Once a blind man came to visit a Zen master. He came to debate his knowledge over the Master’s insight. The Master calmly gave answers to all of the blind man’s questions. Finally, in total disagreement, the blind man called the Zen Master an idiot and stood up to leave.

It was night, a dark night, with no moon and so many clouds. The Master said to the blind man, “Please take this lamp with you.”

The blind man laughed mockingly and said, “Are you joking? What can a lamp do for me? I cannot see! It is all the same to me whether I have a lamp or not.”

But the Master said, “I know that you cannot see, but at least others will be able to see that you are coming in the darkness so they will not stumble into you.”

The argument had merit so the blind man took the lamp and went away. He had walked only a hundred yards when a man walked into him. He said, “What is the matter? Are you also blind? Can’t you see this lamp?”

The man replied, “I am not blind. Excuse me, but your lamp is no longer lit, its flame has gone out.”

The blind man went back to the Zen Master and said, “Look, never give a lamp to a blind man again. If there was no lamp I would have walked more cautiously. I always walk cautiously. Because of the lamp I walked as if I were not blind, but the light went out.”

The Master then replied, “Yes, this is what I have tried to show you…that knowledge alone cannot create the light itself. A lamp is of no use without light. Knowledge is of no use without AWARENESS.”