The Way of the Bow, Paulo Coelho [dark books to read txt] 📗

you will learn from the good baker how to use your hands and how to get the right mix of ingredients. You will learn from the farmer to have patience, to work hard, to respect the seasons and not to curse the storms, because it would be a waste of time.

Join with those who are as flexible as the wood of your bow and who understand the signs along the way. They are people who do not hesitate to change direction when they encounter some insuperable barrier, or when they see a better opportunity.

They have the qualities of water: flowing around rocks, adapting to the course of the river, sometimes forming into a lake until the hollow fills to overflowing, and they can continue on their way, because water never forgets that the sea is its destiny and that sooner or later it must be reached.

Join with those who have never said: ‘Right, that’s it, I’m going no further,’ because as sure as spring follows winter, nothing ever ends; after achieving your objective, you must start again, always using everything you have learned on the way.

Join with those who sing, tell stories, take pleasure in life, and have joy in their eyes, because joy is contagious and can prevent others from becoming paralysed by depression, loneliness and difficulties.

Join with those who do their work with enthusiasm, and because you could be as useful to them as they are to you, try to understand their tools too and how their skills could be improved.

The time has come, therefore, to meet your bow, your arrow, your target and your way.

3. The Bow

The bow is life: the source of all energy.

The arrow will leave one day.

The target is a long way off.

But the bow will stay with you, and you

must know how to look after it.

It requires periods of inaction - a bow that is always armed and braced loses its strength. Therefore, allow it to rest, to recover its firmness; then, when you draw the bow-string, the bow will be content, with all its strength intact.

A bow has no conscience: it is a prolongation of the hand and desire of the archer. It can serve to kill or to meditate. Therefore, always be clear about your intentions.

A bow is flexible, but it has its limits. Stretching it beyond its capacity will break it or exhaust the hand holding it. Therefore, try to be in harmony with your instrument and never ask more than it can give.

A bow rests or lies in the hand of the archer, but the hand is merely the place where all the muscles of the body, all the intentions of the archer and all the effort of shooting is concentrated. Therefore, in order to maintain elegance of posture while keeping the bow drawn, make sure that every part does only what is necessary and do not dissipate your energies. That way, you will be able to shoot many arrows without tiring.

In order to understand your bow, it must become part of your arm and an extension of your thoughts.

3. The Arrow

The arrow is the intention.

It is what unites the strength of the bow with the centre of the target.

The intention must be crystal-clear, straight and balanced. Once the arrow has gone, it will not come back, so it is better to interrupt a shot, because the movements that led up to it were not sufficiently precise and correct, than to act carelessly, simply because the bow was fully drawn and the target was waiting.

But never hold back from firing the arrow if all that paralyses you is fear of making a mistake. If you have made the right movements, open your hand and release the string. Even if the arrow fails to hit the target, you will learn how to improve your aim next time.

If you never take a risk, you will never know what changes you need to make.

Each arrow leaves a memory in your heart, and it is the sum of those memories that will make you shoot better and better.

4. The Target

The target is the objective to be reached.

It was chosen by the archer and though it is a long way off, we cannot blame it when we fail to hit it. In this lies the beauty of the way of the bow: you can never excuse yourself by saying that your opponent was stronger than you.

You were the one who chose the target and you are responsible for it.

The target can be larger, smaller, to the right or the left, but you always have to stand before it, respect it and bring it closer mentally. Only when it is at the very end of your arrow should you release the bow-string.

If you view the target as the enemy, you might well hit the target, but you will not improve anything inside yourself. You will go through life trying only to place an arrow in the centre of a piece of paper or wood, which is absolutely pointless. And when you are with other people, you will spend your time complaining that you never do anything interesting.

That is why you must choose your target, do your best to hit it, and always regard it with respect and dignity; you need to know what it means and how much effort, training and intuition was required on your part.

When you look at the target, do not concentrate on that alone, but on everything going on around it, because the arrow, when it is shot, will encounter factors you failed to take into account, like wind, weight, distance.

You must understand the target. You need to be constantly asking yourself: ‘If I am the target, where am I? How would it like to be hit, so as to give the archer the honour he deserves?’

