Practical Lessons from the Zen in the Art of Archery

The Zen in the Art of Archery is a must-have book on your journey to self-mastery. The most curious thing is that I took the reference of this old reading in a book that impacted me a lot: The Inner Game of Tennis. From what I've read, Tim Galloway himself drank from this limpid source to be inspired to write the famous work read by the greatest high performers in sports.

But the most curious thing is that the Zen in the Art of Archery is not a book focused on practices, sports, or even the concept of success. All these concepts are thrown to the ground in the preface of my edition where the following is said:

“Master, disciple, bow, arrow, target: these are the characters that await the reader in the pages that follow. But such an encounter will require, on the part of the reader, some abdications. The logic of Western thought must be put aside. The structure of Cartesianism reduced to ashes. The cause-effect relationship neglected. The subject-object separation, ignored. Boredom, mocked. But the passion for life, extolled.”

This sentence already summarizes the spectacular content that will be seen later through the author's practice of the art of the bow for years on end in Japan. Enthusiast of Zen and Mysticism, Eugen Herrigel searches for a master who would teach the way to the Magna Doctrine through in an unconventional way.

More than a journey to technical perfection, the practice of archery with the Zen Master is a journey within oneself in search of self-knowledge and detachment. The author for many moments seeks through practice and repetition, infallibility in shooting and improvement to hit the center of the target. Although it seems the most obvious, this path only leads him further and further away from his goal as the GM tediously makes him perform the movements directing him to do so in the most meditative way possible.

I recommend that you read this incredible work to understand well. Despite a complex and meaningful reading, I will try to summarize here the greatest lessons I could extract from my reading and reflection:

The importance of ritual for action

At various points in the book, the author highlights the seriousness and importance of rituals before performing the activity itself. This ritual is a moment of connection between the master and the author and can be seen in the methodical preparation of paints, dilution, organization of materials and the work place in a silent way for a painter, for example. In the same way the archery sessions are preceded by the tea ceremony in the book and by a whole reverence before the act of shooting itself.

In this way, a superior and meditative attunement can be achieved with the work that will be carried out without any effort, being completed almost by itself.

The spiritualization of action towards perfection

An important point that caught my attention in the book is the spiritualization of action as a means to reach perfection. This factor is very similar to what Tim Galloway describes in the Inner Game of Tennis as “Being 2”, that is, your subconscious.

The Master insists on several occasions that the student not make an effort to perform the action. An action independent of mental effort and focused only on breathing becomes crucial for Eugen to understand that holding the bow in a spiritual way is the great secret to overcoming the resistance of unskilled activity.

Here's an incredible parallel with martial arts, in what he calls "gentle art" the literal translation of the word jiu-jitsu where you prostrate the opponent using no force and and retreating in an elastic and unforeseen way until you tire him.

As the Master himself says:

“Don't think about what you should do or how to do it! Only if the archer himself is surprised by the release of the arrow, the shot come out smoothly.”

Detachment from final results for Self-mastery

Last but not least, when Eugen had been training for years and achieving some results, the Zen Master reminds him of one very important thing:

“Genuine art knows neither end nor intention. The more obstinately you strive to learn to shoot the arrow to hit the target, you will neither succeed in the first, much less the second, attempt. What stands in the way is an overactive will. You think that what you don't do by yourself won't work.”

And if you who have come this far think that the great objective all this time of the art of the bow was to hit the target, think again. To reach the last degree of self-knowledge, the Master tells Eugen that it is necessary to ignore the presence of the target, because just hitting him is an exercise that can be easily learned, and besides being exhibitionist, it does not show the real meaning of the Magna Doctrine path.

The real fight comes down not to hitting or missing the target itself, but the archer's fight with himself in search of perfection. To be ashamed of the mistake and to boast if the successes are nothing more than a trap for the search for the release of emotions with impartiality and calm. This is the utmost importance of Zen practice.

Did you like it? See you on the next level!