Only The Eye of the Bird

Only The Eye of the Bird May 27, 2015

My dance teacher posted a message on her Facebook page for new graduates and I thought it was the most perfect message they could get so I’m going to repeat it!

For all the new graduates out there, remember what Arjuna said to his teacher, Drona. “I can only see the eye of the bird.” 

It’s that tremendous focus that leads to success.

And for those who don’t know this story, this is part of The Mahabharata. At one point the teacher Drona is teaching the brothers and cousins under his care to shoot arrows. He has set up a wooden bird on a wall and asked them one at a time to shoot the target. But before they shoot he asks them to describe what they see. Each brother that starts describing the scene in front of him is sent back without shooting. When Drona gets to Arjuna he asks what he sees and Arjuna says, “I see the bird.” Drona asks him to describe the bird and Arjuna says, “I can’t. I can only see its eye.” And Drona asks him to shoot and, of course, he shoots it directly in the eye. 

When you set out to do something, do it with all your attention and all your focus. Whatever task is in front of you in this moment, do it with everything you have. Don’t split your attention, don’t multitask, don’t do it part way. Do what is in front of you with single pointed focus. That is the key to success.

mahabharata


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