Fundamentally the marksman aims at himself.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that self-improvement and personal reflection are crucial in achieving one's goals.
D.T. Suzuki's quote emphasizes introspection as an essential element of mastery and success. It highlights the idea that before a marksman can accurately hit a target, they must first focus on understanding and refining their own abilities and mindset. This notion extends beyond mere shooting; it serves as a metaphor for various aspects of life where personal development precedes external achievement.
In practice
This quote can be used in a workshop on personal development to emphasize the importance of self-awareness.
Zen, in its essence is the art of seeing into the nature of one's own being, and it points the way from bondage to freedom. By making us drink right from the fountain of life it liberates us from all the yokes under which we finite beings are usually suffering in this world.
The basic idea of Zen is to come in touch with the inner workings of our being, and to do this in the most direct way possible, without resorting to anything external or superadded. Therefore, anything that has the semblance of an external authority is rejected by Zen. Absolute faith is placed in a man's own inner being. For whatever authority there is in Zen, all comes from within.
Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?
The rocks are where they are- and this is their will. The rivers flow- and this is their will. The birds fly- this is their will. Human beings talk- this is their will. The seasons change, heaven sends down rain or snow, the earth occasionally shakes, the waves roll, the stars shine- each of them follows its own will. To be is to will and so is to become.
Enlightenment is like everyday consciousness but two inches above the ground.
We teach ourselves; Zen merely points the way.
Each man had only one genuine vocation - to find the way to himself....His task was to discover his own destiny - not an arbitrary one - and to live it out wholly and resolutely within himself. Everything else was only a would-be existence, an attempt at evasion, a flight back to the ideals of the masses, conformity and fear of one's own inwardness.
It's obvious that the key problem facing humanity in the coming century is how to bring a better quality of life - for 8 billion or more people - without wrecking the environment entirely in the attempt.
Faith means wanting God and wanting to want nothing else.
I am a Black Feminist. I mean I recognize that my power as well as my primary oppressions come as a result of my blackness as well as my womaness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable.
As bronze may be much beautified by lying in the dark damp soil, so men who fade in dust of warfare fade fairer, and sorrow blooms their soul.
Luck serves ... as rationalization for every people that is not master of its own destiny.
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