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Here is a koan that Chan Master Foguang shared with a student monk: “In former times, if you had to walk at night, you normally carried a paper lantern to find your way. A blind man, having spent the day at his friend’s house, was about to depart as the sky was growing dark. The host thoughtfully offered him a lantern, but his guest politely declined, saying that it was useless to him. ‘Please take it,’ urged the host. ‘If you don’t carry a lantern, people can run into you.’
“This sounded reasonable, so the blind visitor accepted the lantern. He had not gone far when someone ran right into him. Dismissing the offender’s deepest apologies, the blind man scolded him anyway: “Can’t you see the lantern in my hand?”
“But the candle has gone out.”
“It is the light of your mind that has gone out. What has that to do with my candle?”
Dark and endless is the night of death and rebirth for those sentient beings who are obsessively attached to the self. Though his eyes were open, he could not see another man until he ran over him. He should not have blamed an unlit candle, but his unlit mind.