A Lesson from The Blind Man's Lantern
"I do not need a lantern," he said. "Darkness or light is all the same to me."
"I know you do not need a lantern to find your way," his friend replied, "but if you don't have one, someone else may run into you. So you take it."
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!" he exclaimed to the stranger. "Can't you see this lantern?"
"Your candle has burned out, brother," replied the stranger.
***
Commentary
Spirituality by its very definition requires going beyond forms. In Zen Buddhism itself, where the story comes from, the realization of the necessity of transcending forms, be they sutras, icons of buddha or language itself, pertains to the very essence. From the point of view of religions where scriptures and scripture-based rituals occupy central place, it becomes at times difficult to make sense of the spiritual demand of form-transcending. The blind man's story provides us with an interesting key for making such sense. A ritual is like a bamboo and paper lantern the purpose of which is to contain the candle of spirit. The one who performs the rituals without realizing their spirit thinks he/she has been accumulating merit will face God on the Day of judgement like the blind man holding a lantern with burned out candle!
The story also shows us how form and spirit complement each other. Although the end is candle and lantern just a mean, the latter by no means can be dispensed with. One cannot walk arround between villages with a bare candle on his/her hand.
So the lesson one should learn from the story is not that candles and not lanterns are important. It is this: Beautify your lanterns with colouful papers and calligraphy as superbly as you can, but do not forget to consider the state of you candle!
