THE “EYELESS SWORD” “闭目剑法”

One day, a very talented swordsman traveled to a mountain. There he saw a tremendously steep cliff and below it there was a very strong river flowing. In front of his eyes was a wooden old bridge that could only be passed by one person at a time. It seemed like the old bridge was the only way to get across, so he stepped forward.

When his left foot stepped on it, looking down at the very steep cliff and the river beneath the bridge, he started to feel dizzy. His heart was beating fast, and even his whole body started trembling. He could no longer move his right foot ahead. “The slightest carelessness can send me to a terrible death,” he thought to himself.

He stepped back, no longer having the courage to move ahead. After a while, he saw a blind man walking slowly crossing the river with a walking stick. Without any fear, the blind man managed to get across.

Seeing that, the swordsman realized. “Because I see, I am overwhelmed with fear. If I close my eyes, I shall be able to get across as well.” So he started to walk across the river blindfolded . When he reached the other side of the bridge, he realized the essence of sword mastery: If you have nothing to fear, you can be the master of your own strength.

He trained hard based on the insight he had, and had become an invincible sword master. His swordplay also came to be called the “Eyeless Sword”.

有一天，一个很有天分的剑客游历来到一座山。他看到一处悬崖陡峭异常，崖底有一条湍急的河流过。他的眼前是一座老木桥，桥面上一次只容得下一人通过。看起来老木桥是渡河的必经之路，于是，他踏上前去。

左脚踏上桥的时候，看着脚下陡峭的悬崖和桥下的河水，他开始头晕目眩，心跳加快，甚至全身都颤抖起来。他的右脚无论如何也迈不出去。“稍有不慎，我就会陷入万劫不复之地，”他心里想。

他退了回来，再也不敢往前走一步。过了一会儿，他看见一位盲人拄着拐杖正在慢慢渡河，那人一点儿都不感到害怕，成功地渡了过去。

剑客见状，终于明白了：“就是因为我看得见，才会笼罩在恐惧之中。如果闭上眼睛，我也过得去。”于是，他蒙上双眼，开始渡河。到达桥另一端的时候，他意识到了剑术的精髓：如果你无所畏惧，你便可成为自身力量的主人。

在这层领悟的基础上，剑客苦练技艺，成了一位战无不胜的剑圣。他的剑术也被称为“闭目剑法”。

blindfold [ˈblaɪndfəʊld] v. 蒙住眼睛

-invincible [ɪnˈvɪnsəbl] adj. 不可战胜的

闭目，以养神，以清心。如果你无所畏惧，你便可成为自身力量的主人。