19+ Eugen Herrigel Quotes On Education

Eugen Herrigel was a German philosopher and biographer. He is best known for his book, Zen in the Art of Archery, which details his experiences learning the Japanese martial art of Kyudo. Herrigel's work is credited with introducing Zen Buddhism to the Western world. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Eugen Herrigel on education, love.

He grows daily more capable of following any inspiration without technical effort, and also of letting inspiration come to him through meticulous observation. — Eugen Herrigel

The more obstinately you try to learn how to shoot the arrow for the sake of hitting the goal, the less you will succeed in the one and the further the other will recede. What stands in your way is that you have a much too willful will. You think that what you do not do yourself does not happen. — Eugen Herrigel

In the case of archery, the hitter and the hit are no longer two opposing objects, but are one reality. — Eugen Herrigel

The shot will go smoothly only when it takes the archer himself by surprise. — Eugen Herrigel

The right shot at the right moment does not come because you do not let go of yourself. You do not wait for fulfilment, but brace yourself for failure. — Eugen Herrigel

By letting go of yourself, leaving yourself and everything yours behind so decisively that nothing more is left of you but a purposeless tension . — Eugen Herrigel

The hand that guides the brush has already caught and executed what floated before the mind at the same moment the mind began to form it, and in the end the pupil no longer knows which of the two-mind or hand -was responsible for the work. — Eugen Herrigel

Far from wishing to awaken the artist in the pupil prematurely, the teacher considers it his first task to make him a skilled artisan with sovereign control of his craft. — Eugen Herrigel

Don't think of what you have to do, don't consider how to carry it out! The shot will only go smoothly when it takes the archer himself by surprise. It must be as if the bowstring suddenly cut through the thumb that held it. You mustn't open the right hand on purpose. — Eugen Herrigel

The spider dances her web without knowing there are flies that will get caught in it. The fly, dancing nonchalantly on a sunbeam gets caught without knowing what lies in store. But through both of them "It" dances. So, too, the archer hits the target without having aimed-more I cannot say. — Eugen Herrigel

Zen Buddhism does not preach. Sermons remain words. It waits until people feel stifled and insecure, driven by a secret longing. — Eugen Herrigel

Assuming that his talent can survive the increasing strain, there is one scarcely avoidable danger that lies ahead of the pupil on his road to mastery. — Eugen Herrigel

This means that the mind or spirit is present anywhere, because it is nowhere attached to any particular place. And it can remain present because, even when related to this or that object, it does not cling to it by reflection and thus lose its original mobility. — Eugen Herrigel

You must act as if the goal were infinitely far off. — Eugen Herrigel

The more a human being feels himself a self, tries to intensify this self and reach a never-attainable perfection, the more drastically he steps out of the center of being. — Eugen Herrigel

The man, the art, the work--it is all one. — Eugen Herrigel

You must learn to wait properly. — Eugen Herrigel

You can learn from an ordinary bamboo leaf what ought to happen. It bends lower and lower under the weight of snow. Suddenly the snow slips to the ground without the leaf having stirred. Stay like that at the point of highest tension until the shot falls from you. So, indeed, it is: when the tension is fulfilled, the shot must fall, it must fall from the archer like snow from a bamboo leaf, before he even thinks it. — Eugen Herrigel

This, then, is what counts: a lightning reaction which has no further need of conscious observation. In this respect at least the pupil makes himself independent of all conscious purpose. — Eugen Herrigel

Life Lessons by Eugen Herrigel

1. Eugen Herrigel's work emphasizes the importance of patience and practice in mastering any skill, as well as the importance of having a teacher or mentor to guide you in the process.
2. He also encourages us to be mindful of the moment and to appreciate the beauty of the process of learning, rather than just the end result.
3. Finally, Herrigel's work reminds us to take a holistic approach to learning, where the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects of the process are all equally important.