Zen and the Art of Archery
The book Zen and the Art of Archery, by Eugen Herrigel, discusses the spirituality connected with the art form in the sport of archery. In this book, Herrigel describes many aspects of how archery is, in fact, not a sport, but an art form, and is very spiritual to those in the east. As an actor, this book helps you to use your spirituality in your acting. Archery, in this book, was the way that the author found his way into Zen Buddhism. He studied this art, which is referred to as the "artless art," to gain experience in the field of Zen Buddhism. At first, one might think that archery has no place in Zen, but, through discussion and explanation, it is revealed that archery is quite a large part of Zen. It is not through the actual physical aspect of shooting arrows at targets that archery is Zen, but through the art and spirituality through which it is performed. It is not merely shooting an arrow to hit a target, but becoming yourself the target and then, in turn, hitting yourself, of course not literally, but spiritually, and by meeting the spiritual goal, you will then meet the physical goal. The contest is, therefore not with the arrow or the target but with oneself. The whole art of archery is internal, within
It can be incorporated into everyday actions to make them easier and better. " Once you stop thinking about the shot it will happen, but until then, it will not. The same concepts that make archery better when using Zen, make acting better. The idea of Zen is not just to be applied to what it is already used for, but for everything that you do. In acting, you can use it to become more connected to your character and to the situations you are working with. Although the book is directly about archery, it can be applied to almost anything. " The idea is to, as said by Herrigel's teacher, "stop thinking about the shot. The learning process for the Zen in archery is a long process, focusing at first on drawing the bow "spiritually," then moving on to holding the arrow and finally to "'loosing' the arrow. Zen is not only used for the Japanese arts. This book is in fact a great resource for actors, for that specific reason. The art of archery is much like acting, because it is only thought of as physical, where acting is thought of as fake, while, through Zen, they are both spiritual rather than just physical. This book relates to acting, not by talking about acting, but through the discussion of spirituality. The first "test," of sorts, taken by Herrigel in the area of archery, was five years into his studies. " Archery is, in the sense of Zen, is described as a ceremony, with the main goal being to be able to perform it "effortlessly.
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