In the time of Gautama Buddha, there was a blind scholar in a village. He was very learned but would often get into arguments with the villagers over what light was. Being blind, he had never seen light, but he wanted to understand it. He would say, ‘I cannot see, but I can hear. Beat the light like a drum, then I will be able to hear it.’ But light cannot be beaten like a drum. Then the scholar would say, ‘I can touch. Here is my hand, let it touch light.’ But light cannot be touched. Similarly, he would say, ‘I can smell. Take me where I can smell light.’ But light cannot be smelled. Though he made efforts in a lot of ways, the scholar was unable to sense the reality of light. The villagers were very troubled. They said, ‘We all know what light is, but how do we explain it to him? He gets into arguments with us, but there is no way to convince him.’
The villagers heard that the Buddha was going to pass through their village and were very happy. They said, ‘Let us take him to Gautama Buddha. If he cannot convince this scholar about light, then it is not possible. Let us see what arguments the Buddha gives to explain light.’ However, when the scholar was produced before him, the Buddha did not offer any arguments. He told the villagers, ‘It is not right for you to talk to him about light when he cannot see. The compassionate thing would be to find a physician who can cure his eyes. No arguments are needed to see light, only eyes are needed, and once you have them, there can be no possibility of doubt.’
A personal physician used to travel with Gautam Buddha. The Buddha told him, ‘You remain in this village until this man’s eyes are cured. I will be moving ahead with my followers.’ After six months, the scholar and the physician met Buddha. The scholar was no longer blind. In joy, he fell at the Buddha’s feet and said, ‘I am so grateful to you that you did not make any arguments about light with me. You made a simple point that this is not a question of light; this is a question of the eyes.’
The same is true about our inner selves. We all have the divine light inside us, but are unable to see it, because we do not have the eye to see it. Once we shed the layers of worldly vices clouding our vision, no more arguments or explanations will be needed, because we will be able to simply see our divinity.
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