Zen in the Art of Archery
Discover the Timeless Wisdom of Zen in the Art of Archery
Eugen Herrigel’s Zen in the Art of Archery is a profound exploration of Zen philosophy through the ancient practice of Japanese archery. Combining personal narrative with spiritual insight, this book offers a unique perspective on the path to mastery and self-discovery.
A Journey to Inner Stillness
Through his apprenticeship under a Japanese archery master, Herrigel reveals how the principles of Zen guide practitioners to achieve perfection through surrender, mindfulness, and focus. His experiences illustrate the balance between effort and letting go, offering valuable lessons applicable to all aspects of life.
Key Themes in Zen in the Art of Archery:
The Art of Mindfulness: Living fully in the present moment as a path to mastery.
Letting Go of the Self: Releasing ego and control to achieve true skill and insight.
The Intersection of Discipline and Freedom: The paradox of rigorous practice leading to effortless action.
Harmony of Mind and Body: Achieving unity through focused intention and physical practice.
A Gateway to Zen Philosophy
Zen in the Art of Archery is more than a book about archery; it’s a timeless guide to the principles of Zen and the art of living. Herrigel’s reflections inspire readers to pursue their own paths with clarity, humility, and dedication.
ASIN : B0B1DKH7JK
Publisher : GED Books
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : May 13, 2022
Language : English
File size : 739 KB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 55 pages
Page Flip : Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #23,182 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #1 in 90-Minute Sports & Outdoors Short Reads #1 in Archery (Kindle Store) #8 in 90-Minute Self-Help Short Reads
Customer Reviews: 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,276) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Original price was: $10.95.$0.99Current price is: $0.99.
Discover the Timeless Wisdom of Zen in the Art of Archery
Eugen Herrigel’s Zen in the Art of Archery is a profound exploration of Zen philosophy through the ancient practice of Japanese archery. Combining personal narrative with spiritual insight, this book offers a unique perspective on the path to mastery and self-discovery.
A Journey to Inner Stillness
Through his apprenticeship under a Japanese archery master, Herrigel reveals how the principles of Zen guide practitioners to achieve perfection through surrender, mindfulness, and focus. His experiences illustrate the balance between effort and letting go, offering valuable lessons applicable to all aspects of life.
Key Themes in Zen in the Art of Archery:
The Art of Mindfulness: Living fully in the present moment as a path to mastery.
Letting Go of the Self: Releasing ego and control to achieve true skill and insight.
The Intersection of Discipline and Freedom: The paradox of rigorous practice leading to effortless action.
Harmony of Mind and Body: Achieving unity through focused intention and physical practice.
A Gateway to Zen Philosophy
Zen in the Art of Archery is more than a book about archery; it’s a timeless guide to the principles of Zen and the art of living. Herrigel’s reflections inspire readers to pursue their own paths with clarity, humility, and dedication.
ASIN : B0B1DKH7JK
Publisher : GED Books
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : May 13, 2022
Language : English
File size : 739 KB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 55 pages
Page Flip : Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #23,182 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #1 in 90-Minute Sports & Outdoors Short Reads #1 in Archery (Kindle Store) #8 in 90-Minute Self-Help Short Reads
Customer Reviews: 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (2,276) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
11 reviews for Zen in the Art of Archery
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Dash Manchette –
A Universal Tale
My martial arts instructor has many books that he allows his students to take out. Some of them he recommends, others he recommends quite strongly. ZEN IN THE ART OF ARCHERY, however, is the only book which he actually handed out to every member of the advanced class. Clearly there is something he wants us to know.The book revolves around Herrigel’s attempt to understand Zen through the practice of kyudo (Japanese archery). Although I am no expert in either Zen or kyudo, I think he does a pretty good job. The concepts that Herrigel communicates to the reader are extremely esoteric and I found them easy to grasp through this slim volume. However, reading the book solely as a story about one person’s search for Zen is to read the book far too narrowly.The concepts that Herrigel addresses are universal concepts. They are not strictly religious (Zen), martial (kyudo) or even Asian (Japanese). Any substantial activity, be it learning kyudo, becoming a chess grandmaster or practicing to become a classical pianist, requires one to reach beyond psychological and internal barriers. This is what should be taken from this book.During Herrigel’s study, he focused not on the target, but on himself as the archer. The struggle was both an internal one, including physical aspects such as breathing properly and relaxing, as well as a refocusing of his mind, such as NOT focusing on the ultimate destination of the arrows he was shooting. The transcendence was within Herrigel himself.This lesson is applicable to numerous situations across cultures and across activities. ZEN IN THE ART OF ARCHERY provides a good example of this phenomenon but not the only possible example. Read more broadly, this book provides anyone undertaking a long and arduous activity a simple framework for reaching beyond those plateaus that we all frustratingly find ourselves on from time to time. I recommend it on that basis.
