2. We should never judge people without first learning to hear and to respect them.
3. Teaching it isn’t hard, the difficult thing is to practise it every day, until you achieve the necessary precision.
4. What is a master? I would say that he is not someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to do his best to discover a knowledge he already has in his soul.
5. The archer who does not share with others the joy of the bow and the arrow will never know his own qualities and defects. Therefore, before you begin anything, seek out your allies, people who are interested in what you are doing.
6. I’m not saying ‘seek out other archers’. I’m saying: find people with other skills, because the way of the bow is no different from any other path that is followed with enthusiasm.
7. They are people who can’t bear to sit around waiting for things to happen in order to decide which attitude to adopt; they decide as they act, well aware that this could prove highly dangerous.
8. The best allies are those who do not think like everyone else. That is why when you seek companions with whom you can share your enthusiasm for archery, trust your intuition and pay no attention to what anyone else may say. People always judge others by taking as a model their own limitations, and other people’s opinions are often full of prejudice and fear.
9. Join with all those who experiment, take risks, fall, get hurt and then take more risks. Stay away from those who affirm truths, who criticise those who do not think like them, people who have never once taken a step unless they were sure they would be respected for doing so, and who prefer certainties to doubts.
10. Join with those who are open and not afraid to be vulnerable: they understand that people can only improve once they start looking at what their fellows are doing, not in order to judge them, but to admire them for their dedication and courage.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. The target is the objective to be reached. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. To hold the arrow is to be in touch with your own intention. 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. 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.
22. 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.
23. The bow is a musical instrument, and its sound is made manifest in the string. 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.
24. 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.
25. Nevertheless, do not allow yourself to be carried away by how you shoot in the morning, whether well or badly. There are many more days ahead, and each arrow is a life in itself. Use your bad moments to discover what makes you.tremble. Use your good moments to find your road to inner peace. But do not stop either out of fear or joy: the way of the bow has no end.
26. You know the effort it took to draw the bow, to breathe correctly, to concentrate on the target, to be clear about your intention, to maintain elegance of posture, to respect the target, but you need to understand, too, that nothing in this world stays with us for very long: at a given moment, your hand will have to open and allow your intention to follow its destiny.
27. The gesture is the incarnation of the verb, that is, an action is a thought made manifest. So, after much practising, we no longer think about the necessary movements, they become part of our own existence. But for this to happen, you must practise and repeat. And if that isn’t enough, you must repeat and practise.
28. The archer allows many arrows to go far beyond the target, because he knows that he will only learn the importance of bow, posture, string and target, by repeating his gestures thousands of time and by not being afraid of making mistakes. And his true allies will never criticise him, because they know that practise is necessary, that it is the only way in which he can perfect his instinct, his hammer blow. And then comes the moment when he no longer has to think about what he is doing. From then on, the archer becomes his bow, his arrow and his target.
29. Once the arrow has been shot, there is nothing more the archer can do, except follow its path to the target. From that moment on, the tension required to shoot the arrow has no further reason to exist. Therefore, the archer keeps his eyes fixed on the flight of the arrow, but his heart rests, and he smiles.
30. The way of the bow is the way of joy and enthusiasm, of perfection and error, of technique and instinct. But you will only learn this if you keep shooting your arrows.
31. A: How can I know if I’m doing the right thing? How can I be sure that my eyes are concentrating, that my posture is elegant, that I’m holding the bow correctly?
B: Visualise the perfect master always by your side and do everything to revere him and to honour his teachings. This master, whom many people call God, although some call him ‘the thing‚’ and others ‘talent’, is always watching us. He deserves the best.
32. Remember your allies too: you must support them, because they will help you at those moments when you need help. Try to develop the gift of kindness: this gift will allow you to be always at peace with your heart.
33. I need to remain focused and calm, to do the work I chose to do with love, and never to cling to the present moment, because death is still very close, the abyss is there beside me, and I am walking along the edge.
THE WAY OF THE BOW
PAULO COELHO
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