Te-shan was sitting outside
doing zazen. Lung-t'an asked him why he didn't go back home. Te-shan
answered, "Because it's dark."
Lung-t'an then lit a candle and handed it to him. As Te-shan was about to
take it, Lung-t'an blew it out. Te-shan had a sudden realisation, and bowed.
(Koan)
First reaction
Why did Lung-t'an blow out the candle?
Exploration
Fear kept Te-shan from going home. Fear of what? The darkness? The unknown?
The candle would have offered him some means of seeing ahead.
What was Lung-t'an's motive for blowing out the candle? Was he being cruel?
Is the koan really about darkness?
Is darkness a metaphor for knowledge? For life itself?
How far would the candle let you see?
What about everything else?
Would it truly penetrate the immensity of the darkness?
Possible meaning
Darkness is the ultimate unknown; it cannot be fully penetrated.
We cannot know all that there is to know, we cannot peer into every corner of
every aspect of knowledge.
There is always more to see, to understand, to investigate.
It is overwhelming and endless.
Knowledge (or seeing) illuminates only a small circle in the vast darkness of
the unknown, it sheds very little light.
A localised insight makes no mark upon the entirety of the unknown.
Blowing out the candle is a way of showing Te-shan that he is always in the
dark, even with the candle.
By removing the light, Lung-t'an took away the illusion.
We pass through life encapsulated in a small bubble of light. That light is the
moment. We can see around us to a limited degree. But everything else is
darkness.
People do not fear the unknown. They fear the loss of the known.
Page created 19 May 2005