Blindness of Blindness
(Oleh: Student of Zen, submit: 23 April 2001 )In early times in Japan, bamboo-and-paper lanterns were used with candles inside. A blind man, visiting a friend one night, was offered a lantern to carry home with him.
" I do not need a lantern. Darkness or light is all the same to me.", he said.
" I know you do not need a lantern to find your way. But if you don't have one, someone else may run into you. So you must take it.", his friend replied.
The blind man started off with the lantern, and before he had walked very far someone ran squarely into him.
" Look out where you are going, Can't you see this lantern !", he exclaimed to the stranger.
"But your candle has burned out, brother," replied the stranger.
Note:
We are all blind to different extents in different ways.
Are we blind due to the darkness around us like the stranger, or are we blind die to our inner darkness like the blind man?
I would think some of each.
Sometimes we know we are blind. But more terrifying is when we are blind to our blindness. Thus the saying, "There are none as blind as those who choose not to see."
— Namo Uci Yauw Ce Cin Mu Ta Thien Cun —
