The Gunslinger’s Lesson

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Topic: The Gunslinger’s Lesson

Today, we are going to talk about the Gunslinger’s Lesson from the Dark Tower series, and how it may be applied to our daily lives. While it would be helpful to see the Lesson in context, you do not have to have read the books for today’s discussion to make sense.

The Gunslinger’s Lesson goes:

I do not aim with my hand; he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand; he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father. I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun; he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father. I kill with my heart.

For the Gunslinger Roland Deschain, to forget the face of one’s father is to act foolishly or dishonorably. Before a confrontation or battle, gunslingers are admonished to remember the faces of their fathers, to act with integrity and nobility.

Now, obviously, the pacifist Path does not condone shooting or killing anyone, unless it is purely in your own defense or the defense of those around you. However, this lesson can be applied to creation just as easily as destruction:

When creating or manifesting something, you must first start with your eye; you have to see the thing itself before you. Your hand is dumb, and can only do as it is told, but your eye, or, rather, the eye of your mind, is where your true intent begins. Thus, you “aim with your eye.”

Once you have “aimed” or envisioned the finished product or result, next you must use your mind to list the steps you have to take to achieve the thing. While your hand is the tool used to create, it is the mind of the creator that is in control of the creative or manifestation process. Therefore, you “shoot with your mind.”

Ultimately, the act of creation or manifestation must come from the heart. We should put a part of ourselves in everything we do, for optimum return. When we act from the heart, we open ourselves up to energetic reciprocity from the Universe: we may expect the things we manifest to come to us, and the things we create to turn out the way we envisioned. That is how you “kill with your heart.”

Reciting the Gunslinger’s Lesson can help focus your mind on the task at hand, reminding yourself what you’re trying to do, and how you’re going to get there. It is an exercise in Self-Control and Mindfulness, and prepares us for Effort.

Can you think of situations in your own life when reciting or reflecting upon the Gunslinger’s Lesson would be helpful?

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