The Set
“The goal of practice is always to keep our beginner’s mind.” -Shunryu Suzuki The Set is the freestyle shooting position of your arms, grip, and head, remembered as one feeling. With an unloaded pistol, assume your index position. Start with attention in your chest, then slowly move attention up into your head and face, then […]
Create Peace
“Peace is the absence of disturbance. The disturbance is due to the arising of thoughts in the individual, which is only the ego arising up from pure consciousness.” -Ramana Maharshi I saw a sticker: “Create Peace” Peace cannot be created. Peace exists always, when it’s not hidden by regret or desire. In wanting anything to be […]
Eliminate the Enemy
“Allow the experience of being aware to come into the foreground of experience, and let thoughts, images, feelings, sensations and perceptions recede into the background. Simply notice the experience of being aware. The peace and happiness for which all people long reside there.”-Rupert Spira Merriam-Webster: unconscious: not aware of something Unconscious thought is our primary […]
Part 2: The Call to Follow Through
Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.-Jose Ortega y Gasset Active & PassiveIn various scenarios, apply the concept of active or passive to either the sights or the trigger. Bench rest shooting example: The pistol is resting solidly on sandbags… As you align the sights on the […]
The Call to Follow Through
“When you do something, you should burn yourself up completely, like a good bonfire, leaving no trace of yourself.”-Shunryu Suzuki The Hard PartAiming is easy. The simple desire to hit the target takes care of aiming. Firing the shot without disturbing the aim is the hard part. The 3rd FundamentalKnow the barrel is pointed at […]
A Goal
“Knowledge and ignorance are of the mind; they are born of duality. But the Self is beyond knowledge and ignorance. It is light itself.” -Ramana Maharshi It is always now. Tomorrow, have a single goal: Remember the moment when you first realized what day it is. Pause for a moment, and review what just occurred. You […]
Eye Dominance / Shmominance
“The mind of the beginner is empty, free of the habits of the expert, ready to accept, to doubt, and open to all the possibilities.” -Shunryu Suzuki The following statements have been debated to the rank of irritation: “You must aim with your dominant eye.” Or worse, “To shoot to your potential, you must keep […]
No Need To Worry
“Our mind is like a clear glass of water. If we put salt into the water, it becomes salty; sugar, it becomes sugar water. … But originally the water is clear. No thinking, no mind. No mind, no problem.” -Seung Sahn Seung Sahn Most of our troubles come from clinging to thoughts. Due to the […]
The PRINCIPLES and FUNDAMENTALS of PRACTICAL SHOOTING
“Learn to distinguish what should be done and what should not be done; the clever soul will always select his opportunity.” -Nagarjuna The true purpose of shooting is to know where every shot will hit the target—before it does. Call Every Shot For consistent success, the vital skill you must master—and repeat for every shot you […]
Stay Calm
“Ramana Maharshi ended a story by telling me: To be calm is the greatest asset in the world. It’s the greatest power you can have. If you can only learn to be calm you will solve every problem. This is something you must remember.”-Robert Adams Most problems arise from resistance to the present experience. Whenever […]