[Adaptated into an essay in my book Thrive! Falling in Love with Life, published Nov 1, 2011. This is also one of my most-read posts!]
Here’s a little story from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, about the renowned archery master Dronacharya training the Pandava brothers in the art and skill of archery. Once, when the five Pandava brothers and Karna were assembled for an archery instruction session with Guru Drona, he tied a wooden fish high on a tree above a pool of water, and asked each student, one by one, to take the archer’s stance. He instructed them to aim their bow and arrow at the fish’s eye, while looking only at its reflection in the water below. As each student came along and took his turn, Guru Drona made them pause in the stance and asked, “Son, what all do you see?” The oldest, Yudhisthira, answered, “The sky, the tree, the …,” and before he could finish, Drona stopped him and replaced him with the next boy.
Reflections and Revelations 