MoseyOn –
Inner Work
This is a short but dense reflection on Zen as the author encountered it during several years of training in the 1920s under a Japanese archery master. Focusing on the technical aspects of archery, the author learned, will never produce mastery, nor will it allow the novice to plumb the depths of the tradition that underpins it. The “art of archery” of the title is more a religious ritual than an execution of carefully-practiced technique, and archery (as with many practices in Japanese culture, the author contends) should be seen as a spiritual exercise, not a sport. As Herrigel puts it, “more important than all outward works, however attractive, is the inward work which [the pupil] has to accomplish if he is to fulfill his vocation as an artist.”A recurring theme in Herrigel’s essay is his relationship with his master/teacher, Kenzo Awa. The teacher is more than simply the transmitter of technical, or even philosophical, information. There is a personal commitment on the part of both teacher and student that transcends what we normally think of as teaching and learning. “The teacher-pupil relationship,” writes Herrigel, “has belonged since ancient times to the basic commitments of life and therefore presupposes, on the part of the teacher, a high responsibility which goes far beyond the scope of his professional duties.” The teacher “is a living example of the inner work, and he convinces by his mere presence.” This sense of the teacher as exemplar and guide is still retained by the best in that profession, but I fear that in an assessment-crazed, race-to-the-top culture, the kind of inner work that can transform an individual finds little space in contemporary educational systems. Of course, Herrigel did not experience this kind of transformation through a formal system either, so perhaps we all need to find a master in some area of interest and put ourselves completely in his or her hands.I found the work to be complex, not always easy to understand, but often illuminating. Part of the difficulty lies in trying to put into words concepts that have to be experienced to be understood. The book is primarily concerned with “inner work,” which by its nature resists the concreteness of the written word. Herrigel (and his translator, R. F. C. Hull) makes a credible attempt.There has been criticism of Herrigel’s life and work, largely on two grounds. First, after returning to Germany he joined the Nazi party in the 1930s and at least according to some accounts this was not simply an association of convenience, but something that, sadly, he believed in. Nazism was, of course, a vile ideology that visited unspeakable horrors upon the world. Though published in 1948, when those horrors had been revealed through war and genocide, the book was based on his experiences 20 years earlier, and political sentiments play no part. Despite our deep revulsion for the ideology its author ultimately embraced, in fairness it can nevertheless be read as one man’s attempt to understand the core of a doctrine utterly different from anything he had encountered previously. How many of us have ever tried that? Had he applied to his political ideology some of the “inner work” that is so central to his discussion of Zen, perhaps he would have found his way a different and more peaceful path. Second, questions have been raised about the length of time Herrigel actually studied archery in Japan and about whether or not his master was in fact a Zen adept. I am in no position to know anything about either of those questions, but regardless of the archery master’s Zen qualifications (the term itself strikes me as slightly absurd), it is worth noting that no less an expert than D. T. Suzuki, the great popularizer of Zen in the West who was clearly an important source for Herrigel’s understanding, provided a friendly introduction to the volume. He doesn’t endorse Herrigel’s reflections as any kind of definitive analysis of Zen. Rather, he hedges a bit, noting that Herrigel “came to Japan and took up the practice of archery toward an understanding of Zen.” He credits the essay with giving “an illuminating account of [Herrigel’s] own experience,” rather than a reliable introduction to the core of the doctrine; nevertheless, he describes it as a “wonderful little book.”
