meditate. So, always be clear about your intentions.
     A bow is flexible, but it also has its limits. Any effort beyond its capacity will break it, or else tire out the hand that holds it fast. By the same token, do not ask of your body more than it can do. And understand that one day old age will arrive – and that this is a blessing, not a curse.
     To keep the bow elegantly open, have each part do only what is necessary, and do not waste your energy. This will enable you to shoot lots of arrows without growing tired.

The arrow
     The arrow is your intention. It is what joins the strength of the bow to the center of the target.
     Our intentions have to be crystal-clear, straight and well balanced.
     Once it leaves, it will not return, so it is better to interrupt a process – because the movements that led up to it were not precise and correct – than to act in any way just because the bow was already taut and the target already waiting.
     But never fail to show your intention if the only thing that paralyzes you is the fear of making a mistake. If you perform the right movements, open your hand and release the string, take the necessary steps and face your challenges. Even if you do not hit the target, you will know how to correct your aim the next time.
     If you do not take risks, you will never know the changes that needed to be made.

The target
     The target is the objective to be attained.
     It was chosen by you. Here lies the beauty of the path: you can never apologize by saying that the adversary was stronger. Because it was you who chose your target, and you are responsible for it.
     If you look on the target as an enemy, you might even make a good shot but you will not manage to improve anything in yourself. You will spend your life just trying to put an arrow in the center of something made of paper or wood, which is absolutely useless. And when you are with other people you will complain all the time that you do not do anything interesting.
     That is why you need to choose your objective, do your very best to attain it, look upon it with respect and dignity: you have to know what it means, how much effort it has taken, how much training and intuition.
     When you look at the target, concentrate not just on it but on everything going on around you, because when the arrow is shot, it will have to deal with factors that you miss, such as wind, weight and distance.
     The objective only exists insofar as a man is capable of dreaming of reaching it. What justifies its existence is desire – or else it would be something dead, a distant dream, a daydream.
     So, just as intention seeks its objective, the objective likewise seeks man’s intention, for that is what gives our life a meaning: it is no longer just an idea, but the center of the archer’s world.