The target only exists if the archer exists.What justifies its existence is the desire of the archer to hit it, otherwise it would be a mere inanimate object, an insignificant piece of paper or wood.

Just as the arrow seeks the target, so the target also seeks the arrow, because it is the arrow that gives meaning to its existence; it is no longer just a piece of paper; for an archer, it is the centre of the world.

5. Posture

Once you have understood the bow, the arrow and the target, you must have the serenity and elegance necessary to learn how to shoot.

Serenity comes from the heart. Although the heart is often tormented by thoughts of insecurity, it knows that - through correct posture - it will be able to do its best.

Elegance is not something superficial, but the way in which a man can do honour to his life and his work. If you occasionally find the posture uncomfortable, do not think of it as false or artificial; it is real because it is difficult.

It allows the target to feel honoured by the dignity of the archer.

Elegance is not the most comfortable of postures, but it is the best posture if the shot is to be perfect.

Elegance is achieved when everything superfluous has been discarded, and the archer discovers simplicity and concentration; the simpler and more sober the posture, the more beautiful.

The snow is lovely because it has only one colour, the sea is lovely because it appears to be a completely flat surface, but both sea and snow are deep and know their own qualities.

6. How to hold the Arrow

To hold the arrow is to be in touch with your own intention.

You must look along the whole length of the arrow, check that the feathers guiding its flight are well placed, and make sure that the point is sharp.

Ensure that it is straight and that it has not been bent or damaged by a previous shot.

In its simplicity and lightness, the arrow can appear fragile, but the strength of the archer means that it can carry the energy of his body and mind a long way.

Legend has it that a single arrow once sank a ship, because the man who shot it knew where the wood was weakest and so made a hole that allowed the water to seep silently into the hold, thus putting paid to the threat of those wouldbe invaders of his village.

The arrow is the intention that leaves the archer’s hand and sets off towards the target, that is, it is free in its flight and will follow the path chosen for it when it was released.

It will be affected by the wind and by gravity, but that is part of its trajectory; a leaf does not cease to be a leaf merely because a storm tore it from the tree.

A man’s intention should be perfect, straight, sharp, firm, precise. No one can stop it as it crosses the space separating it from its destiny.

7. How to hold the Bow

Keep calm and breathe deeply.

Every movement will be noticed by your allies, who will help you if necessary.

But do not forget that your opponent is watching you too, and he knows the difference between a steady hand and an unsteady one: therefore, if you are tense, breathe deeply, because that will help you to concentrate at every stage.

At the moment when you take up your bow and place it - elegantly - in front of your body, try to go over in your mind every stage that led up to the preparation of that shot.

But do this without tension, because it is impossible to hold all the rules in your head; and with a tranquil mind, as you review each stage, you will see again all the most difficult moments and how you overcame them.

This will give you confidence and your hand will stop shaking.

8. How to draw the Bow String

The bow is a musical instrument, and its sound is made manifest in the string.

The bow-string is a big thing, but the arrow touches only one point on it, and all the archer’s knowledge and experience should be concentrated on that one small point.

If he leans slightly to the right or to the left, if that point is above or below the line of fire, he will never hit the target.

Therefore, when you draw the bow-string, be like a musician playing an instrument.

In music, time is more important than space; a group of notes on a line means nothing, but the person who can read what is written there can transform that line into sounds and rhythms.

Just as the archer justifies the existence of the target, so the arrow justifies the existence of the bow: you can throw an arrow with your hand, but a bow without an arrow is no use at all.

Therefore, when you open your arms, do not think of yourself as stretching the bow. Think of the arrow as the still centre and that you are trying to bring the ends of bow and bow-string closer together.

Touch the string delicately; ask for its cooperation.

9. How to look at the Target

Many archers complain that, despite having practised the art of archery for many years, they still feel their heart beating anxiously, their hands shaking, their aim failing.

They need to understand that a bow or an arrow can change nothing, but that the art of archery makes our mistakes more obvious.

On a day when you are out of love with life, your aim will be confused, difficult.

You will find that you lack the strength to draw the string back fully, that you cannot get the bow to bend as it should.

And when you see that your aim