Keith A. Williams –
A Book for all Artists
This is the famous little book that Minor White advised his pupils to read. It’s an account by German professor Eugen Herrigel of several years of archery lessons with a Japanese archer in the 1950s. My review is written with photography in mind, though the principles discussed in the book can be applied to many arts.If you have an interest in photography, should you read it?Here are a few quotes from this little book in which I have taken the liberty of replacing archery lingo with photography lingo:1. “…fundamentally the [photographer] aims at himself and may even succeed in hitting himself.”2. “Do you know why you cannot wait for the shot and why you get out of breath before it has come? The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You do no wait for fulfilment, but brace yourself for failure.”3. “If [the photographer] is to fit himself self-effacingly into the creative process, the practice of the art must have the way smoothed for it. For if, in his self-immersion, he saw himself faced with a situation into which he could not leap instinctively, he would first have to bring it into consciousness.”If these ideas interest you, then this book is for you. It is a pleasing and thought-provoking little book, written in a conversational manner lacking the overcomplicated lingo and “isms” of most philosophical and spiritual texts.
toby maguire –
Beautiful Insight into Zen
Zen and many aspects of Buddhism are hard to explain, but this book gives the reader a simple but deep understanding. A short book but like the Tao Teh Ching, the more often it is read, the deeper the insights into life are revealed.
Kindle Customer –
Awesome zen
It really helped me out. Especially when it comes to finishing a goal it helps me realize I won’t get until I let go
Heather –
Worth reading, but…
Insightful and enlightening, but the Kindle version has a ton of editorial errors. Hoping the print version is better.
Frank Bierbrauer –
The task Professor Herrigel set himself was to experience true Zen, he did this without realising that abandonment of self was a primary objective. In other words the practice or the decision to undertake anything very much is a step into the unknown even when the person involved never considers the possibility of his very self undergoing radical change, somehow one believes “I” will always remain afterwards. Little by little Herrigel underwent powerful changes in his Zen experience which literally must be undertaken in an authentic way i.e. by the sort of practice having no limits or bounds, a wholehearted approach somewhat alien to most westerners. The book is an honest and clear account of his experience in Japan and is somewhat akin to that of Jan Whilhelm van de Wetering in “The Empty Mirror”, humourous experiences such as when the master wishes to find out more about what he does and in this way try to understand why the practice of archery is so difficult for him : exclaiming after he reads a philosophy book that “no wonder you have so much difficulty”, adds to the humanity of the story. Although a small book it is rich in personal experience and a treasure which can be read again and again to revitalise one’s own practice. It is also far more readable than his other books which are full of difficult philosophical concepts and lack the depth of humanity shown in this one. The book stresses what must be said again and again, Zen is about doing rather than knowing (in the conventional sense) and Herrigel realises that only in the practice of Zen, rather than just reading about it, can it be truly “known”. He also demonstrates the great challenges to be faced in this practice especially as regards the conflicts which arise between the “artless art”, Zen, which is free of thought and that of his profession which is never free of the constricting domain of thought. A superb book which never fails to inspire.
N. D. Graham –
The classic book written on Kyudo archery by a European university prof in the 1920s. Written in a boy’s adventure book tone. Amusing and interesting exploration of Japan’s arts.
Scolcan –
Good read
Genaro –
An incredible voyage in the mysteries of Zen. A must read if you’re seeking mastery in any field. I will come back to this reading regularly.
Olga Reverte Calull –
Correcto