Courage and the Quest

Take the scriptures as the bow, the great weapon, and place upon it the arrow sharpened by meditation. Then having drawn it back with a mind directed to the thought of Brahman, Strike the mark, O my good friendthat which is the Imperishable. Om is the bow. The atman is the arrow, Brahman is said to be the mark. It is struck by an undistracted mind. Then the atman becomes one with Brahman, as the arrow with the target (Mundaka Upanishad, Chapter 11, verses 3 and 4).