The Unleashing

Photographer Unknown, (The Unleashing of the Arrow)

“If you understand real practice, then archery or other activities can be zen. If you don’t understand how to practice archery in its true sense, then even though you practice very hard, what you acquire is just technique. It won’t help you through and through. Perhaps you can hit the mark without trying, but without a bow and arrow you cannot do anything. If you understand the point of practice, then even without a bow and arrow the archery will help you. How you get that kind of power or ability is only through right practice.”

-Shunryu Suzuki, Not Always So: Practicing the True Spirit of Zen

Arrow Tattoos

Tattoos on Guys: Arrows

Rudra (Sanskrit: रुद्र) is a Rigvedic Deity, associated with wind or storm, and the hunt. The name has been translated as “The Roarer”. In the Rigveda, Rudra has been praised as the “mightiest of the mighty”. The Shri Rudram hymn from the Yajurveda is dedicated to Rudra, and is important in the Saivism sect. In RigVeda 7.46, Rudra is described as armed with a bow and fast-flying arrows. As quoted by R. G. Bhandarkar, the hymn says Rudra discharges “brilliant shafts which run about the heaven and the earth” (RigVeda 7.46.3), which may be a reference to the destructive power of lightning. The arrow as a symbol is used to signify Rudra.