After winning several archery contests, a young and boastful champion challenged a Zen master renowned for his skill.
The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency by hitting a distant bull's-eye on his first try and splitting that arrow with his second shot. "There," he said to the old man, "see if you can match that!"
Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow but motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain.
Curious, the champion followed until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a flimsy, shaky log. Calmly stepping onto the middle of the perilous bridge, the old master picked a faraway tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit.
"Now it is your turn," he said as he gracefully stepped back onto safe ground. Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless abyss, the young man could not force himself to step onto the log, let alone shoot at a target.
"You have much skill with your bow," the master said, sensing his challenger's predicament, "but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot."