Why Do You Shoot the Second Arrow?

Once Buddha asked his disciple Ananda, "What if an arrow hits you? How will you feel?" Ananda replied, "It will hurt me and it will be very painful." Buddha asked him again, "What if the second arrow hit you at exactly the same place?" Ananda said, "It would be much more painful than the first one." Buddha calmly asked, "Then, why do  you shoot the second arrow?"

As per Buddhism, any time we go through some bad event or circumstance, two arrows fly our way. The first arrow refers to the actual event or the circumstance that can cause us the pain. And the second arrow is the suffering. It is our response to that event. The second arrow is always shot by us. We need to understand that the suffering is optional. We can avoid suffering by not shooting the second arrow.

Jack was working as an assistant manager in the superstore and was expecting a promotion in the next month. He was very excited about it. One evening he was walking across the park when he received a call from his colleague that the company has decided to postpone the promotions till the next year due to the ongoing recession. Jack was very disappointed to hear it and he got upset with his colleague. A gentleman in the park was watching all this and when the call ended, he approached Jack and asked him playfully, "Do you really need to shoot the second arrow?”

Jack was surprised by such a question, and asked, "What do you mean by the second arrow?" The gentleman explained, I understand that something bad or unexpected has happened to you and that’s why you got frustrated and angry on the call. But is it really necessary to react? Your reaction or the response to that event is the second arrow. Your second arrow is the suffering. And suffering is always optional. It is up to you how you emotionally respond to something. You can’t always control the circumstances, but you can always control your response. You can always choose not to shoot the second arrow.

Life always throws at you the things that you never expect. It will always be uncertain. But instead of reacting, always ask yourself first, “Do I really need to shoot the second arrow?”