I read the book one night...December 23, 2005 0 out of 5 found this review helpful
...and went back to university archery class and immediately shot a perfect round the next day. I then put the bow down, so as not to spoil the moment, and resumed looking at the girls in their summer shorts. By taking the book's advice and not attempting both at the same time, I improved the outcomes for both cases. If you have even the mildest interest in zen, buy this book, or the next arrow may have your name on it. (Linear thinkers should disregard the previous statement.)
An Elegant Examination of the Zen ExperienceOctober 19, 2005 5 out of 7 found this review helpful
In the 1930's, Eugen Herrigel moved to Japan to teach philosophy. In an attempt to gain a more profound understanding of Japanese culture, Professor Herrigel and his wife began the study of archery with a Master Zen teacher. After six years of hard work, Herrigal obtained the title of Master.
This book is his attempt to explain to a Western audience his journey from a novice to a Zen Master. Herrigel's writing style is spare and even elegant. He avoided the temptation to frame a a cliche story of German "novice" being initiated into the mysteries of Zen by a wise, Zen Master. (i.e. the karate Kid line of stories)
The only thing disapointing about this book, it underscores the fact that most of us will never have the same type of quality of Zen experience. Afterall, how many readers will be able to spend six years working diligently with a Zen Master. But in the end, it is a nice fantasy and this book gives us an insight into what it would take to have such an experience.
Intriguing and perplexing in equal measure.August 11, 2005 4 out of 7 found this review helpful
I very much enjoyed reading this book. It is a biographical account of one mans experience as he moves from a position of ignorance towards an understanding of Zen. The bewildering spritual "How to" which seems to have a lot more to do with what you don't do than what you do. The confounding realisation that all effort is false, whereas no effort can lead to superhuman feats of accuracy. It's a magical true story about how a mans confusion and understanding become fused into something of an incomprehensible truth: You don't understand it, but it works.
What I enjoyed most about the text is that it gives insipration to Zen learners, something to aim for, so to speak.
What I didn't like is that it doesn't really offer insight into how one combines an attitude of no presumed effort with the experience of splitting an arrow-shaft lengthwise from the far side of an unlit warehouse. In other words, the book sufficiently illustrates the effects of success with Zen practice but having read the book the cause still remains a mystery: A relaxed attitude alone will do nothing to improve your golfing average, so how does it work?
The effortless flow of our own holy being in harmony with what we are doingJuly 12, 2005 3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I read this book many years. It was J.D. Salinger who brought me to it. And the central idea that he taught from it was the art of 'aiming without aiming'. Or rather how wrong and forced effort which is wholly concentrated on ' result' and 'result' alone (i.e. hitting the bullseye) leads to missing the mark. The great idea of this work is the idea of a kind of practice which leads to effortless effort, to a 'hitting the mark' without aiming , to somehow allowing one's own inner powers to be in harmony with the task one is doing. To let the whole of one's being flow into the activity and with it as one. With this in mind I years ago wrote a small forgotten work 'Zen and the Art of Swimming' . I also practically ' felt the reality of the main idea ' of this work in surprisingly a ' basketball game ' Here it was not one individual but a whole team of flowing and moving right, only to have this of course be broken by the other- sides time- out. There is a way of doing a thing in which we are so wholly within it that enjoyment naturally comes to us. This is the 'Zen ' I understand as central to this book.
Bull's eye! (More than about Zen)April 16, 2005 3 out of 5 found this review helpful
The book isn't really about archery but Zen but I think just about everybody knows that by now. As well as being about Zen it is a self help book for if you never read another book about Zen or take up the practice you will benifit from reading this book. In it is the humble opinion of this reviewer if you read only one "self help book" this is the one to read. It is a powerful book that is as much about human psychlogy as it is about anything. it is a must read and must be experienced to be appreciated but that being said let me elaborate on some of the topics in the book. The bow is difficult to bend and so one must practce again and again to bend it. That is just one task of archery that is broken down in Zen archery training. Instead of the initiate begining by shooting an arrow at a target, every step of the task is broken down and each practiced until each is perfected. This I would call the "neurotic" side of Zen. For by one interpretation neurosis that is not unbriddled or pathologic is necessary in the careful preparation for tasks. Too many (especially of my generation) see Zen as an "anything goes" phiolosophy which is in my mind far from the truth. So after the repitition of each of the various indivual parts of the process of archery is repeated over and over. The archer is finally ready. A this point (not to sound overly mystical) the archer, the arow and the target become one. You don't have to be a mystic to get the mesage here. Part of what the book describes is the psychological process called "chaining" but this book takes that process to a new height. A book that is much more practical and concise than the 2005 best seller "Blink". I recommend that everyone read it and an reflect on it.
