Excerpt from book Discourse On Chuang Tzu
Lieh Yu-k’ou was demonstrating his archery skills to Po-hun Wu-ren. Balancing a cup of water on his elbow, he drew the bowstring back to its extreme and released it with such speed and dexterity that — as if spurring each other on — the arrows flew out one after the other in the blink of an eye. He stood motionless throughout, as if carved from stone.
Po-hun Wu-ren said, “This is archery as archery, it is not archery as non-archery! Let’s see if you can climb with me to the top of a high mountain, clamber over steep, high-rising rocks, stand on the edge of a precipice one hundred fathoms deep, and still shoot in this way!”
Upon which, Po-hun Wu-ren climbed the high mountain, clambered over the steep, high-rising rocks and reached the edge of the one hundred fathom deep precipice. Then, Po-hun Wu-ren turned his back to the precipice, and stepped back until his heels hung over the edge and only his toes still clung to the ground. He beckoned Lieh Yu-k’ou to come forward. However, paralyzed by fear, Lieh Yu-k’ou, lay prostrate on the ground, sweat pouring from every pore of his body.
“The perfect man,” said Po-hun Wu-ren, “can fly to the heights and see clearly into the blue heavens above, dive down to look into the Yellow Springs below, and ramble far beyond the limits of the eight directions, yet his spirit and Qi undergo no changes whatsoever. But now, your mind is trammeled by so much fear and trepidation that your eyes are glazed. With regard to what is inside you, you risk certain failure.”
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