The Empty Boat - Osho.pdf - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 6. THE NEED TO WIN
Sitting on a bench he looked at the master for the first time. For the first time in three years he
looked at the master. Really, he was not doing anything; it was as if the arrow was shooting itself.
The master was not serious, he was playing, he was in fun. There was nobody who was interested
in hitting the target.
Ego is always target-oriented. Fun has no target to reach, fun is in the beginning when the arrow
leaves the bow. If it shoots that is accidental, if it reaches the target that is not relevant; whether
it reaches or misses is not the point. But when the arrow leaves the bow, the archer should be in
fun, enjoying, not serious. When you are serious you are tense, when you are not serious you are
relaxed, and when you are relaxed you are. When you are tense, the ego is; YOU are clouded.
For the first time Herrigel looked...because now he was not interested. It was none of his business
now, he had dropped the whole thing. He was leaving so there was no question of seriousness. He
had accepted his failure, there was nothing to be proved. He looked, and for the first time his eyes
were not obsessed with the target.
He looked at the master and it was as if the arrow was shooting itself from the bow. The master
was only giving it energy, he was not shooting. He was not doing anything, the whole thing was
effortless. Herrigel looked, and for the first time he understood.
As if enchanted he approached the master, took the bow in his hand and drew back the arrow. The
master said, ”You have reached. This is what I have been telling you to do for three years.” The
arrow had not yet left the bow and the master said, ”Finished. The target is attained.” Now he was
having fun, he was not serious, he was not goaloriented.
This is the difference. Fun is not goal-oriented; it has no goal. Fun itself is the goal, the intrinsic
value, nothing exists outside it. You enjoy it, that is all. There is no purpose to it, you play with it, that
is all.
WHEN AN ARCHER IS SHOOTING FOR FUN
HE HAS ALL HIS SKILL.
When you are shooting for fun, you are not in conflict. There are not two, there is no tension; your
mind is not going anywhere. Your mind is not going at all – so you are whole. Then the skill is there.
A story is told about a Zen master, a painter, who was designing a new temple, a pagoda. It was his
habit to have his chief disciple by his side. He used to draw the design, look at the disciple and ask,
”What do you think?”
And the disciple would say, ”Not worthy of you.” So he would discard it.
This happened ninety-nine times. Three months passed and the king kept asking when the design
would be completed so the building could start. And then one day it happened that while the master
was drawing the design the ink ran dry, so he told the disciple to go out and prepare more ink.
The disciple went out, and when he returned he looked and said, ”What? You have done it! But why
couldn’t you do it in these three months?”
The Empty Boat 111 Osho